How can brands use sound to connect with customers? As voice technology becomes embedded in consumers’ lives, the sound of your brand will be increasingly important.

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What should your brand sound like on Alexa? Because this is a transitional moment in voice technology, right now there is a real opportunity to be an early adopter, especially for a vertical like FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) as we expect an $80 billion voice commerce market by 2023. 

Bottom line, this is about using sound to connect with customers and strengthen your consistent brand voice.

Guest: Designed in Italy and assembled in Germany, Michele Arnese is a self-driven strategic and creative thinker with a strong entrepreneurial approach. As Global CEO and Creative Director of amp, in the field of audio branding, he's considered one of the world's foremost experts, with clients including Mastercard, Mercedes, Porsche, BBVA, Geberit, BMW, UniCredit, MINI, Triumph, The Linde Group and a range of international awards for his work with amp.

Topics and Timestamps:

03:00 Michele’s story from management consulting and music to founding amp a decade ago

04:10 Why sonic branding matters. First: think of James Bond as a sonic identity: this is key to the elevator pitch to convince clients of the importance of sonic branding. Close your eyes and listen to Shirley Bassey or Adele. You can see James Bond in your mind.

05:30 Sonic DNA: a core track or melody that translates to all different brand touch points such as video, commercials, transaction sounds

06:00 Sonic logo has been around a long time (famous examples include Intel and T-Mobile). Sonic DNA is a new idea: it’s about ingredients, you can combine differently to create different sonic assets for different touch points (like James Bond has different sounds for Skyfall or other editions).

07:00 Sonic branding must be more flexible and complex than just a jingle

07:15 Mastercard client work: a melody approach to the sonic DNA then developing music for very different touch points including audio visual and digital channels plus global campaigns like 2019 where we did a sonic watermark.

07:50 MasterCard New York restaurant watermark for different soundscapes

08:00 Flexibility and recognition is the payoff for sonic branding, the ROI essentially 

08:15 Budget for visual brand identity with logos (think of Gap or Tropicana logo rebrands) - why don’t we question this but in sonic branding it is harder to get budget

09:00 Music is an old connection to humans (in our brains) but a new discipline for brand strategy. Brands must break through clutter. Voice assistants like Alexa and voice tech introduce an awareness for the need to be recognized in a non-visual environment.

09:40 ROI of sonic branding - amp client UniCredit’s study: client had savings in terms of music production budget and licenses and AV production (able to begin with owned material)

11:10 We process sound and music in the limbic system, same place brain stores emotion - this where brands want to be processed, too

11:30: 

There are a lot of studies that explain the brain statistics, but if you go back to yourself, to your experience: what counts is the association that you get with the brand and the sonic ecosystem. - Michele Arnese

12:00 Michele’s research process to create a sonic mood board through immersion (example: he walks through retail store and listens)

12:30:

We create a new dimension of a brand identity. - Michele Arnese

13:00 Some of amp’s clients are in banking and financial services, also many in auto industry and FMCG

13:30 His financial sector work began with UniCredit then BBVA - this sector had a need for greater human connection between brand and customers

13:50: Some banking and financial brands realized that the human connection was missing and music could help. This is why we have seen an explosion of cases [for sonic branding] in the financial industry. - Michele

14:20 Financial services is changing greatly in last five years: fewer branches and physical location, but need to instill trust and physical security. Must compensate for changing landscape of brand experience with something that can establish the connection like music.

15:20 What is the function of the Mastercard Acceptance sound (the sound indicating that payment is successful)?

15:50 Acceptance sound for credit card company is to 1) establish trust and 2) reiterate brand recognition

16:30 How does a brand apply sonic branding to voice as with Alexa or Google Assistant? Understand the translation of the brand into sonic attributes.

17:00 How to create a voice profile for a brand (attributes such as introverted or extroverted must be heard in the brand voice)

18:10 Alexa Skills for a brand: sound and voice can join together

19:10 Understand the North Star of a brand - sonic branding helps examine this

20:00 There is a set of feelings, tonalities, impacts which must be the same for the entire brand. Define the borders. Consistency is key.

20:30 How will conversation between brand and consumers change as voice assistants have greater impact on marketing and consumer touch points?

21:00 “We have said that brands are dying on Alexa. But now there is a journey for brands to get back to more connection in creating, for example, voice avatars.”

21:45 We are in a transition phase regarding branded voice experiences

22:00 Brands who’ve done their homework will succeed in voice - establishing sonic branding is first step

22:30 Opportunity exists to be first brand to define acoustic domain in many sectors: look at FMCG, blue ocean here (with $80 billion voice commerce market in 2023, fast moving consumer goods can take advantage and be first movers with sound branding)

25:00 Music Journalism Insider: News, job listings, and interviews from the world of music journalism. Edited by Todd L. Burns.

Learn more - articles:

1. Drawing on the findings of the Best Audio Brands Ranking, Michele Arnese discusses with Paul Armstrong in an interview for Forbes what it takes to create a killer sonic brand that delivers and delves into the implications for big and small companies. - These Are the World’s Best Sonic Brands by Paul Armstrong, Forbes

2. WHAT SHOULD A BRAND SOUND LIKE? Why Mastercard, AT&T and others are composing sonic logos they hope will hit all the right notes - AdAge

Connect with Michele:

• Amp Sound Branding

• LinkedIn

• Twitter: @brandingamp

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