By Sixième Son
Pharma companies need to embrace sound in their branding, but even more so, they need to think about sound as its own strategy. For years, pharma marketers have focused on visual branding and have been missing out on so many audio touchpoints. Although television is still popular, audiences are continuing to move away from regular cable towards digital, streaming services, and others are simply tired of looking at screens.
Meanwhile, there has been a major uptick in audio-only entertainment, like podcasts and audio-books. People are loving audio due to its inherent flexibility and according to Edison Research, 73 percent of the U.S. 12+ population (an estimated 209 million people) have listened to online audio in the last month. Yet, despite these numbers, sound isn’t being utilized to its full potential for many brands.
However, for an industry that has long avoided focusing on audio, pharma brands have been stepping into the sonic branding world, creating bespoke sonic identities that break from the category’s all-too-common light classical arrangements, pianos and human heartbeats.
A great pharma example is from a Veritonic case study of a leading IBS medication that built a memorable mnemonic using creativity and data. In an industry as competitive as pharma, this brand knew they needed to use sound to help lock in their position as one of the leading IBS medications on the market. They wanted to create a sonic brand that would drive brand recall and brand loyalty.
So, the company sought to create an ownable and unique auditory asset. In conjunction with this, they used data and analytics to create their sonic brand, as opposed to making music or sound choices solely based on stakeholder opinions.
For the creative itself, they needed to ensure the sonic brand embodied a welcoming, likable, and optimistic tone, and that it went with the music in their existing ads. Ultimately, the brand needed to invoke musical characteristics that would resonate emotionally with their target audience. They wanted it to connect easily and to sound uplifting, trustworthy, positive and friendly.
Music can be a powerful ally in conveying your brand’s values and intentions. It can help speed up awareness and lock in memory. Your sonic strategy in pharma should also connect across multiple touchpoints and multiple devices. Sixième Son clients benefit from our deep expertise in the healthcare arena, especially the pharmaceutical space.
Photo by Patty Brito on Unsplash
Sources:
Veritonic Sonic Logo Index 2022
Adweek article ‘How Pharma Marketing Can Ride the Audio Wave Into Modern Times’
Edison Research – The Infinite Dial 2022
