Name: Four steps to finding your brand's sound
Uploaded: 2023-10-16T08:23:00.747Z
Duration: 207.32

Roscoe Williamson v3.mp4

VEED-subtitles_Roscoe Williamson without music.vtt

English

{{00:00:09}}
I Roscoe Williamson, Global Creative
Strategy and Innovation director

{{00:00:13}}
at Massive Music and songtradr
and I work with brands and organisations

{{00:00:17}}
all around the world to help them use
music, sound and voice more creatively,

{{00:00:21}}
more strategically and more impactfully.

{{00:00:30}}
I'm going to give you my four steps
to finding your brand sound.

{{00:00:34}}
First step is research.

{{00:00:36}}
We need to play detective in terms
of what your brand should sound like.

{{00:00:40}}
So, this involves
understanding your competitive landscape.

{{00:00:44}}
What are your competitors doing with it?

{{00:00:45}}
With sound of music,
understanding the audience.

{{00:00:49}}
Who are you trying to appeal to?

{{00:00:50}}
Age, location, demographic,
understanding your historical context

{{00:00:55}}
of how you actually use music
and sound in the past?

{{00:00:59}}
Are there
any things that we can learn from?

{{00:01:01}}
Are you homogenising
too much with the competition?

{{00:01:04}}
Do you have any legacy assets
that we might be able

{{00:01:06}}
to build on to build equity, for example?

{{00:01:08}}
Then we want to look at things
like trends,

{{00:01:10}}
cultural trends in your sector
and technology trends to look at the

{{00:01:13}}
opportunities in the future.

{{00:01:15}}
Once we have all

{{00:01:16}}
of this, then we can basically design
what's called a sonic architecture.

{{00:01:20}}
So that looks at all

{{00:01:21}}
the different touchpoints that you as a as
a brand are reaching your consumers

{{00:01:25}}
through sound.

{{00:01:26}}
And we can start to think about
how to strategically deploy sound.

{{00:01:30}}
Stage
number 2, moodboarding and production.

{{00:01:33}}
This is where we actually need

{{00:01:34}}
to really define
your palette of sound of music as a brand.

{{00:01:38}}
It's very abstract
to talk about music and sound

{{00:01:41}}
because I can say to one person, right,
what is the sound of innovation to you?

{{00:01:47}}
Whereas that's something
completely different to the next person.

{{00:01:49}}
So how do we overcome this?

{{00:01:51}}
We do what's called audio moodboarding
sections where we review pallets of sound

{{00:01:55}}
and together as a stakeholder group,
we say, ‘yeah, that's right for the brand

{{00:01:59}}
and that's not right for the brand’,
and that removes subjectivity.

{{00:02:02}}
So once you have this pallet of
of audio references, you can

{{00:02:06}}
then start to go into the kitchen
metaphorically and start to produce

{{00:02:09}}
original assets
and to create your your kind of

{{00:02:14}}
master kit of sonic branding.

{{00:02:16}}
And that usually consists of what's called
a brand DNA, which is a longer piece

{{00:02:21}}
of music imbued with codes, structures
and elements

{{00:02:24}}
unique to the brand and a sonic logo.

{{00:02:28}}
Once we've gone past the production
phase, it's then into the governance

{{00:02:32}}
and the deployment phase.

{{00:02:33}}
So that is how do you
then disseminate this master kit

{{00:02:36}}
into all the different areas
and touchpoints that you need?

{{00:02:39}}
So do we need to distil this down
into the sound of your products,

{{00:02:42}}
for example, UI
sound or navigational sounds, for example?

{{00:02:46}}
Do we need to think about different types
of music to suit

{{00:02:49}}
different types of content or events,
but yet with a fundamentally

{{00:02:53}}
consistent thread
that goes back to your brand?

{{00:02:56}}
And then finally,
the fourth stage is review and iteration.

{{00:03:01}}
So you want to be
looking at market testing.

{{00:03:04}}
How is how are these assets
performing in the market?

{{00:03:07}}
Are they helping you build your brand?

{{00:03:09}}
Is it helping with the effectiveness
of your campaigns?

{{00:03:12}}
Do we need to iterate upon this
and develop out

{{00:03:15}}
the sonic branding system over
time to suit new touch and new concepts?

I Roscoe Williamson, Global Creative
Strategy and Innovation director

at Massive Music and songtradr
and I work with brands and organisations

all around the world to help them use
music, sound and voice more creatively,

I'm going to give you my four steps
to finding your brand sound.

We need to play detective in terms
of what your brand should sound like.

So, this involves
understanding your competitive landscape.

With sound of music,
understanding the audience.

Age, location, demographic,
understanding your historical context

of how you actually use music
and sound in the past?

Are there
any things that we can learn from?

Are you homogenising
too much with the competition?

Do you have any legacy assets
that we might be able

to build on to build equity, for example?

Then we want to look at things
like trends,

cultural trends in your sector
and technology trends to look at the

of this, then we can basically design
what's called a sonic architecture.

the different touchpoints that you as a as
a brand are reaching your consumers

And we can start to think about
how to strategically deploy sound.

Stage
number 2, moodboarding and production.

to really define
your palette of sound of music as a brand.

It's very abstract
to talk about music and sound

because I can say to one person, right,
what is the sound of innovation to you?

Whereas that's something
completely different to the next person.

We do what's called audio moodboarding
sections where we review pallets of sound

and together as a stakeholder group,
we say, ‘yeah, that's right for the brand

and that's not right for the brand’,
and that removes subjectivity.

So once you have this pallet of
of audio references, you can

then start to go into the kitchen
metaphorically and start to produce

original assets
and to create your your kind of

And that usually consists of what's called
a brand DNA, which is a longer piece

of music imbued with codes, structures
and elements

Once we've gone past the production
phase, it's then into the governance

So that is how do you
then disseminate this master kit

into all the different areas
and touchpoints that you need?

So do we need to distil this down
into the sound of your products,

for example, UI
sound or navigational sounds, for example?

Do we need to think about different types
of music to suit

different types of content or events,
but yet with a fundamentally

consistent thread
that goes back to your brand?

And then finally,
the fourth stage is review and iteration.

So you want to be
looking at market testing.

How is how are these assets
performing in the market?

Is it helping with the effectiveness
of your campaigns?

Do we need to iterate upon this
and develop out

the sonic branding system over
time to suit new touch and new concepts?

Best Practice

Have you ever thought about the effect that a good piece of music can have on your mood? Or how irritating bad music can be?
Now apply that to your brand and you'll realise how important it is to get your audio identity just right.
We spoke to sonic branding guru and Global Creative Strategy & Innovation Director at MassiveMusic & Songtradr, Roscoe Williamson, to get his guide on how to create the right sound for your brand.

Audio

Branding

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Roscoe Williamson

Discover insights from other experts

Global Creative Strategy & Innovation Director

Learn how Williamson begins researching a brand's sonic identity. This involves cataloguing any sound the brand already has, understanding the target audience, and analysing competitors' sound strategies.

Research strategy

Williamson highlights the importance of sound palettes as an integral part of the process, identifying and creating original assets that align with the essence of the brand or product.

Moodboarding & production  

In this phase of the process, Williamson explores the strategic application of sound across various aspects of the business, ensuring that the brand essence remains consistent while adapting to different uses.

Governance & deployment

In this final phase, Williamson describes the performance of the brand sound in the market and making sure the audio brand is kept up to date.