Posts tagged brand
Sonic branding
Jun 21st
Brand, branding, visual branding, brand recognition… we hear a lot of that when people talk about advertising or marketing. But have you ever heard of sonic branding? I know I hadn’t, and coming across an article about it woke up my curiosity.
These are tiny snippets of music that have great impact on our psyche. They instantly remind us of companies without the help of any other element. They transcend language and are less than 5 seconds long. No idea what I’m talking about? Play this 4 second video. Arguably the most popular sonic brand to date:
But where did this come from?
Sonic branding originates from what is known as leitmotifs in the world of music composing: musical themes associated with particular characters, places, or plot moments. We owe this to Richard Wagner, responsible for making leitmotifs popular back in the 1800s with his operas. In them, Wagner identified every character with his music. Everyone has heard his opera music at least once, and when I say everyone, I mean every-one. Let’s do a childhood flashback with Loony Tunes.
In “What’s Opera, Doc?” they use Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” song to identify the plot setting. Here is the original:
From art in opera to business, leitmotifs have made their way into the advertising world with sonic branding and have built a multi-billion dollar industry around them. Corporations spend millions trying to manipulate our minds to recognize their sonic brands. The Nokia tune, Windows start-up sound, McDonald’s “I’m loving it” tune. As soon as you hear one of those you are instantly reminded of the company. Sonic branding pioneer company, Cutting Edge Commercial, have been doing this since 1999. They say anything can be brought down to 5 second snippets of music and be identifiable.
So next time you want someone to remember you, maybe having your own personal sonic brand might help.
Performances and their lesson
Apr 7th
“I might as well look as alien as possible because it reinforces a point I am making. My whole thing is that I approach everything as an absolute outsider. It’s the only way I can break so many rules.”
-Klaus Nomi-
If you read this by itself you might think this Klaus guy is some anarchist criminal looking for the next way to get into trouble. If I show you a picture you probably won’t even want to read the rest of this post… But hang in there, read along!
Putting it into context, you realize how much these words make sense. Klaus Nomi was an iconic performer and singer from the second half of 1980′s. His approach to art had never been seen before. By breaking rules, he was talking about breaking apart from social paradigms. This was a man who combined classical opera with punk and pop. His performances were bizarre. He used fashion a lot in his works as a way to differentiate himself as being an alien, an outsider. Thanks to this uniqueness he was able stand out, and viewing the world as an outsider empowered him to perform without being held back by “rules.” That right there is his logo, pretty unique huh?
Not going too extreme, this idea is important in the business world as well. Advertisers struggle as markets are being continuously cluttered with ads, and marketers are challenged to position a brand in consumer’s minds differently from competing firms, although their products or services are pretty much the same. What I’m trying to say is a lesson can be learned from Klaus.
To wow people, sometimes you have to see the whole picture and approach it as an outsider. If you do, then you won’t be subject to predefined rules of behavior that can blind you from seeing opportunities. Consulting groups work like this.
For my art class we have to do a performance piece. The way I see it, a break from whats been done before is what’s important. I have to have this in mind when I think of my performance assignment.
For the curious: Klaus Nomi
