The 10th PANA General Membership Meeting was held last October 25, 2012. This month’s discussion was entitled, “The Sound of Successful Brands,” with Tony Hertz of Radio and Brand Sound.
A world-renowned radio guru, Tony Hertz, has evolved and expanded his highly-acclaimed seminars on creative radio into a compelling session which demonstrates the important role sound can or should play in enhancing all aspects of a brand’s Integrated Marketing Communication.
In order to harness the power in sound, one must understand how sound affects us physiologically, behaviorally, cognitively, and psychologically. “Sound has a powerful effect on emotions and feelings can be equated to good business,” he said. Hertz also stated that there is a large and growing body of evidence that most purchase decisions are emotionally—rather than rationally—driven.
Benefits of visual branding such as recognition, consistency, creative brand personality, return on investment and clarity of values can also be gained through audio branding. However, according to Hertz, sound offers additional benefits like reinforcing emotions and behavior and satisfying customer experience.
Being the exclusive Philippine partner of The Sound Agency, they identified eight elements of brand sound: Product Sound, Brand Voice, Sonic Logo, Brand Music, Advertising Sound, Brand Audio, Telephone Sound, and Soundscapes. For these elements, four golden rules of sound must be applied: first, make it congruent. Second, make it appropriate. Third, make it valuable. Fourth, test it and test it again. Hertz adds another golden rule for Web sound which is to make it optional.
“Sound can add so much to a brand’s website, making any site more personal, friendly, fun and accessible. I believe passionately that a website’s design should, at the outset, include a well-considered and designed audio.”
A point made by Hertz on the use of sonic logos best summarizes the importance of sound in the overall making of a brand.
“It goes without saying that visual logos and visual corporate styles have been carefully considered, discussed and designed to represent the brand’s essence and character. The same should be true for the audio component, particularly given the potential of making an emotional connection with consumers.”
The October 2012 GMM was sponsored by 720 Degrees Consumer Connect, provider of multi-communication (TV, Web, Telephony, Digital) hubs with open-source applications, that harnesses the leverage of large social networks to provide a secure revenue-generator for regular end users. For more information visit them at http://www.720cc.com/
PANA GMMs are interactive forums where industry experts are invited to share information to PANA members on timely and relevant topics; held every last Thursday of the month at the Hard Rock Café, 3/F Glorietta 3, Makati City.
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