Tag: branding

Sonic Branding & Small Business: The Perks & The Pitfalls

Last time we talked about authenticity in sonic branding. Here we’re going to expand on that theme and explore how authenticity (or lack thereof) can make or break a small business. As one of my contemporaries Jeanna Isham has said, “Sonic branding is not just for the fortune 500.” She’s right, of course. In fact…


Sonic Branding: 3 Levels of Authenticity

Authenticity It’s an overused word, isn’t it? But it’s overused for a reason. It’s important, especially in sonic branding. In fact, it’s very hard to build a sonic identity without being authentic. When you’re creating a brand sound, you find yourself taking business owners and brand leaders to places they’ve never been before, especially if…


Want to Reach Gen Z? Find Your Sound and Get on TikTok

I have to admit, like many branding and media professionals, I had dismissed TikTok for a while. That was until I saw this year’s audio indexes. This is where they rank the best performing sonic logos, as well as provide an overview of trends and changes in the audio branding industry. One of this past…


Jingle is not a Genre

A few blogs ago we talked about the full-sing jingle and its recent resurgence. I was suggesting that the format was more relevant now that commercials are often (for better or worse) shorter than thirty seconds. Music and singing are simply a faster means of setting an emotional tone and creating something more memorable than…


The Audio Brand of a Bicycle

Something a bit lighter as the summer season comes to a close. You’d think after working with sound professionally for over twenty years I would have figured this out myself. But I didn’t. I’m always on the lookout for sound solutions in business, but it doesn’t always cross over into my personal life. I am…


The YouTuber’s Worst Habit: The Over-Under

It’s a bit ironic that in a time when media hosts are worried their jobs will be taken over by A.I., many of them already sound like robotic versions of themselves. Let me explain. There’s an odd vocal habit out there that somehow survived the turn of the millennium. I call it the over-under. You…


The Full-Sing Jingle: Is it Coming Back?

From roughly the seventies to the nineties, it felt like nearly every commercial was a full-sing jingle. And when I say full-sing, I’m referring to a commercial that is entirely sung, as opposed to just singing the brand name and maybe a slogan. Those never really went away, especially in certain industries like insurance. But…


Radio is Alive and Well…in Belleville?

Back in 2006, something very strange happened. The story was relayed to me by family friend Neal Stoll. At the time Neal was a national account manager for Saputo. His account was Shoppers Drug Mart which was just starting to expand more into food. Saputo was putting a national program in place to supply all…


Melody & Timbre: A Brand Needs Both

There are a number of sonic logos that tend to be heavy on timbre but light on melody. It’s great to have unique and engaging sounds, but they don’t always stick with the public on an emotional level. We talked about this a while back with Netflix as an example. Compelling sounds are great, but…


Male or Female Voice: A Discussion

I kind of see this as the third part in a blog trilogy. A few months ago we started exploring the increasingly irrelevant gender binary in the voiceover and branding worlds. In the following blog we took it a step further by looking more specifically at non-binary voices. This time we continue the exploration with…