Toluna-Harris Interactive and Sixième Son won gold at Trophies Studies & Innovations 2022. The award recognized three years of research collaboration and the development of a solid methodology for measuring the performance of branded sound identities.
The Brand Music Performance Barometer (BPM) is the only tool to analyze all aspects of brand sound identity with the aim of measuring and standardizing performance and impact. Through its core of over 60 sound identities broken down into five dimensions (recognition, attribution, appreciation, attention, attachment), the BPM is the cornerstone “study” for analysing the sound of brands and defining the best-practices required to create a lasting emotional bond with consumers.
SOME KEY FINDINGS
A sonic identity needs time to settle in and take root in order to perform.
- Media investments alone (repetition) are not enough to ensure performance
- Tailor-made sonic identities are much more effective than known licensed music.
- The performance of sound identities correlates with the impact and vitality of brands.
AND THE GOOD PRACTICES THAT FOLLOW
- Start with the brand, not the music
- Think global system, not a campaign
- Aim for clarity and acoustic performance
- Think brand experience
- Test, evaluate
THE RESULT
With the Brand Music Performance Barometer, Toluna-Harris Interactive and Sixième Son demonstrate, each year, that not all sound identities are equal and that the challenge is not simply to have a brand’s music, but to have the the right one. Toluna-Harris Interactive and Sixième Son have moved away from the overly reductive and subjective prism of and subjective prism of approval to propose a new and robust study.
SOME KEY FINDINGS
- 82% of French people think it is important for a brand to have a sonic identity to address them
- 90% of the French believe that a brand’s sonic identity makes it easier to remember memorization
- 75% of French people say they are closer to a brand with a sonic identity
- Recognition and approval do not mean attribution.
- Agreeableness is not enough to perform on all dimensions.
- Sonic identity needs time to settle in and resonate in order to be perform.
- Media investments alone (repetition) are not enough to make it perform.
- Tailor-made sonic identities are much more effective than known “synchronised” music.
- The performance of sound identities and the impact and vitality of brands are definitely correlated.
WHAT MAKES THIS URGENT?
All new media consume sound. Media, non-media and UX are the new triptych of sound usage by brands. This new convergence has changed the quantitatively and qualitatively the sound and musical perspective of brands. Sound competition is stronger in a more crowded environment and consumers are becoming more demanding. Music for brands is now a much greater potential for expression… but, also, carries more risks.
Sonic identity is a fast-growing discipline: all brands need a sonic identity – large and small advertisers, B2C and B2B. There is a pressing need to measure the performance of brands’ sounds and to offer marketers tangible KPIs and tangible results.
“This study reveals both the growing importance of sound in brand communication and the imperative need for tailor-made solutions. Seducing the consumer is good, performing is even better. The measurement tool that we provide brands with Toluna-Harris Interactive now allows them to have tangible KPIs and to better control the triptych of attention – commitment – attachment.”
MICHAEL BOUMENDIL, President and Founder of Sixième Son
“Three characteristics of this barometer make it an indispensable tool in our daily collaboration with the brand: the changes it highlights from one year to the next, the possibility of refining the results according to target groups and the very thorough sectorial analysis it makes possible. This has led to some key lessons on the ins and outs of our profession, including this one: the challenge is not more sound, but better sound.
LAURENT COCHINI, Managing Director
Methodology
- Representative sample of France: over 1,000 individuals 16+.
- Online collection, Toluna-Harris Interactive platform & panel
- More than fifty brand sound identities selected from the 100 largest multi-media advertisers
- 9 advertiser sectors investigated