Think of Nokia's iconic ringtone or the distinct "ta-dum" at the beginning of every Netflix show. How does it make you feel? Nostalgic? Happy? At ease?

If you answered “yes” to any of these feelings, then you just witnessed the power of sonic branding. Sonic branding can spark deep emotions which is a great way to foster strong connections with people that interact with your brand.

But first, let's get the basics. What is sonic branding? It’s the use of sound to give your brand a unique identity. It's not just music; it's jingles, effects, and even silence. Sonic branding can make people feel things, recognize your brand, and remember it for a long time.

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The Power of Sonic Branding for African Brands

Sound is everywhere; it helps us communicate and understand the world. Just like life would be dull without sound, branding wouldn't be as exciting without sonic elements. Here's why it matters:

1. Better Brand Awareness: Sound is pretty amazing when it comes to memory. This is why jingles make us feel very nostalgic about the particular brand they belong to. What is Indomie without their signature jingle? 

2. Stronger Emotions: Sound affects our emotions; the biggest brands know this.  By choosing the right sounds, you can subconsciously make your audience form any type of association with your brand.

3. Great Customer Experience: Sound can be used within your websites and apps to make interactions feel more responsive and tactile. Think of the refreshing sound you hear on Twitter when you pull down the home screen to refresh new tweets. Things like that.

However, even though sonic branding is awesome, there are a couple of interconnected problems that make it less widespread than the visual part of branding.

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Undertones of Sonic Branding in Africa

Sound design is very technical work. While visual brand identity is relatively widespread and is the first thing you think of when branding is mentioned, the same can’t be said for sonic branding. For original sounds, you need a sound engineering team, a studio specializing in this, or an exclusive license. This can make the cost of creating a sonic identity rack up as quickly. This can be a hurdle for smaller brands just starting out.

For brands that can scale the aforementioned tough, there are numerous ways to tap into the power of sonic branding.

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Creating Your Sonic Identity

Sonic branding takes on various forms, which are typically determined by the type of business or brand it represents. These forms may include:

• Acoustic Logo: One reference to explain this: The classic Nokia welcome sound. Sonic logos are usually paired with their visual cousins to cement brand awareness.  MTN has been known to use this sound logo that has evolved over the years.
• Brand Theme Song: These are musical compositions that tend to be longer than an acoustic logo used in combination with other brand elements or content that the brand produces. They are usually catchy getting people to instantly associate the sound with the brand over time. NTA Network Service Ident and NTA News Intro (2007/Nigeria) 
• Brand Ambience or Soundscapes: These sounds create a certain mood, like calming sounds in shopping malls or, the chaos of slot machines in casinos. Most of the time, they’re not original sounds and are curated to achieve any desired effect when people hear them.
• Use of Specific Voice and Phrases: This includes signature phrases and voice lines that define a brand's sonic identity. Fisayo Fosudo’s “#FodaAdo” phrase is a prime example of a signature phrase defining a brand, while the voice of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa are iconic for their brands.
• Sound Bites: The refreshing sound of opening canned drinks, the humming of vacuum cleaners, the start sound of power bikes. These bites can be inserted into a brand’s identity or content to make interactions more immersive. 

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Final Notes

Sonic branding is a big opportunity for African brands. It can make us stand out and connect with people. It's not always easy, but with a mix of strategy and creativity, we can make our brand sound as popular as Afrobeats.

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