Become a world champion brand builder with the use of audio

Standing out in the daily flood of media is a high-stakes game. And it’s not easy in our fragmented media landscape. But research by TAMBR and Validators shows that the strategic use of audio can quickly help you make headway.

Brand awareness is the key to a successful brand. After all, how can consumers recognize your brand if they’ve never heard of it? What good is your brand positioning if no one knows it exists?

Of course, there are differences between brands, and it’s important to highlight them. But without brand recognition, there can be no differentiation, positioning, or brand recall. Ultimately, our purchasing decisions are largely driven by routine and recognition, not by complex considerations at the moment of purchase. Consumers, on the other hand, do respond to brand associations—shapes, colors, and sounds that evoke the brand in question. The stronger and more numerous those associations are, the greater the chance that your brand will stand out in a purchasing situation.

The Unox Effect

Research has shown time and again that audio is the most effective medium for this. And let’s be honest: as soon as you hear the first notes of the 20-year-old Unox jingle, a whole world of associations immediately opens up. It’s an enviable effect—but one that’s within reach for any brand. Yes, building a successful brand association takes time. But not 20 years. TAMBR and Validators have previously demonstrated that it takes only a few weeks to create a strong link between a brand and audio. Exactly how long that takes, of course, depends on how often listeners are exposed to your audio asset. And that reach varies by campaign and by ad. So it’s time to repeat our experiment. Fortunately, the World Cup in Qatar was coming up, complete with a brand-new theme song.

The World Cup Comes to Life

That tune was composed specifically for the World Cup and was used exclusively during the event. These were ideal conditions for studying the impact of audio marketing. In this case, it was a short sound logo that could be heard throughout the matches. Throughout the tournament, TAMBR and Validators surveyed 150 respondents weekly to gauge their associations with and awareness of the sound logo. And as expected, recognition of the musical clip rose steadily in tandem with viewership ratings.

After four weeks, for nearly a quarter (23%) of listeners, the “World Cup in Qatar” was the very first thing that came to mind when they heard the jingle. The peak in week 50 is also easy to explain: it occurred exactly one week after the Netherlands-Argentina match, which was watched by 5.9 million viewers. The greater the reach of your brand sound, the greater the chance it will stick. But not everyone has Qatar’s oil reserves or FIFA’s reach. What can we, as ambitious marketers, learn from these results?

What are the standards?

On average, the sound logo was heard four times per match: at the start, twice during halftime, and at the end. And we see that after four weeks and five Netherlands national team matches, the tune had reached a maximum recognition rate of 23%. If we assume that the average Dutch person only watches Oranje matches, we can conclude that after roughly twenty exposures, nearly a quarter of the target audience already associates the sound logo with the sender. Now, that’s not a set-in-stone benchmark, but it is a good rule of thumb. Conclusion: after about ten exposures, a significant portion of your target audience will recognize you effortlessly, without the need for visual cues.

The Power of Repetition

So the link between the audio and the sender is quickly established. But how lasting is that connection? Do you have to keep repeating yourself? Or is it okay to stay silent for a while?

To find out, we conducted another survey eight weeks after the World Cup. And what did we find? For half of the respondents, the association with the World Cup had faded. Whereas at the height of “Orange Fever” 23% of those surveyed made the correct connection, that figure had dropped to 12%. A half-life of eight weeks, in other words. It seems that the recognition of an audio asset comes and goes. That means you don’t have to be “always on,” but rather rely on cleverly placed musical reminders. Ideally, this is achieved by combining various brand assets, so that form, color, font, and sound all refer to one another. This way, you strengthen the network of brand associations.

Associations that aren’t refreshed naturally fade into the background, causing your brand awareness to slowly erode. Global titles last forever, but without periodic effort, you’ll eventually lose your brand awareness.

Building brand awareness with audio

Of course, creating and rolling out a catchy brand sound takes time and requires an investment. But just as the Netherlands’ qualifying campaign has been a struggle, audio has proven to be highly effective in boosting brand awareness:

After hearing your new brand sound about ten times, listeners will already associate it with your brand.

With the right media strategy, within a few weeks nearly a quarter of your target audience will already know who you are and what you stand for.

Building brand awareness happens faster than it fades. After launch, regular reminders are the key to sustainable brand growth.

Would you like more information? Please contact: business@validators.nl