Interview with persoenlich.com
Hearing is the new seeing.
May 8, 2019
Acoustic brand management is becoming more and more important. Philipp Schweidler, partner and managing director of the Department of Noise, explains what makes for successful audio branding. A conversation about everyday cacophony, exclamation marks and extra-terrestrials.
Mr Schweidler, probably every child can whistle the Migros tune. How jealous are you of the inventor of this audio branding?
The Migros Audio logo, which is already a "sound-a-like" composition from the 1990s, stands in Switzerland – together with that of Swisscom – as a symbol of “The Power of Sound” in brand communication. The fact that it is still used today to this consistency testifies to the quality and flexibility of the composition under the difficult conditions during creation. And I take my hat off to that.
But after Migros, it will soon stop as far as I am concerned. Impromptu acoustic logos from companies hardly come to my mind. What lies behind this?
Can you draw the Swisscom logo from memory? The comparison only works partially, because visual communication can be looked at for an endless period of time. Sound, on the other hand, penetrates – whether we like it or not – directly into the sub-conscious at lightning speed, triggers emotions there and then – fleeting as sound is – pulls away again. However, if that sound is playing again the next time that you come into contact with the brand, then remember – the brand becomes noticeable. Moreover, if this sound is also good and embodies the brand, then it makes a relevant contribution to building trust. And this is exactly where the key to successful audio branding lies.
"People can look the other way but cannot detach themselves when listening and especially feeling"
However, there are considerably more patented figurative trade marks than audio trade marks …
… which, for example, have increased thirty-fold in Germany in the last 20 years. There is already an increasing need for a sharpened soundtrack, even before smart speakers and company. But so that no one allies themselves to the fundamentalists here: The visual appearance of a brand is not devalued or does not even disappear as a result. Rather, it is about an additional sensory level, which – especially in a multi-sensory network – can help a brand to spread into the gut instinct of the recipient. Moreover, it is clear that the addressing of the recipients has to be adapted to an increase in audio-only touchpoints.
Has audio branding changed significantly in recent years due to digitisation?
Digitisation has given us new creation and analysis tools. And it has opened up new and multiple audio-visual channels and touchpoints. Interactive brand experiences, the unchecked distribution of headphones and increasing visual over-saturation have also contributed to a growing need for a sharper brand sound. And an animated figurative trade mark without sound seems a bit unfinished.
And what are the other challenges? I think not only of the voice-controlled loudspeakers that you mentioned but also about artificial intelligence …
Can you draw the Swisscom logo from memory? The comparison only works partially, because visual communication can be looked at for an endless period of time. Sound, on the other hand, penetrates – whether we like it or not – directly into the sub-conscious at lightning speed, triggers emotions there and then – fleeting as sound is – pulls away again. However, if that sound is playing again the next time that you come into contact with the brand, then remember – the brand becomes noticeable. Moreover, if this sound is also good and embodies the brand, then it makes a relevant contribution to building trust. And this is exactly where the key to successful audio branding lies.
Let us take the still young Bank, Cler as a case study. When you were composing the audio logo, how did you know what the bank had to sound like?
An audio logo is the tonal distillate of a brand, reduced to about three seconds. To look at this in isolation is a very abstract and correspondingly risky matter. That is why we initially develop a "sound DNA", an effective piece of music that really conveys a "brand feeling" and can be assessed in context. The playing field created in this way serves as the basis for the desired sound assets. This gives everyone involved security. And future touchpoint adaptations can be developed quickly and flexibly. You can also leave this playing field from time to time ... However, to answer your specific question: It is a process that has led up to it.
It resounds: an audio logo is not enough. What else is part of the acoustic identity of a brand? Let's stay with the bank, Cler.
Of course, the sound assets always depend on the touchpoints. Bank Cler has recognised the power of coherence and uses its sound identity accordingly: In addition to the audio logo already mentioned, several soundscapes have been produced for multi-media applications as well as on-hold music for their telephone service centre and there is one Motion toolkit with soundtrack, ring/message tones, a multi-channel, branded streaming solution for sound re-inforcement of the branches, guidelines for the selection of library music and – last but not least – brand voices in the national languages. The brandsound movie gives a good overview of our work for the bank.
Does a brand sound different on TV than it does on YouTube or Facebook, for example?
The brand tone, the "brand feel", should, of course, remain perceptible across all channels. But to make a comparison with the visual branding: The branches of UBS are not painted red all the way through. In audio branding as well, the touchpoints, their context and the communication intent behind them always have an influence on the design of the assets.
Can different emotions be conveyed for the same brand?
Yes, of course. The question is always which aspects and ambitions of a brand should be translated to the auditory level. If there are too many of them or if there is too much tension in relation to each another, there is a risk of a "gray-brown sauce" – as is often the case when contradictory goals are pursued and the egg-laying woolly milk sow is ordered. Only one thing is certain: there is no magic formula when it comes to translating into sound. What is needed is a strong concept that carries the brand
We are mainly talking about music here. An off-screen speaker is also required for radio and TV commercials. How important is exclusivity here?
If two direct competitors use the same speaker in a marketing campaign, then this will certainly not help the potential customer inclining to your company with the purchase decision. However, a voice must have distinctive accent or intonation characteristics in order to support a specific brand feeling. The tonality of the content is much more important. Industry exclusivity is rare because it is either too expensive for the customer and/or an existential problem for the speaker.
You write your first name with the i inverted as an exclamation mark: Ph!L!pp. So what is going on?
An outgrowth of my preference for design and symmetry. I don't even see it anymore. But it's amazing how many people have bother with e-mail – I hope that no one has broken their fingers in the process.
"We like to be loud without screaming"
Your agency is called the Department of Noise. Can you only make noise or can you also master the soft tones?
When used correctly, silence is an extremely powerful tool! At the Department of Noise, we like to be loud without screaming. We fight against the everyday cacophony, which our glues up our brains and dulls our senses. On the other hand, we love to help a brand in an unconventional way, to create emotional and auditory brand experiences that noticeably move, touch and inspire people. And thereby make brands fit for a world in which audio is becoming increasingly important
Back to Migros: How fatal would it be if the orange giant changed the audio logo one day?
It would be fatal if Migros took something so fundamental out of its range (laughs). Seriously: You would lose an asset central to brand strategy that has been built up over the last 30 years and which can be used in a variety of ways. A key success factor of a sound strategy is its consistent application over several years, as brands that are currently dealing with the matter or have already dealt with it are well positioned for future applications. And since Migros is working at the forefront in Switzerland on applications for "voice first", I'm not very worried that something will go wrong there.
Published on persoenlich.com
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Department of Noise
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