From the ‘ta-dum’ sound that plays at the start of every Netflix production through to Apple’s world-renowned startup chime, it’s fair to say that we all encounter examples of sonic branding every day.
‘It’s the musical translation of a brand,’ Becky Wixon — music composer, sonic strategist and co-founder of Balance the Mix — explains in the latest instalment of our Duets video series. ‘While brands have a visual identity — usually comprising a logo, a certain typography, a tone of voice and a set of values — sonic branding is about how you translate all of that into sound.
‘Sonic branding is quite a strategic approach: it’s not just about what sounds good, it’s [communicating] what the essence of a brand feels like.’
Speaking to composer David Lowe — the creator of the evergreen and instantly recognisable BBC News theme music — in our latest Duets video, Becky adds that sonic branding is ‘a superpower for brands’.
Discussing his own experience in sonic branding — which includes composing music for such shows as The One Show, Panorama and Grand Designs — David says that its importance has evolved during his career.
‘In a way, sonic branding is what I’ve been doing for pretty much of all my career,’ he says. ‘But when I started doing it, it wasn’t really called sonic branding. It’s always been about finding an identity for a programme, and I’ve always enjoyed creating short bursts of music like theme tunes.
‘Over time, I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t work as a sound, and what’s going to pull people in. The epitome is BBC News, which was all about finding an identifiable sound that, as soon as you heard it, wherever you heard it, you’d know it was time to watch the news on TV.’
In the full Duets video, which you can watch in the embed above, Becky and David discuss more real-life examples of sonic branding, the effectiveness of these specially crafted pieces and how emerging composers can break into this field.
