Post Magazine

June 2010

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This month, Post spoke with a handful of audio facilities that specialize in sonic branding. Here’s a look at how they each approach the challenge of cre- ating unique, memorable and appropriate sonic brands that evoke a positive emotional response from their audience. MAKING IT MEMORABLE Joel Simon owns JSM Music (www.jsmmusic.com) in New York City and says much of the studio’s work is sonic branding. But that doesn’t mean they are working strictly on mnemonics. Much of their work is creating sound that is co- hesive across a campaign. A mnemonic, says Simon, tends to be a three to five second series of notes that may or may not have rele- vance to music that precedes it. A viewer will hear it, and through repetition, will become familiar with it.That famil- iarity creates an awareness of the corporate sponsor. Another way to brand something sonically, says Simon, is through music that can accompany an on-camera voiceover, such as the work the studio performed for IBM as part of its “smarter planet” campaign. In each spot, the music is different, without any common thread. Still, there is a familiarity, says Simon, like what a listener might notice from the different tracks on a recording artist’s album. Just because a spot uses music, doesn’t mean it is trying to create a sonic brand. Kraft, says Simon, has done an ex- cellent job with its “K-R-A-F-T” branding, but many other household or packaged goods rely less on the music.“The music is somewhat benign to the message,” he notes. Music can also be used to convey an attitude, while not specifically relating to the brand. Simon points to Chevro- let as an example, and its use of the “American Revolu- tion” and “Like A Rock” tags.The Chevy Silverado is a much different vehicle than a Chevy Cavalier, he notes, so the cowboy attitude may work with one spot and not with another, even though both vehicles are from the same manufacturer. The JSM team uses Pro Tools and Logic for creating their music and always assumes the tracks will be delivered in 5.1.Therefore, the studio thinks in terms of multichannel presentation when creating demos at the earliest of stages. “Our demos have to be that quality,” says Simon.“It can’t be,‘Here’s an idea, and imagine that a real drummer plays on it.’ Everything that we submit is with the intention that it’s going to be played on the most high-end system.” JSM has 15 composers on staff, and the facility is home to six large rooms for mixing, along with eight smaller suites. JSM recently worked on a global campaign for electronics manufacturer Samsung that revitalized its existing mnemonic.The series of notes used by Samsung had been established several years ago, and Simon says the client didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, but in- stead, make it fresh again. The goal was to maintain the brand’s existing notes, but to perform them differently and make them more appealing, Simon explains.“[We wanted to make them] less mechanical and electronic, and more personal and human so it doesn’t sound like a videogame. In Samsung’s case, it’s all about making your own life better.” Better through the use of the electronics maker’s phones and TVs for example.“We did the whole global rebranding and came up with many, many different renditions of these existing notes.” The notes, he explains, were similar in their attitude and consistent with the brand.“The brevity of the notes is important because you want to make them memorable. Sometimes there is so much coming at you, that it’s the brevity and succinctness that makes it memorable. It’s a science.” SCIENCE & EMOTION Chief creative officer Tag Gross and the team at Pirate (www.pirate- newyork.com) in New York City have developed somewhat of a scientific ap- proach to the creation of sonic brand identities.While the way people react to music is always subjective, notes Gross, the Pirate team has developed a process that helps the team and its client stay on track without getting hung up on personal likes and dislikes of music, styles or instrumentation. Gross has spent much of his career working on sonic branding.When Post spoke with him, he recounted a time in his career when he worked with Bill Backer, who co-wrote Coca Cola’s iconic “I’d Like to Teach The World To Sing” track back in 1971. “It’s one of the most recalled commercials,” says Gross of the tune. “[Bill] told me the story about Coke, and how he came to that ‘A ha!’ moment.” It was more than a simple refreshment, says Gross. “It wasn’t just a rational Pirate’s Tag Gross advises clients not to get caught up in personal tastes, but to instead ask if the music is meeting the set goal for the bigger picture. ‘quench our thirst.’ It was, ‘Let’s share a moment or a little time together. Make an emotional connection.’” Gross has worked on sonic branding packages for Hyundai,Visa, Orange Telecom, and most recently AT&T. In recent years, he says there has been a trend to license tracks from known artists, and he’s not entirely sure of its ef- fectiveness.Video editors, he says, may have played a role in the increased use of licensed music. Often times, an editor will use a track in a rough cut, and that creates what Gross calls “demo love” with the client. “Look at the Flaming Lips,” he points out.Their music has been used in spots for Land Rover and Dell, among others.“Are these brands talking about the same thing? Is there brand identity so much the same that it really fits? The an- swer is really ‘No.’” To create a sonic brand, Gross says the Pirate team will work with the client to create an audio “style guide that’s going to help define what the company sounds like on a worldwide basis.” This involves drawing up boards with notes on tempo, themes, emotions and sounds. He cites the on-going AT&T job as an example. “All phones talk about coverage. How can you talk about coverage as something that gives you an emotional activation? The way you do that is to translate it.Coverage is a ra- tional benefit, but what does it mean emotionally?” In this case, it might be the ability to contact a family member in an emergency. Mobility and freedom are two additional themes.“How do I say to a composer, ‘I want you to write about mobility and freedom?’We turn it to an emotional direction, which we call ‘expanded boundaries.’The limits are never reached. You are released from restraints and have the freedom to explore.Then we define what the characteristics should be: driving, pushing, inspirational…” Creating these parameters, says Gross, helps in development without getting www.postmagazine.com June 2010 • Post 29

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