Insight
Create a recognizable brand voice to enhance the emotional resonance of your customers.
In a competitive market, how can brands hit the bull's eye and communicate with customers? In addition to visual performance, how to sound is also very important, such as the familiar sound logo, such as McDonald's “I'm lovin’ it”, the ringtone of Family Mart and 7-ELEVEN, Netflix's short and powerful sound effect and Apple iPhone ringtone, etc. These melodies are often heard in our life and not only enhance our understanding of these brands. Process interviewed our long-time partner, audio-visual producer Hong Li, and Process's Taiwan branch general manager Yang Shuyan and former creative director 鋐葉信鋐. They talk about the importance of sound recognition in branding and share their creativity.
Voice Recognition Gains Importance in Commercial Markets
Modern life is fast-paced and requires people to accomplish multiple tasks at the same time. In some cases, people may not be able to read text or view visual content, such as when driving, doing household chores, or in other situations where they need to maintain visual focus, and it is more in line with modern people's characteristics of multi-tasking, high efficiency, convenience, and emotional needs to obtain information by listening. Therefore, how to create differentiation in such a business market is very important. With the boom of digital media and social media platforms, sound has become a highly interactive and easy-to-use medium for brands to communicate their brand values online and further connect with their customers.
In the process of brand building, sound recognition not only highlights the characteristics of the brand, but also becomes a powerful tool. Unlike the common market practice of using text or images, sound does not require translation and overcomes the communication barriers of language and culture, injecting rich vitality into the digital era and realizing a more direct way of communication for brands in globalization, which is a way of remembering brands to combat visual fatigue for customers.
How to create a unique and recognizable brand voice?
EPILEDS YEH, former Creative Director of Process Pro Brand, said, "There are three categories of sound recognition: including music, sound effects, and human voice. Through a well-designed sound identity, a brand can not only strengthen its story beyond the visual aspect, but also leave a deep emotional impression in consumers' mind. Unique and engaging sound elements - be it music, sound effects or voice - can serve as a powerful medium for brand storytelling, eliciting an emotional response that reinforces brand identity and loyalty. For example, a catchy melody closely related to a brand's values can create an emotional atmosphere when customers shop or use a product or service, so that they not only remember the brand's features, but also the positive emotions associated with the brand in their minds. This emotional memory will deepen with time and multiple interactions, further consolidating the link between the customer and the brand. In short, sound recognition is a tool with great potential. Therefore, a good strategy is needed to create a consistent brand identity system from image, personality, visual and music.
(There is something audio-visual producer Hung Lap and Process Pro's former Creative Director Yip Hsin-po share their creative insights.)
How to define a precise sound identity style for a brand?
When it comes to vocal expression, producer Hung Lap said that different styles of music and the use of musical instruments will give the audience a different feeling. For example, pure piano music can make people feel stable and comfortable, while classical music can give people a sense of high class. If you add war drums, the picture will become majestic, and if you add a big orchestra, the picture will become wider. Therefore, in the production of brand sound recognition, Ms. Yang Shuyan, General Manager of Process Taiwan Branch, emphasizes that brand sound recognition still needs to return to the individuality of the brand's strategic foundation to set the tone, and the upper and lower veins are connected with each other, in order to design a sound that corresponds to the brand, and to continue to accumulate the brand's complete and consistent impression.
Enterprises should incorporate the five senses of experience to deepen brand recognition.
An overseas research report points out that different background music and sound effects in the vending area of a store will lead to different consumer outcomes. Such user experience can make customers more immersed in the situation and cause shallow consciousness resonance. The analysis of big data can help brands to understand more precisely which sound elements can best touch the target audience. Pro suggests that if enterprises have stores, they can think about using background sound effects to create a context through different sound effects, so that consumers can be more integrated into the whole experience, enhance the customer experience journey, and more subconsciously motivate consumers to shop, which is also a good way to increase the ping effect. Taiwan enterprises usually focus on visual and textual ideas in brand building, but in fact, making good use of the five senses of experience to establish a specific and complete brand system is a very important part of brand building.
Case reading:CTC Spectrum Electronics
Case reading:Mia C'bon Supermarket
Case reading:Sinyi Realty
About Jimmy Hong
The director of Something AV Productions Ltd. specializes in commercial soundtracks, game soundtracks and sound effects. 2022 Golden Film Awards, won the best sound effects in the technical category for "Pioneer Mission". He has produced commercials for gogoro, Jet Set, Maserati, etc. He is also a famous YouTuber, Chi Chi. He has also produced the soundtracks for famous YouTubers such as Shiki Chichi and Rabbit Ji. In addition to commercials and games, he also has experience in producing children's music and pop album singles. Two of her songs were included in the campaign albums of Kevin Ko and Tsai Ing-wen respectively. His highly sensitive personality, ability to break down and analyze music, and rational approach to creation is a major weapon that makes him stand out from other music composers. Mr. Hung has worked with Process Pro brand, such as CTC Spectrum Electronics, Mia C'bon, and Xinyi Housing, etc. He has also worked with the CTC Spectrum Electronics, Mia C'bon, and Xinyi Housing.