subject: Audio Branding: Every Product Should Sound Right [print this page] Audio Branding: Every Product Should Sound Right
Whether or not we happily agree, we are inundated with the effects of advertising throughout the media, a potluck of pop-cultural trivia that takes its toll on our minds in various ways. Businesses which utilize sound in any way (through television, radio, the internet, in their stores, for example) are fully aware of the effect the smallest noise can have on a customer. Audio branding is a field which dedicates itself to finding the perfect sounds to structure a company's identity, so to speak. This field is easily overlooked, since the smallest beeps and blips are, more often than not, simply absorbed by the consumer as inherent to a particular product.
All utilized sounds contribute to a whole package which will become an essential aspect of the product and communicate exactly what the brand represents. The traditional AOL instant messenger sound, the THX sound experience (for lack of a better word) in the theater, and the sound which signals your computer's successful startup are all prime examples of audio branding. Like famous advertising jingles or the adoption of some type of background music, these sounds paint small portraits of the company's brand and simply stick with us. Audio branding, although the sound "logos" may be only a matter of a single note or two, is integral to a sufficient brand. The highest quality products take this into account by striving for that ideal sound-representative to accompany the product, whether it be a phone, a game console or game itself, a television or radio station, a car, an electronic device, or countless others.
Along with advertising jingles, which are comparatively longer tunes that present the company or brand's motto, audio branding provides a deeper, more immersive experience for the consumer with the company's product or services. These little bleeps and bloops can arguably work as subliminal affects on those who hear them. When we draw our attention to them, however, we can see, or rather hear, the powerful effect they have on products and our relation to them. If the subtlest aspect of a product is compelling, the odds are drastically improved that the product is compelling. No company with a worthwhile product will neglect the understated but vital role of audio branding.
