BBC Radio 4 - Cutting Edge program on sonic branding

Cutting Edge - Sue Perkins - Tag Me Amadeus

This short 30 min radio program, gives a very good summary of my project idea. In it, TV personality Sue Perkins delves into the history and application of sonic branding and with the help of professionals produces her own unique audio logo by taking words and phrases that describe her personality, creating musical elements that represent each word and mixing them into a 5 second sonic logo.

Elias Arts - Music House

Elias Arts began in the cinema, composing dramatic music for theatrical trailers. Today, we score for features, television, and of course, 30-second spots. We bring a cinematic approach to everything we touch, including commercials. When we score a spot, we don’t approach it as an ad. We approach it as a little film for a brand. To us, music is more than a bed to fill dead air in commercials. It’s more than meter to cut visuals to. It’s an element of the story. It should create powerful emotional connections to brands. It should make people feel something. Or it shouldn’t be there at all.


Awards 

• Elias Arts has won an Emmy Award for the "Move" theme for Nike Inc., and has garnered dozens of Clio Awards and other advertising trophies for work for top-line corporations such as Ford, GM, Nissan, Audi, Infiniti, Mercedes, AT&T, NASDAQ, IBM, Apple, Sony, Levi's, and Adidas.
• In 2004, he released American River, a work combining piano and string quartet compositions with spoken word performances by Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson,Marty Stuart, Rosanne Cash and Johnny Cash (in one of his last recorded works). American River was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in that year

Crit Week

I was worried that I hadn't developed my project idea enough to really gain any help from the crit sessions, but when I actually sat down and started talking about what I'd planned to do in my head it became clear I had a better idea of what I was talking about.  I was also able to answer all the questions Lauri and Gillian asked.  This made me feel a little more confident about my idea.

Gillian also asked me about whether I would expand my project to include sound identity outwith advertising, to include company's like Disney who have a brand identity that covers all their movies and products.  This was very interesting and would be a potential branch I could touch upon if I have the time, but for the moment I will keep within the restraints of my original idea so as to get that down as much as possible.

Audio Branding - The Book

I loaned "Audio Branding - Brands, Sound and Communication" by Kai Bronner & Rainer Hirt (EDS.) from the library and already it is helping me to shape my project. I have read the first few chapters - From brand identity to audio branding is proving helpful.  It shows a breakdown of BMW's brand idea using a mind map style visual which I now plan to create when identifying the brand image for my jingle. So far this is what I have taken from the book to relate to my project:

• Identify hisotical/everyday acoustic sounds that have unitentially become uses for audio branding over time rather than being created for that purpose i.e There is a section in the book that discussed bells and the wide varierty of impressions and images they can convay through their associative uses throughout history. Fanfares and morse code were also mentioned.

• Taking a company's brand idea and breaking down like BMW.

2009 Bronner, K. & Rainer, H. "Audio Branding". Nomos

• Use historical acoustical association and musical techniques to portray the different elements of the brand idea.

Breaking Down project

• How jingles/ audio logos help portry the image/message of a company
• critically evaluate the musicla techniques used in jingles. Is there any connection to the companies product/business message
• Identify musical techniques which portray certain impressions, excluding lyrics.
• produce a jingle for a certain company based on these findings.

Learning Contract

Learning Contract

Module Code: AG1084A

Module Title: Honours Project

Student Name: Heather Lamont

Student Number: 1002781

Telephone Number: 07828312174

Email Address: heatherlamontmusic@hotmail.co.uk

Aim:     To critically evaluate recognised audio branding in advertising and establish whether there is a theory behind the musical techniques used which can help represent a company’s image and message and then create a jingle using appropriate musical techniques.

Objectives:

1.0 Discuss, criticise and analyse audio branding.

2.0 Produce a “Jingle” for a company.

3.0 Identify and apply suitable testing.

4.0 Analyse and discuss the results

    

Major tasks:

1.1   Research Diary

1.1.1       Review literature on audio branding.

1.1.2       Create a glossary of terms.

1.1.3       Interview marketing specialist.

1.1.4       Define a critical framework.

1.1.5       Select 3 successful uses of Audio Branding and identify and discuss reasons for their success.

2.1 Define the company’s image and message.

2.2 Use knowledge of successful Audio Branding to define appropriate musical techniques.

2.3 Experiment with musical techniques.

3.1 Testing

3.1.1 Perform tests and focus groups to determine the success of the “Jingle” produced.

Submission Deliverables:

1.1  Research Diary

1.1.1       Blog diary documenting research activities undertaken for Objective 1.0

1.1.2       Glossary on blog and as appendix to dissertation

1.1.3       Recording and transcription on blog and in portfolio

1.1.4       Outline development of critical framework in blog and discuss in dissertation

2.1 Mind Map depicting the company’s brand idea.

2.2 Documentation on musical techniques associated with the aspects of the company’s brand idea.

Resources:

Logic 8