David Allan - Super Sonic Logos: The Power of Audio Branding

Punch, brothers! Punch with care!

Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

Mark Twain, A Literary Nightmare, 1876

A Literary Nightmare is a short story written by Mark Twain in 1876. The story is about Twains encounter with an earworm, or virus-like jingle, and how it occupies his mind for several days until he manages to infect another person, thus removing the jingle from his mind. The story was also later published under the name Punch, Brothers, Punch!

Special thanks to Michael J. Morris for his support of this book.

Contents

Whats this book about? First, lets start with the title. Super suggests excellence. Sonic means sound. Logo is a symbol. Put them together and you can hear the power of audio branding. Next, a brief background into audio branding especially logos might help. Audio branding is not new. Neither are audio logos. What is new is an appreciation of sound. Not surprising that sound is riding the wave of smart speakers. Houses are becoming more voice-activated every day turning on lights and sound. We are telling Alexa and Google daily to play our favorite music and podcasts while we buy our groceries and clothes. By the end of 2021, that number is predicted to grow to 23.5 million.

But what really is audio branding?

The American Marketing Association defines audio branding as the approach of using unique, proprietary sound and music to convey a brands essence and values. Just as visual branding defines a brand using color and shape, audio branding defines a brand through sound and music.

And what is an audio logo?

An audio logo can be considered a brands musical nickname. The audio logo represents the acoustic identifier of a brand and it is often combined with an (animated) visual logo. It should be distinct/unique, recognizable, flexible, memorable and fit the brand by reflecting brand attributes.

Sonic logos have two primary jobs: the heraldic function of drawing the listeners attention to whatever the logo is a logo for, whether a product or a service, a company or some other organization, or a radio or television programme; and an identity function, expressing the values and principles which that product or service, or other entity, stands for. Sonic logos

combine a practical function with the expression of identity. Their functional structure is quite stable and homogeneous, calling the listener to attention through a melodic structure categorized by ascending melodies, large intervals, dotted rhythms, a lack of resolution, so that the music has an open ending, continuing in what

Sonic logos can be

even more powerful when they are tied to anthems or themes. An anthem is the long-form expression of a nation, a brand, a personal story, a movement, or a cause told in the language of sound. It expresses values in a sort of ownable sonic DNA. That DNA can then be used to make shorter soundssonic logosthat instantly and efficiently let listeners recall and understand rich stories.

Is audio the same as sonic?

For our purposes, sonic and sound mean the same thing. Sonic is probably sexier and more powerful. And sonic logos have been around forever. As Julian Treasure tells it:

Sonic logos have actually been around for hundreds of years: street calling used to be the main way tradesman advertised their services, as romanticised in the film Oliver. The modern-day equivalent is the ice cream van: just watch the cathartic effect of its chimes on surrounding buildings on a hot Summers day to see the potency of sonic logos deployed in the right place at the right time. As soon as sound recording became viable, the advertising industry saw the potential of memorable music/voice combinations and the jingle and tagline were born. The dividing line between jingle or tagline and a sonic logo is blurred. In general, jingles and taglines come and go with campaigns, or are specific to them, and rarely live for more than a few years. Some taglines are so strong they become sonic logos (Tony the Tigers theyre