Name: From jingles to AI: How sonic branding has changed over the years
Uploaded: 2023-09-07T10:49:20.086Z
Duration: 424.12

Roscoe Williamson Jingles + GFX V2.mp4

Roscoe Williamson Jingles + GFX V2.vtt

English

{{00:00:09}}
Sarah Austin: Hi, Roscoe.

{{00:00:09}}
Thanks for joining us in
the streaming studio today.

{{00:00:12}}
So we're going to talk a
bit about audio branding.

{{00:00:15}}
When you talk about audio branding most
people probably think of radio jingles.

{{00:00:18}}
Roscoe Williamson: Yes.

{{00:00:19}}
Sarah Austin: I mean obviously
it's changed a lot So, can you

{{00:00:20}}
talk us through that evolution?

{{00:00:22}}
Roscoe Williamson: So jingles originated
in the 50s and actually interesting

{{00:00:26}}
story there was a marketing executive
who was looking after Wheaties a cereal

{{00:00:30}}
brand and they trialled the first ever
jingled on the airways in Minnesota for

{{00:00:35}}
one month And then they looked at the
sales data afterwards and they found

{{00:00:39}}
that It was pretty insane in terms of how
effective it was trialling this one radio

{{00:00:44}}
jingle in this one area over this one.

{{00:00:46}}
So they then invested in Jingle, U.

{{00:00:48}}
S.

{{00:00:49}}
wide, and saved the brand Wheaties as
a serial brand and the rest is history

{{00:00:52}}
and by the sort of late 50s you've got
jingles for every single type of product

{{00:00:58}}
and brand on the market and you've almost
got this kind of saturation point on the

{{00:01:03}}
radio waves and actually it's kind of the
Jingle has sort of waned ever since then.

{{00:01:08}}
But then obviously you have the
evolution of  you know, music as a

{{00:01:12}}
branding tool and sonic branding.

{{00:01:13}}
So you think about the sound
of Nokia, the ringtone, right?

{{00:01:16}}
At one point that was heard by billions
of people around the world every day.

{{00:01:20}}
And yeah, it kind of is a natural
evolution to where we're at today,

{{00:01:23}}
which is a much more nuanced and kind
of ecosystem approach to sonic branding.

{{00:01:28}}
How

{{00:01:28}}
important is sonic branding
then today to brands?

{{00:01:31}}
It's become ever more increasingly
important for a few reasons.

{{00:01:36}}
The simple fact that it is so saturated
now in terms of the media landscape, any

{{00:01:41}}
form of consistency a brand can have, any
form of cut through is going to help you.

{{00:01:45}}
So sound has been under looked, and
now people are paying attention.

{{00:01:49}}
You also think about trends
like,  sound on social media.

{{00:01:52}}
So for example, TikTok is an
inherently a sound on platform.

{{00:01:56}}
How brands show up in
that world is important.

{{00:01:59}}
And then lastly, you know, think about
things like,  smart speakers, right?

{{00:02:03}}
And how we're all starting to interact
more in a voice first environment.

{{00:02:07}}
Again, how do you have some own
ability as a brand in that environment?

{{00:02:12}}
Sarah Austin: Can we talk a
little bit more about TikTok?

{{00:02:14}}
Because the TikTok generation have
a completely different relationship

{{00:02:17}}
with sound, to say my generation.

{{00:02:20}}
How has that affected audio branding?

{{00:02:24}}
Roscoe Williamson: Yeah, I would say
it's been, it's been fairly huge.

{{00:02:26}}
You know, sounds are the
new social memes on TikTok.

{{00:02:30}}
Okay.

{{00:02:31}}
And it's a completely different
form of social currency.

{{00:02:34}}
It's put sound and music very much
front and centre of that social

{{00:02:38}}
experience, and the creators on the
platform, you know, use  music and

{{00:02:44}}
sound in a completely different way
than  what's been previously done before.

{{00:02:47}}
So as a brand, you know, how can you
look to leverage your brand sound?

{{00:02:52}}
How can you look to engage
authentically with the community

{{00:02:54}}
through something like TikTok?

{{00:02:56}}
There's so many opportunities.

{{00:02:58}}
Sarah Austin: You actually designed
the sonic branding for TikTok, right?

{{00:03:00}}
Roscoe Williamson: We did.

{{00:03:01}}
Yeah.

{{00:03:01}}
Sarah Austin: So can you
talk us through that process?

{{00:03:03}}
Roscoe Williamson: Yeah.

{{00:03:03}}
So it was, it was a long process.

{{00:03:05}}
It took about two and a half
years to actually find that sound.

{{00:03:09}}
But that sound is now heard by, you know,
literally millions of people every day.

{{00:03:13}}
And again, you know, we go through
the process of our, of our research

{{00:03:16}}
and our production and testing, but.

{{00:03:18}}
I think if you boil it down, sound
of TikTok, it had to be agnostic in

{{00:03:22}}
terms of,  there's so many different
cultures that TikTok is appealing to.

{{00:03:25}}
So we needed to create a sound that didn't
lean too far into any one particular

{{00:03:30}}
sort of sound or genre or culture.

{{00:03:33}}
And you know, this needed to
be something that signifies.

{{00:03:36}}
The experience of tick tock, which
is, you know,  you want to watch more.

{{00:03:42}}
You're intrigued and you're kind
of beckoned into this environment.

{{00:03:45}}
And so when you actually hear it,
it's constructed of two parts.

{{00:03:48}}
The actual hero sonic logo.

{{00:03:50}}
You've got the first sub bass
sound, which is actually a homage

{{00:03:54}}
to a lot of the hip hop music
that made the platform what it is.

{{00:03:58}}
And then on the back end, you've got
this,  E major seventh chord,  with

{{00:04:02}}
a really nice,  timbre, light timbre,
which, which represents the joy and the

{{00:04:07}}
sort of last sunny corner element of what
TikTok is, is, is placing itself to be.

{{00:04:13}}
Another major change in the
industry is like the advent of AI.

{{00:04:16}}
Can you talk about the influence
that that has on sonic branding and

{{00:04:19}}
audio generally?

{{00:04:19}}
Yeah.

{{00:04:21}}
You know, A.

{{00:04:22}}
I.

{{00:04:22}}
With when it comes to music
is still fairly nascent.

{{00:04:26}}
However, there are rapid, almost
exponential gains in its affected,

{{00:04:31}}
like in how good it is, I would say.

{{00:04:34}}
So my feeling is that there will be a
swathe of,  music for a certain type of

{{00:04:42}}
content that will be dominated by a I.

{{00:04:45}}
Music in the future,  how it affects
sonic branding at this point.

{{00:04:52}}
Is fairly kind of unknown,  but
, there are exciting potentials with

{{00:05:00}}
it when you come to think about
how you could take a writer's IP,

{{00:05:05}}
their music, and start to adapt that
into different forms and styles.

{{00:05:09}}
Yeah, I think where our stance on,
on AI is, and it's quite an important

{{00:05:15}}
one to kind of clarify, is that we
don't believe in severing the right of

{{00:05:18}}
IP with the human creator community.

{{00:05:20}}
So.

{{00:05:21}}
We would want to use AI to
augment,  somebody else's I.

{{00:05:24}}
P.

{{00:05:25}}
And so that line of right still goes to
the human rather than cutting it off.

{{00:05:29}}
If you see what I mean.

{{00:05:30}}
Sarah Austin: So we started at
the beginning talking a little bit

{{00:05:31}}
about this sort of evolution to
here of audio and sonic branding.

{{00:05:35}}
Where do you see it going?

{{00:05:36}}
Where

{{00:05:36}}
Roscoe Williamson: do you see it going?

{{00:05:36}}
Yes, I see it going in terms of a much
more nuanced and personalized way.

{{00:05:43}}
So if you start to think about in the far,
even in the mid to far future, a brand how

{{00:05:52}}
you interact with a brand in the future.

{{00:05:55}}
Yes, there'll be this branded element
of it, but it will be contextually

{{00:05:59}}
adaptable to your context, your
preferences, your likes, and it will

{{00:06:03}}
be very, very omnipresent from the
sound of the product to when you get

{{00:06:07}}
in the car, to when you're, you know,
you're watching content, you're at TV.

{{00:06:10}}
But it won't be intrusive, and it will
be designed with you and the context.

{{00:06:14}}
In mind.

{{00:06:14}}
So you don't you allow it into your life.

{{00:06:16}}
You don't want to turn it off.

{{00:06:18}}
Essentially.

{{00:06:18}}
Yeah,

{{00:06:19}}
Sarah Austin: I was about to say.

{{00:06:19}}
Will there be any silence left?

{{00:06:21}}
Roscoe Williamson: Yeah, of course.

{{00:06:21}}
Of course there will be.

{{00:06:22}}
Yeah, they will.

{{00:06:23}}
Of course.

{{00:06:24}}
And that will become an important part.

{{00:06:26}}
But I also think that there's a
there's a huge swell of research

{{00:06:31}}
coming up in how music affects
the mind and the body as well.

{{00:06:35}}
And that's something that we are
massive music are big proponents off.

{{00:06:39}}
And so again, brands can leverage
the effects of that now actually to

{{00:06:44}}
think about the positive physiological
effects of sound and music on people

{{00:06:48}}
in spaces, at home, for example,  to
reduce stress or to aid concentration.

{{00:06:54}}
Sarah Austin: Amazing.

{{00:06:55}}
That was really fascinating.

{{00:06:56}}
Thank you.

{{00:06:57}}
Roscoe Williamson: Thank you.

Thanks for joining us in
the streaming studio today.

So we're going to talk a
bit about audio branding.

When you talk about audio branding most
people probably think of radio jingles.

Sarah Austin: I mean obviously
it's changed a lot So, can you

Roscoe Williamson: So jingles originated
in the 50s and actually interesting

story there was a marketing executive
who was looking after Wheaties a cereal

brand and they trialled the first ever
jingled on the airways in Minnesota for

one month And then they looked at the
sales data afterwards and they found

that It was pretty insane in terms of how
effective it was trialling this one radio

wide, and saved the brand Wheaties as
a serial brand and the rest is history

and by the sort of late 50s you've got
jingles for every single type of product

and brand on the market and you've almost
got this kind of saturation point on the

radio waves and actually it's kind of the
Jingle has sort of waned ever since then.

But then obviously you have the
evolution of  you know, music as a

So you think about the sound
of Nokia, the ringtone, right?

At one point that was heard by billions
of people around the world every day.

And yeah, it kind of is a natural
evolution to where we're at today,

which is a much more nuanced and kind
of ecosystem approach to sonic branding.

important is sonic branding
then today to brands?

It's become ever more increasingly
important for a few reasons.

The simple fact that it is so saturated
now in terms of the media landscape, any

form of consistency a brand can have, any
form of cut through is going to help you.

So sound has been under looked, and
now people are paying attention.

You also think about trends
like,  sound on social media.

So for example, TikTok is an
inherently a sound on platform.

How brands show up in
that world is important.

And then lastly, you know, think about
things like,  smart speakers, right?

And how we're all starting to interact
more in a voice first environment.

Again, how do you have some own
ability as a brand in that environment?

Sarah Austin: Can we talk a
little bit more about TikTok?

Because the TikTok generation have
a completely different relationship

Roscoe Williamson: Yeah, I would say
it's been, it's been fairly huge.

You know, sounds are the
new social memes on TikTok.

And it's a completely different
form of social currency.

It's put sound and music very much
front and centre of that social

experience, and the creators on the
platform, you know, use  music and

sound in a completely different way
than  what's been previously done before.

So as a brand, you know, how can you
look to leverage your brand sound?

How can you look to engage
authentically with the community

Sarah Austin: You actually designed
the sonic branding for TikTok, right?

Sarah Austin: So can you
talk us through that process?

It took about two and a half
years to actually find that sound.

But that sound is now heard by, you know,
literally millions of people every day.

And again, you know, we go through
the process of our, of our research

I think if you boil it down, sound
of TikTok, it had to be agnostic in

terms of,  there's so many different
cultures that TikTok is appealing to.

So we needed to create a sound that didn't
lean too far into any one particular

And you know, this needed to
be something that signifies.

The experience of tick tock, which
is, you know,  you want to watch more.

You're intrigued and you're kind
of beckoned into this environment.

And so when you actually hear it,
it's constructed of two parts.

You've got the first sub bass
sound, which is actually a homage

to a lot of the hip hop music
that made the platform what it is.

And then on the back end, you've got
this,  E major seventh chord,  with

a really nice,  timbre, light timbre,
which, which represents the joy and the

sort of last sunny corner element of what
TikTok is, is, is placing itself to be.

Another major change in the
industry is like the advent of AI.

Can you talk about the influence
that that has on sonic branding and

With when it comes to music
is still fairly nascent.

However, there are rapid, almost
exponential gains in its affected,

So my feeling is that there will be a
swathe of,  music for a certain type of

Music in the future,  how it affects
sonic branding at this point.

Is fairly kind of unknown,  but
, there are exciting potentials with

it when you come to think about
how you could take a writer's IP,

their music, and start to adapt that
into different forms and styles.

Yeah, I think where our stance on,
on AI is, and it's quite an important

one to kind of clarify, is that we
don't believe in severing the right of

We would want to use AI to
augment,  somebody else's I.

And so that line of right still goes to
the human rather than cutting it off.

Sarah Austin: So we started at
the beginning talking a little bit

Expert Insight

It's been almost a century since the first radio jingle was aired and sonic branding has come along way since then!

One person who knows a lot about the evolution as sound as brand is Roscoe Williamson, Global Creative Strategy & Innovation Director at MassiveMusic & Songtradr. He spoke to Streamly about that first radio ad, his part in creating TikTok's memorable sound logo and where he thinks audio branding is heading next.

Digital

Technology

Brand

Brand Innovation

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Roscoe Williamson

Global Creative Strategy & Innovation Director

Williamson delves into the origins of audio branding, recounting the history of jingles and their significance for brands. He highlights the enduring presence of audio branding in the present day.

Sound branding or jingle?

Williamson emphasises the significance of sound today, particularly in the arena of social media.

The importance of sound branding

Williamson explores the influence of TikTok on sound as meme, and shares the process behind crafting TikTok's distinct sound branding.

TikTok influence

Williamson reveals the impact of AI on sonic branding, exploring its potential for innovation and creativity. He also delves into the significance of music rights and ethical consideration in this context.

Influence of AI in sound branding

How will brands will engage with music in the future? Williamson gives his predictions.