The drummer in Def Leppard only has one arm

I missed my UPS delivery yesterday. It got me thinking — if only UPS had a chime to rival that ear-raping ice-cream van that stalks my postcode like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

And so there you have it. A perfectly good premise for a blog. And with hindsight, that title is possbily a little misleading.

Is audio the missing limb in your brand strategy?

Much better.

So why is it that UPS vans don’t chime? And who said it was OK for ice-cream vendors to make such a fuss about their arrival?

Well, the government, that’s who. They made Mr Whippy an exception to the rule on noise pollution quite a while ago.

No really… check out the Code of Practice on Noise from Ice-Cream Van Chimes Etc in England 2013:

It is an offence under section 62 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 (CoPA) to use a loudspeaker in the street. There is a specific exception for the operation of loudspeakers fixed to vehicles used to convey and sell perishable commodities for human consumption to the public, such as ice-cream, provided that they do not give reasonable cause for annoyance to persons in the vicinity.

Start tuning up

In theory then, let’s say your company delivers a perishable commodity for human consumption to the public. You’d be well within your rights to announce your arrival with some kind of brand jingle… although not before noon or after 7pm.

And please note… there are a just few more terms and conditions to stop your jingle from jangling.

Your jingle must NOT:

• be played too frequently — less than intervals of 2 minutes
• be played for too long — no more than 12 seconds
• be too loud — 80 dB
• appear to be distorted — well that one’s clearly ignored
• be played near people that may be sensitive to noise — for example fishermen
• be played in a stationary position — so on approaching small children and fishermen is fine
• be played within sight of another van — avoid sparking a turf war

Let the music play

Still, from a branding perspective, this is looking really rather exciting. Why not get yourself a brand jingle to help sell your street food?

But clearly not the popular ones — ‘Do Your Ears Hang Low?’, ‘Pop Goes The Weasel’, ‘The Entertainer’, ‘Music Box Dancer’, ‘Home On The Range’, ‘Für Elise’… all already taken.

Laugh as you may, you’ll find that more and more creative agencies are using audio as a serious brand asset.

Because hearing is one of our most powerful senses, right? And we’re all exposed to sound every day, mostly whether we like it or not. No effort required — our ears are always open.

We all know the power of audio and music. Sound affects our mood, our energy levels, our focus. It can get us on our feet or send us to sleep. From that first pulse of our mother’s heartbeat we’re naturally attuned to sound and rhythm.

Good vibrations

Back to brand strategy. How can we tap into the psychology around sound to build positive connections with customers?

Sound takes a short cut to memories and emotions. It’s far more direct than any carefully worded advert or blog. Why not make it a key brand differentiator to form a closer, positive consumer connection?

So tell me, in this golden age of the internet, why are companies not leaping on the idea of audio branding?

For sure, advertising jingles have been used since the dawn of commercial radio. Mostly to sell burgers and frozen peas and like. I’ll wager we all have a fair few inane jingles woven deep into the very fabric of our subconscious — the ultimate brand destination.

But what do I mean by brand audio? Are we talking little logo jingles — for example Intel’s short but unmistakable four-note chime? Well sort of, kind of… but now expand your ideas… think broader.

Think… b r a n d s o u n d s c a p e.

Of course when audio meets branding, inevitably it has to line up with your brand personality. Next question? How to prescribe and govern the use of audio within your brand soundscape?

Cue ‘music theory’

Let’s say a brand agency creates and keeps the use of audio ‘on brand’. Then you need a set of rules and conditions so the brand soundscape stays in key.

Does that mean a particular brand soundscape exists exclusively in its own musical key? Dm, C, F#?

And how do you pinpoint brand audio personality? With colour, brand tones might be bright, pastel, earthy, neon, etc.

Maybe your brand audio could be more organ, string, woodwind… but not brass. Or why not digital, early 1980s analog synth and more notably Moog? Perhaps it’s entirely vocal, human, animal, bird songs and tweets.

Sound, colour… isn’t it all just frequencies and waveforms? We use a colour wheel to find our brand colours. Why not navigate our brand soundscape using the circle of fifths?

Working in sound

In the realm of UI (user interface) design, audio already plays a key part in UX (user interface). It gives important feedback and assurance… ‘Thank you for your order, your pizza is on the way’.

UX designers are constantly having to come up with ways of connecting with users — communicating and delivering content.

Incorporating audio into UX design enhances what is primarily a visual experience. Conveying emotion, offering feedback with specific sounds, signalling hierarchal changes.

Essentially, UX designers get to choose from three types of audio:

• sound — chimes, blips, beeps for those micro gestures
• voice — for complex information and/or dialogue
• music — expressing a mood or moment of emotion

Your brand soundscape would feature all three.

It’s an entirely credible approach. Creating and rationalising a brand soundscape using basic music theory. Building principles in hierarchy, emotion, and feedback.

Creating harmony

Your soundscape hierarchy is built on audio characteristics and tonal personalities. Take your typical brand style sheet — H1, H2, H3, body, bold, italics, etc — and map that onto sound.

• H1 = primary brand sounds — main theme, jingle or variation thereof
• H2 = primary UX sounds — functional button clicks and gestures
• body = secondary UX sounds — more passive sounds like opening, closing of sections, accordion menus
• bold/italics — notifications/alerts, for feedback and assurance

Add descriptive labels to buttons. Actions and gestures can be spoken out loud using screen readers. The brand gets to choose the voice.

Using brand audio can help you scale all manner of accessibility obstacles. Your brand gets to connect with more customers.

Brand audio. The possibilities and applications are endless. And the reach — priceless!

Keep your ears open

So what about the future? Maybe when a brand is looking to create ‘Our tone of voice’ we’ll be coming up with audio suggestions — preferred accents, a regional dialect, character stylings, or perhaps celebrity voice overs.

I shall definitely insist on giving guidance re choice of hold music. I’ve listened to ‘I’m a Barbie Girl’ just once too often while waiting patiently in line.

Right now sound as an integral part of the everyday brand may seem a bit too abstract and out there. But without a doubt, sound within branding can provide a direct line to your customers on an emotional level.

It may take a little while longer for brand soundscapes to earworm their way into everyday brand guidelines. But mark my vibes, sometime soon most businesses big and small will be tuning into the idea.

Just remember… you heard it here first.

And now I’m off to dust off my Casiotone, replace those AA batteries and get to work on my scales and arpeggios. Just how did that a-ha riff go again…