Intentional | Audio Identity Blog

Though the weather outside is frightful, our sonic snowflakes are delightful!

Happy holidays from Sonic ID…

Sonic ID / Sonic Snowflakes

– Noel Franus

12/22 Update: The nasty weather continues, so unfortunately we’re going to have to cancel. If you’re reading this, we’re due for a drink soon. Let’s do so early in the new year. Season’s greetings — Noel

Photo by Jason McHuff

Portland locals:

This week’s weather has messed up so many plans that I feel ripped off. So I’m declaring next Tuesday a make-up day on the cocktail calendar.

Join me for a pre-holiday happy hour: 5 p.m., next Tuesday Dec. 23. We’ll be 30 stories up at the Portland City Grill (US Bank Tower).

If you’re around, it would be great to see you.

And if not, happy holidays!

– Noel Franus

I’ve written an article that appears in the December 08/January 09 edition of UK-based Brand Strategy magazine.

The takeaway: music is a horrible liar. Brands that sound generically alike and eager to please fail to convey a sense of authenticity and trust. The funds that brands and their agencies put towards music and sound should provide stronger returns.

Feel free to download the piece — feedback welcome.

– Noel Franus

Keeping it light this week as we tackle the big to-do list that precedes most holiday breaks.

Our friend and Chicago-based sound designer Joseph Fosco pointed me recently to Auditorium, a Flash-based sound discovery game that’s worthy of your attention for at least an hour of your time (preferably sometime later this week, post-Turkey and cranberries, when you’re not billable or accountable to others).

Auditorium is created by Philadelphia’s Cipher Prime. Happy exploring.

– Noel Franus

NPR’s weekend programming has picked up a bit on the music front. I find myself listening and pulling breakfast together for the family and then stopping in my tracks — standing there waiting to grind the coffee, but I can’t because it’ll drown out the radio for even just a few seconds. It’s a ‘driveway moment’ in the middle of my kitchen.

One of their latest stories features Todd Machover at MIT’s Media Lab. He’s making composing accessible to the least likely of creators—people with chronic illness and very limited movement.

“One of my students made an interface so Dan [Ellsey] could use his head movements and the infrared controller on his head to actually draw the lines and colors that we use for our Hyperscore software. He wrote a piece that was transcribed for symphony orchestra and is absolutely dynamite.”

“He changes the sound of the piece; he changes the emphasis; he changes the texture; he changes the accents; he changes the color of the piece,” Machover says. “When he’s playing the piece, he’s a different person.”

The implications are certainly intriguing. Guitar Hero, Wii Music and Machover’s Hyperscore all point to a future in which the act of creating music is becoming drastically more accessible than it’s ever been.

We may not be creating works of genius. And some friends of mine with heavy music credentials may argue that we risk suffering from the oversimplicity dumbing us down to some degree. (Along the lines of Is Google Making us Stupid?) But if this enables a shred of creativity and play for folks who otherwise just wouldn’t go there, it represents a portal of opportunity that hadn’t been there before. And that’s a very good thing.

Happy reading/listening. I’m off to grind the coffee.

– Noel Franus

BRAND BUILDING New Dimensions is a new book featuring two of my articles on sonic branding and identity / audio branding and identity. (Got my print copy yesterday — the tactile feel of page-flipping and the unmistakable smell of print make it seem more real. Go figure.) The book also features a mix of branding ideas and case studies from around the world. Published by ICFAI University Press. Happy reading.

– Noel Franus

For those of us in the US, the race is finally almost over, and the polls close tomorrow. Gasp. Exhale. Let’s assume ‘your guy’ wins. You’re having an election party to celebrate and can hire any musician or band to play. Who do you hire, and what’s the first song they play?

For those of you in the Bay Area, here’s one of our favorite topics—sound and hybrids. We think the company that solves this problem will reap the benefits associated with branding the entire category. In other words, if Chevrolet (for example) can define ‘the sound of hybrids,’ then all hybrids will be associated with Chevrolet. Not a bad score for the engineering, design and brand teams that can work together to tackle this challenge.

And now, from the CCRMA Hearing Seminar mailing list:

Please join us for CCRMA colloquium on Monday, November 3rd. Lawrence D. Rosenblum will be giving a presentation entitled ‘Avoiding the Impact: Testing the Audibility of Hybrid Cars’.

With the growing number of hybrid and alternative fuel cars on the road, blind individuals are increasingly concerned with the lack of audible cues these cars typically provide. These concerns have prompted consideration of both federal and state bills to investigate the issue. In this talk, research will be presented showing that some hybrid cars, when traveling at slow speeds, are in fact dangerously quiet for pedestrians. Other research will be discussed indicating that we are all dependent on sound for avoiding oncoming hazards, so that the quietness of new cars could pose a threat to us all.

– Noel Franus

We’ve updated our “Demystifying Sonic Branding and Identity” presentation to a more user-friendly format — this includes annotations. No voice narrator needed.

For what it’s worth: the feedback I’ve been hearing so far is that audiences appreciate that this is not a tutorial — it’s not about how to ‘do’ sonic identity, step by step. Egads, that would be a chore.

Rather, we’re happy to step back and introduce the concept as a broad one, applicable to brands. We’re happy to seed the idea and let you determine exactly how to better leverage music and sound for powerful customer experiences.

Inspired? Pass it on. Criticism? Let us know. Encouraged? Get in touch. Thanks. Oh, and one last tip: view in ‘full-screen’ mode for better readability.

– Noel Franus

Razorfish’s new site is getting some attention — not for its flashy interface or killer content….but because of its use of sound.

I rarely write about “sound on the web” because most of the conversation on this topic is relegated to “should we or shouldn’t we?” Frankly, I think that’s a pedestrian concern — you design the experience with all appropriate tools, whatever they are, to drive engagement. (If your only tool is a hammer then everything looks like a nail.)

The website isn’t a movie on the web (which is where we find most music and sound online). Nor is it a traditional text+graphics website with audio slapped on as an afterthought. (See my earlier note on American Express.)

Rather, sound is leveraged as an inherent part of the experience — with ambient texture and tiered navigation cues — and it brings a new sense of life to that box you’re staring at right now.

It is, after all, just a website. But it’s also a job well done in a medium that’s left a mess of sonic detritus in its wake. Tip o’ the headphones to Razorfish.

– Noel Franus

I’ve been busy over at Twitter with personal and Sonic ID tweets. I fear things are getting too cozy in the land of 140-characters or less.

To address this, I’m putting the wraps on two full-feature articles in the very near future, with a focus on the following:

1) Music and sound as a platform for building long-term equity — yes we’re talking that evasive issue of dollars and sense. Who’s cashing in, who isn’t, and what can the rest of us learn? Stay tuned.

2) Music doesn’t lie. in today’s challenging economic climate brands need to convey uniqueness, truth and trust, not more generically upbeat me-too-ness. I’ll be exploring the difference and dishing up a healthy serving of how-to’s.

Ping me if you’d like to see an advance copy of these surefire audio branding and sonic identity classics: noel dot franus at sonicid dot com.

– Noel Franus

Portland sound artist and creative catalyst Tim DuRoche has pointed me to a citywide sonic placemaking experience now underway in Marfa, Texas.

“With site-specific works activating various locations across town, and with the collaboration of the community, The Marfa Sessions aims to amplify the varied set of physical and metaphoric characteristics that define Marfa – its geopolitical position, local identity, myths, as well as its significant relationship to 20th Century Minimalism and Land Art.”

Looks great on paper—would love to hear how it sounds. Hey West Texans, let’s hear from you.

– Noel Franus

Photo by craig1black

Update from the shameless plug department: we at Sonic ID are formally expanding our offerings to include product sonification.

Yes, we still design brand-based sound for media and physical environments, but no audio branding system or sonic identity system is effective without strong guidance for the sound of a brand’s products and services. The brand experience is where business happens—that’s where we need to be for our clients.

Why the change? The market demands it. We’re already working with people who have interesting problems to solve, we just need to call it out in a formal sense.

(And…speaking personally, that’s always more interesting than brand-based ringtones. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, wink wink.)

– Noel Franus

Photo by Clemson.

American Express recently launched an iconic brand sound. It’s a notable step forward for AmEx and for the practice of sonic branding and identity / audio identity / sound branding. When one of the world’s most trusted brands tosses a pebble in the water, you check out the ripple.

Here’s my first take on AmEx and its opportunity—assuming they expand their sonic identity beyond the web. For what it’s worth: this isn’t a discussion about what it sounds like, but rather what it means as a brand tool.

1. Ubiquity means opportunity. There are few nooks and crannies where AmEx does not have a consumer, business to business, travel, platinum, silver, gold, partner card offering for you. And they’re not shy about pitching those offerings. In 2007, AmEx spent more than $1 billion on US advertising.

That’s a lot of moments covering the communications-and-customer-experience spectrum. And countless opportunities to amplify trust and prestige—two well known AmEx brand strengths—in a way that hasn’t been done in its 158 years of business.

2. It’s an ear up on the competition. Should the brand’s touchpoints work to reinforce one another with sound, they’ll carve out a sense of differentiation and consistency that their competitors in the finance space currently lack. (What is the sound of Capital One, Visa, MasterCard or Discover? Trick question.)

We as humans can’t help but assign emotional value, good or bad, to a particular brand, and deep-seeded mindshare pays off when we make product choices, adjust stock portfolios and spread word of mouth about a company.

3. Signals are better than noise. As the folks at CoreBrand point out, loading up AmEx’s web page with a greeting sound is definitely both a challenge and an opportunity. Graphics, connection speed, code, copy and in this case sound each affect our larger perception of the customer experience. AmEx’s page-load isn’t the quickest. Slow load time + sonic identifier = disconnected moment.

On that note, I’ve heard from more than a few friends that United’s rejuvenated use of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue—one of the hallmarks of effective sonic branding because of its global appeal and compositional flexibility—is now working against the brand for them as it simply echoes United’s poor customer experience. Anecdotal, but believable.

AmEx (and everyone else for that matter) must keep their eye on the ball and design online and offline interactions that are rooted in a holistic process, not the temptations of featuritis. Sometimes this means tempering the wow factor until it’s fully integrated into the design process.

On the other hand, it’s a start. And that’s a plus. Without a doubt, I have faith — you don’t build one of the planet’s top brands by horsing around. I’m looking forward to hearing the future of American Express.

– Noel Franus

Photo by Susan NYC.

A few weeks back I asked the LinkedIn community a simple question: “Which brands do you recognize by their sounds?”

Many people responded with TV jingles, others with product experiences, and some mentioned the sound of physical spaces. There are/were no “right” or “wrong” answers, but some resonated with me more than others. I’m writing about a few of those here.

One wasn’t really a brand association as much as it was a category association: the sound of popcorn being equated with the experience of being at the movies.

Oddly (?) “at the movies” isn’t really a place for me. It’s a memory and a feeling of a feeling, laced with drama and excitement, the splendor of film from years ago. This is escapist! This is special! This is huge! And it’s all brought on by a few bites of popcorn.

Architects, industrial designers, digital designers and other flavors of experience designers should be more playful with associations like this. We’re rich with memories, of course, and when we draw from our massive palette of emotional triggers, we begin to chip away the cracks of meaning and emotion, those things which by and large make us human.

Saatchi and Saatchi popularized the phrase “facts lead to conclusions. Emotion leads to action.” This sums up nicely why at the end of the day commodity brands just can’t compete with experiential brands.

This brings to mind Jean-Louis’s story in Marc Gobe’s book Brand Jam: “If I serve a roasted chicken to someone brought up in a farm and include the smell of hay at the same time (perhaps with a fragrant oil on the plate), it can bring that person back to his or her childhood experience or maybe mom’s cooking. This discovery will be able to enhance my clients’ experiences. There is so much more we can do to stimulate our senses.”

This segues nicely with a great feature series at Design Week on the topic of interaction design and the senses. One of the pieces features Sonic ID’s very own “sonic futurologist” Martyn Ware. Prepare to be engaged!

– Noel Franus

PS: More insights from the survey soon, I promise…

I’m jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Follow my tweets here: @nfranus.

It’s interesting — some folks tell me their company’s working and communication styles have changed as a result of team Twittering. Others dip their toes in and say “eh, not for me.”

Me, I’m not sure where this goes, or what this means for me, Sonic ID, the buzz on sonic branding and audio identity or the price of eggs in Schuyler, Nebraska. But we’ll find out soon enough. Ping me if you’re tweeting, too.

– Noel Franus

After a brief hiatus due to being hacked, we’re back online. And busier than ever.

Amidst the flurry I wanted to let you know that Dan Kirby, Managing Director for Sonic ID Europe, will be speaking on sonic branding and audio identity at the Visual Identity and Communication Design conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Dates: September 22, 23.

I noticed the conference also includes a look at Danish State Railways’ design for multiple emotional states. Sounds like an interesting way to spend your Monday…

– Noel Franus

Quick plug: Sonic ID’s Martyn Ware keynoting Wednesday @ (re)Actor 3 / HCI 2008 in Liverpool. If you’re in the neighborhood, drop in and say hello.