Ask any person to describe branding to you, and they’ll most likely talk about logos, graphics, colours and web design, and they are not wrong. But according to branding & marketing expert Peter Brittain, what they, and more importantly what many business people overlook is that branding can be about more than just what people can see.
What you must realise is whilst visual branding such as logos is important for a company or business it is also possible to use audio as well to build brand awareness.
Just think of the number of companies who you can instantly recognise, simply by hearing a short piece of music, a voice, a tone or some other sound. A couple of prime examples are the four notes that you hear at the end of an Intel ad, and how about ‘I’m loving it’, being sung after McDonald’s have told you about their latest meal deal.
If you go to the movies you are bound to know that when you hear the snare drums and trumpets start playing it’s going to be a 20th Century Fox movie on the screen, and another movie company proves you don’t even need music to have an instantly recognisable audio. We are of course, referring to Leo the lion roaring twice, before the intro of every MGM movie.
These huge brands have become instantly recognisable as much for the sounds they are associated with as they are with their logos. So how can you use audio to help make your brand more recognisable?
The first thing to decide is what sort of sounds you want to use. If you want it to be musical, it only needs to be a few notes. Remember Intel only use 4! It should in some way relate to the sort of business you have, so for example, anything related to technology should use electronic sounds. For a company in a more traditional area such as finance, the sound needs to be more serious and business-like.
A great way to use any sound or music you want your customer to immediately associate with your brand is to use it in any videos that your business creates. Whether these are short ads, product information videos on your website, or even videos you post on your social media sites, always use your audio logo at the start and end of the video.
To get your audio logo created should not cost a lot. After all, it is only going to be a few seconds of audio. There are lots of freelance sites where you can get it created relatively cheaply. Make sure you make it clear to the person creating your audio logo exactly what you want, and if possible send them some samples of music or audio similar to what you want yours to sound like.
