Imagine a Christmas ad without the music – suddenly it’s much less heart-warming. Or a Nike campaign without an up to the minute soundtrack – would it miss its target market? Music has a very special place in storytelling and creating emotion for a viewer. It can tap into our sense of nostalgia during the holidays; a certain song can bring in a rush of romance, or make you feel suddenly sad. There are classical orchestral pieces that have been used in so many different ways that you feel an instant connection to them – and you’ll bring that connection to the brand or business that’s using it now. In short: music is an emotional language.
How to Make Your Brand Stand Out
- Why you need music
- Hitting the right brand note
- Can music make or break an ad?
- How music can make you stand out as a brand
- What is sync?
- Why do I need a music licence?
Why You Need Music
Kantar, who test ads globally, point to the rise of radio in the 1920s as being fundamental to brands using their own music and sound to establish their identity.
They suggest that the benefits of ‘sonic branding’ as an element of marketing strategy are:
- Establishing an emotional connection with consumers
- Conveying brand values
- Differentiating brands from competitors
- Increasing brand recognition
Kantar’s BrandZ research shows that brands with strong brand assets achieve 76% higher brand power, and 138% higher perceptions of advertising strength – which includes ‘sonic assets’. And the world’s top 100 most valuable brands are currently worth an astonishing $6.9 trillion.
Just think of McDonald’s ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ four-note sign off, Intel Inside’s audio jingle, or Coca-Cola’s ‘Holidays are comin’. When you hear those small pieces of sound, you automatically think of the brand. A brand’s sonic identity can include everything from jingles to voice overs, sound effects to background music.
Hitting the Right Brand Note
Kantar say that, ‘by leveraging the power of music and sound to evoke emotions and memories, brands can create a consistent image and increase brand recall.’ In an analysis of audio ads for Spotify by Nielsen, they found that listeners were more likely to enjoy audio ads than display ads across radio and streaming services – and that they drove 24% higher recall than display ads, and were twice as likely to lift purchase intent.
However, brands need to choose their music carefully: ‘People have become increasingly discerning when it comes to music selection, and they can quickly spot insincere attempts to keep up with musical trends. If a brand’s choice of music seems too generic or out of touch with its audience, it risks eroding brand affinity.’
Plus, as Forbes.com makes clear, ‘A logo would not be created without a deep dive into the goals, values and voice of a brand or without data driving the creative strategy; the same should go for a brand’s sonic identity. This exploration of which keys, chord progressions or beats per minute will best convey the tone of the brand will allow it to not only create a pleasant sound to connect with its audience, but also ensure that there is a much stronger ROI for this new sonic identity.’
So, to stand out from the crowd, look for high quality, original music, as well as the music or sounds that will chime with your business or brand values, as well as your target audience and your messaging - a study by PHMG suggests that 74% of young adults develop a better understanding of a company’s personality through music.
What’s your music identity as a brand and how is it creating a point of difference in today’s hyper-competitive environment?
Can Music Make or Break an Ad?
When you add music to advertising, it makes it more effective – and it’s been scientifically proven. According to a study by Leicester University, consumers are 96% more likely to remember the brands that use music aligned with their brand identity.
Studies show that we use the same parts of the brain to process music that are responsible for emotion and memory. In a Nielsen study of over 600 TV ads, those with music performed better with regard to empathy, creativity, emotive power and information when compared to those without music.
Music hits you at a neurological level: if it’s pleasing, the brain releases dopamine, aka ‘the happiness hormone’: music puts your body into a contented state. The neurotransmitter oxytocin is also activated – this is the bonding hormone; like dopamine, it’s released in interpersonal relationships and creates the typical ‘butterfly’ feeling of being in love.
Experiments by a research team at the University of Zurich also showed that oxytocin can influence trust in other people and even change the behaviour of the test subjects as a result. In short, music can make people happy and influence emotionally-driven behaviour. Music also ensures that people remember this feeling: episodic memory associates music with the situation in which it was first heard. Hence, why it’s important for brands and businesses to harness the power of music.
At Kantar, 84% of the ads they test globally have music, whilst for Ipsos, it’s 89%; 80% of YouTube ads include music and TikTok is one of the platforms where the sound – and therefore the music – is most definitely ‘on’, making music a key element.
Beto Azout, SoStereo’s co-founder, told LLBOnline, ‘Brands are putting out more video content than before – there’s more pressure on musical decisions to be made cleverly. There’s more traffic on all of these platforms, but also the attention spans are shorter. That’s where music can play a very big role. It’s been proven that when someone likes a piece of music, they are twice as likely to continue watching the video and remembering it later. That’s where the concept of brand recall starts to become a real factor.’
How Music Can Make You Stand out as a Brand
A tailor-made signature sound or music score can definitely make you stand out. Netflix’s signature ‘Tudum’ – that three-second burst that plays when you open the streamer – captures the excitement and anticipation that comes with starting a new show or movie.
It was created by a team of audio designers at the company and launched in 2015. Then, in 2020, Netflix decided to update ‘Tudum’, making it longer and more cinematic. Who did they commission? None other than Mr Hollywood Movie Score himself, Hans Zimmer. The new version, created for theatrical releases, was made with a full orchestra to give it maximum impact.
This one sound has created an emotional connection with Netflix’s customers – it’s the sound that people associate with relaxation, entertainment, intrigue and enjoyment, so much so that they built a whole campaign around it, ‘Sounds like a good story’:
There are brands that make music a more fundamental part of their identity. Taco Bell, for instance, gives out $500 gift cards to help subsidize the costs of touring bands through its Feed the Beat programme, and tapped up Lil Nas X, a former fast-food employee, as Chief Impact Officer to help connect music culture with the brand.
Another food brand working with artists and making music a core part of its identity is Just Eat. They’ve worked with Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry, and their most recent campaign saw Latto and Christina Aguilera singing their praises.
Both of these campaigns and collabs are great examples of finding the perfect artist and music to fit your brand personality – and your target audience – and then building on them.
What Is Sync?
So, now you know why you need music for your branded or business content, let’s look at how to get it. If you don’t have the budget to commission a composer to create unique music for your project, you’ll want to search out some sync tracks. ‘Sync’ is shorthand for a music licence that’s granted to synchronise (‘sync’) music with some kind of content. That could be anything from films to TV shows, ads to video games, YouTube content to podcasts or radio dramas and movie trailers.
Why Do I Need a Music Licence?
The rights to a piece of music are usually owned by a record label and/or the composer or songwriter. If you don’t have a licence to use the music, then you can be fined, or your content can be taken down on platforms such as YouTube because of copyright infringement.
When you purchase a music licence, the contract will look at how the track’s being used, how much of the track you’re using, and whether it’s used as background music, or as a title track during the credits, etc. Licensing big names or tracks can be very expensive, so if you’re working to a limited budget, you can turn to dedicated music libraries.
Companies such as Audio Network, which own the rights to their music, take the stress out of licensing. You know that whatever track you choose from the catalogue, it’s fully licensed, and you won’t have to worry about take-downs or fines.
Instead of having to negotiate with labels or artists, it’s ‘one click’ licensing, which makes the whole process very straightforward – no matter what content you’re creating. Audio Network have hundreds of thousands of tracks, in every genre and to cover any mood.
Music to Make Your Brand Sing
Now you’ve seen how much impact music can bring to your brand or business, from emotion to recall and reinforcing brand loyalty, be inspired by how global brands have perfected their choices, with our deep dives on IKEA, Just Eat, and the best radio ads of all time. Or, be on top of the trends in music licensing to stay ahead of the crowd.
Our hand-picked playlists make finding music to license quick and easy, whether it’s for TV programmes, advertising, digital entertainment or branded content. Plus, we have collections, from orchestral to hip hop, and regular new releases of high quality, original music in any genre, to suit every mood.
Need Music for Your Project?
At Audio Network we create original music, of the highest quality, for broadcasters, brands, creators, agencies and music fans everywhere. Through clear and simple licensing, we can offer you a huge variety of the best quality music across every conceivable mood and genre. Find out how we can connect you with the perfect collaborator today by clicking the button below!
