After a few fleeting moments, it happened… an indelible connection was formed between the listener and the brand. And while you might not think it takes a lot of effort to create a logo sound because it only lasts three to five seconds, the science behind these brand sounds is real.
The concept evolved to from mnemonic resources used in Learning and Memory. Loci mnemonics use location-based images and pegword mnemonics use rhymes (one sun, two blue), all to help you remember things. Go a step further to print your ABC or Do-Re-Mis (thanks, Julie Andrews) by using a melody.
In advertising, mnemonics are sound logos made up essentially of melodic patterns. They are helping consumers remember your brand. Our lizard brains are wired to recognize and categorize patterns. We long to bring order out of chaos. So if done right, these patterns stay with us for a lifetime. You’ll want something diverse enough to be unique, yet easy enough to recognize amid the clutter and chaos of information and sounds that surround us.
How do you create a memorable musical memory for your brand? I have summarized that answer in five different steps:
Define your brand in adjectives.
Are you friendly and close? Are you trustworthy and trustworthy? Does it provide entertainment to the masses or is it more of a service that finds solutions to problems? A good audio brand company might use major chords, jumping notes, glissandos, and simple “bright” melodic structures to convey fun, positivity, and ease of use. To establish dominance and leadership, chord triads may be an option. Or you can create a tune that asks a “question” and then resolves into a “solution” for problem solving companies. While there are many strategies, the first step is to determine the words that best describe your brand.
Know your competition.
How are you different from your competitors? Farmers Insurance was up against competing giant State Farm, which had not only a similar name, but also a well-known, fancy, decades-old jingle written by Barry Manilow. (State Farm would have its own challenges to update this jingle, but that’s another story.) Instead of going for something similarly comforting yet serious, Farmers Insurance tried something different and went with a vocal melody. His resulting “We Are Farmers” mnemonic became iconic in no time. Clocking in at just under three seconds, it still says a lot, as he sings the company’s name with confidence and follows it up with the cutesy earworm, “Bum ba-dum dum dum dum dum dum,” which is simple and catchy enough. for children in a playground. What this says to the consumer is, “We are an insurance company that is confident and always has your back, but is also fun to deal with…a trusted friend.”
Think about the musical key .
The key and instrumentation are the color of your mnemonic. And just like choosing clothes, you might personally like plaid, but what will your date think when she’s the cool, monochrome crowd? The purpose of this metaphor is that the tone/color of your mnemonic should fit your brand and consumer, not you, so avoid personal taste as best you can and trust the stereo. Amazon Games knows its customers very well. They also understand that gaming history is a proud part of gaming culture, so they wanted to honor that in their new audio logo. Aiming to pay homage to games of the past while still having a futuristic flare, Amazon Games enlisted ALIBI composers Kent Carter and Jeff Dodson, who used retro synths but with modern sound design and production techniques that still remain. they feel very current.
Consider your surroundings.
Where will these sounds be experienced: mobile devices, movie theaters, TVs, podcasts? As you settle into a longer movie experience in a theater, your brain can enjoy the richly developed melodic sounds of a longer studio logo. Over the years, we’ve come to associate it with the end of trailer previews and the beginning of our feature film. It sets us up for a quality cinematic journey. But with the rapid turnover of content on streaming platforms, Netflix’s short “tu-dum” mnemonic works incredibly well. Brief and flashy, it is not facilitating an experience for us. It’s acting more like an exclamation point – something’s coming NOW, so pay attention! Netflix also benefits from replay. This mnemonic has become iconic in a short time due to the exponential frequency it plays on an individual.
Put that shit on repeat.
Reread the last sentence above about Netflix. If you don’t have the luxury of being a streaming platform and banging between the ears every 30 minutes, be prepared to settle in for the long haul because mnemonics don’t work overnight.Bulk media buys and a long-term commitment to using it in as many places as possible will result in pattern recognition. I love Cricket Wireless’ very simple two note mnemonic. The higher-pitched tone is playful and feels light-hearted, just like the brand’s smiley-face grin, which often accompanies it. But the brilliant aspect of this is that because it’s so short, you can put it (and YES put it) anywhere in your ads. She often starts her ads, so before she can get past the ad, she unknowingly gets hooked on her “la la” sound. Now, this two-note sound logo would be ineffective if the company didn’t decide to commit to using it as much as possible. For me personally, it’s like a dog whistle that I can’t ignore when I hear it.
From brand identity and competition to tone, setting, and repetition, there’s so much more than what that you seem (or rather, heard!) when creating effective and memorable sound logos. But with a little perspective, some basic best practices, and top-notch audio equipment, you’ll be well-prepared to produce the next great earworm.
.