sound

Lovely little film for Soundcloud and a lovely little story from VC Fred Wilson about how founder Alex Ljung pitched him for funding several times before he was successful:

Every experienced sales manager has a trick or two when it comes to hiring the best candidate for an open sales position. After a candidate passes the initial resume screening process, one manager might check out the applicant’s shoes. Another might pay close attention to how well the individual responds to an unexpected question. Here’s a new one: does the candidate talk in a melodic way?

What does your brand sound like? If you have no clue, you are missing an important part of an overall sensory branding effort. One firm that knows what its signature sounds are is Audi, which has gone to considerable effort to establish a sound style guide intended to function much like a visual style guide in maintaining consistent branding across media, campaigns, and locations. First, let’s watch an Audi commercial that embodies several of their signature sounds. See if you can pick them out:

While many forms of advertising employ sound as part of their sensory mix, one intriguing approach provides a way to surprise listeners with what seems to be a personal auditory experience. One fascinating example is the billboard erected a couple of years ago for the A&E series, Paranormal State. As pedestrians approached the billboard, they heard a voice whispering, seemingly in their ear. This is certainly a suitably creepy approach for a show about ghosts.

Marketing campaigns often focus primarily on the sense of vision, whether they are purely visual elements like print ads and billboards, or even when they have associated sound, like television commercials or retail environments. I’ve written about olfactory marketing - appealing to the sense of smell - but what about sound?