The Importance of Sound and Music in Marketing Communication - Creative Web Works I Digital Agency Solutions

Importance of Sound and Music in Marketing Communication

Sound and Music

The importance of sound and music in marketing communication is pivotal. Sound is the vibration that the auditory system can perceive. That’s what we define as ‘sound.’ If you’re not into biology or physics, this definition might not mean much to you. However, it’s through these vibrations that humans have invented something so incredible, transcending across science to art, industry to psychology—music. While the definition may seem shallow, isn’t it amazing what music has been created through it?

Music… the art of expressing emotions, thoughts, and imagery through single or multiple sounds. This definition feels more meaningful, more universal, and emotional, doesn’t it? It’s a grand artistry emerging from the use of sounds.

From Using Sound in Advertisements to Implementing it in Products

As brands better understood people’s sensitivity to sounds and the impact they make on memory, they began not only using sound and music in advertising but also implementing them directly into their products.

An excellent example of the influence of sound in products and its perception by people is IBM’s typewriter named the 6750. This typewriter operated completely silently. While the company designed it as a significant project, consumers didn’t appreciate the ‘quiet’ typewriter because they couldn’t be sure if it was working. Consequently, IBM had to add an electronic sound to the typewriter. What about Intel? There was no sound they could add to their product to make it noticeable, yet today, when we think of Intel, we all hear that famous sound associated with the brand, don’t we? How about Nokia’s sound? One of the factors that elevated Nokia, the leading brand of its time, was surely its ‘sound.’

Today, brands use the sound element to differentiate themselves from their competitors. For instance, the cereal brand Kellogg’s conducted numerous tests to capture the unique crunch sound of their product. Mercedes-Benz has engineers solely tasked with perfecting the closing sound of their car doors. Many other automobile brands artificially produce their vehicle sounds.

The influence of music on consumer decisions is truly remarkable. An excellent example of this is a study where a store selling French and German wines played French music on certain days, resulting in 77% of sales being French wines. On days when German music played, 73% of sales were German wines. What made this experiment intriguing was that customers had no inkling about the music being played in the store.

All these examples demonstrate that utilizing the impact of sound and music in marketing communication holds a unique influence on a brand’s image. Sound is an impactful differentiator for a brand. We strongly recommend utilizing sound and music in both your products and marketing communications.