Why Your Brand Needs a Signature Sound More Than a Logo Refresh
There’s something peculiar lodged in my brain. It’s not a jingle exactly, but the soft shhhhp of a Netflix title intro. Or the three-tone sting when you start your PS5. These aren’t accidents. They’re auditory logos. And we need to talk about them.
While half the world debates whether their logo should go flatter, thicker or minimalist with a twist of Bauhaus, savvy brands are prototyping their sonic identity. Not jingles from 1990. I’m talking about immersive, precision-engineered sound tags that do for the ears what a good brand mark does for the eyes. You know it when you hear it. Think Intel. Think HBO’s static boom. And now think about your brand. What does it sound like?
What fascinates me is how bespoke this craft is getting. Mastercard worked with 600 music producers in 20 countries to build a sonic brand language. Burger King changed the audio level of their ads to match drive-thru volumes. Even the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is toying with using AI-assisted compositions as part of their rebrand. Sorry, I said I’d skip AI, but that one cracked my resolve.
The point is, your customers carry headphones now. Brands enter via Spotify ads, TikTok scrolls, podcast promos. If you’re silent, you’re invisible. A logo evolution gets a press release. A great sonic cue gets inside people’s heads. It’s time to sound like something. Before someone else does it for you.
While half the world debates whether their logo should go flatter, thicker or minimalist with a twist of Bauhaus, savvy brands are prototyping their sonic identity. Not jingles from 1990. I’m talking about immersive, precision-engineered sound tags that do for the ears what a good brand mark does for the eyes. You know it when you hear it. Think Intel. Think HBO’s static boom. And now think about your brand. What does it sound like?
What fascinates me is how bespoke this craft is getting. Mastercard worked with 600 music producers in 20 countries to build a sonic brand language. Burger King changed the audio level of their ads to match drive-thru volumes. Even the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is toying with using AI-assisted compositions as part of their rebrand. Sorry, I said I’d skip AI, but that one cracked my resolve.
The point is, your customers carry headphones now. Brands enter via Spotify ads, TikTok scrolls, podcast promos. If you’re silent, you’re invisible. A logo evolution gets a press release. A great sonic cue gets inside people’s heads. It’s time to sound like something. Before someone else does it for you.