In The Clubhouse: The Power of Audio Branding - Part 2

“Doing audio branding very often has similarities to coaching. It's always a change management process and it's also iterative, so it's almost repeating the same procedures a couple of times until you get closer and closer to something that everybody agrees is ‘okay, that's the goal.’ And by the way, goals are the most important thing. If it's not clear where you want to go, what you need, and why you are doing this, if you just follow the next hype and say we need a sound logo just like our competitor, then you’re lost, then you're just wasting time and money.” -- Cornelius Ringe

This week continues our Clubhouse discussion as Lauri Domnick, Jeanna Isham, Steve Keller, Shez Merha, Jack Monson, and Cornelius Ringe lead a variety of questions and comments.

A Trustworthy Sound

The second half begins as our panel reveals what questions they ask clients to learn who they are from an audio perspective. Jeanna tells us about her work with REI and how she used natural sounds to focus their outdoor branding, while Lauri discusses the challenge of turning more abstract concepts like trustworthiness into something we can hear and recognize. Shez focuses on better aligning the audio to the company's brand, and Jack switches things around with a simple question that can have surprisingly candid and helpful answers: "if you and I were going to take a road trip," he asks clients, "what three artists would you want to have?"

The Voice of the Brand

Steve takes a different, more psychological approach to learning more about a client's potential sonic profile, one that sparks a discussion about the archetypes of sound, what the brand might be like if it were a person. "If the brand were to talk to you," he asks, "what would the brand's voice sound like? Is it male, is it female, is it neither of those? If the brand was going to give you a playlist, what would be on their Pandora playlist?"

The Soundtrack of Your Life

Cornelius offers a thought-provoking reply as he talks instead about focusing on the language of sound, a language that's often unfamiliar to his clients, and helping them find the right words to consider the question and develop their own answers. Alex joins in to note that clients don't always have a good answer, particularly in the business world where opinions and priorities can clash; as Steve puts it, "the work is fraught with the need for diplomacy." Cheryl, a podcaster and voice talent, takes the stage with a question she always likes to ask: if there was a soundtrack to your life, what would be on it and why? The answers, she notes, are often surprising, and always revealing.

Episode Summary