This is an article by Walter Werzowa, the creator of the famous INTEL audio logo. It was published in the Audio Branding Academy Yearbook in 2009.

“It is Not What We Say but How We Say it”

Introduction

Open your ears and with it your mind and soul. In my mind, these words best describe the fundamental effect that music has on its listeners. Despite being an inherently subjective art form, it leaves a largely indescribable, lasting impression. Music acts as more than simple brain stimulus and, if I can extrapolate further, this idea extends to both long- and short-form compositions. Unfortunately this thought will not satisfy the length requirements for this compilation, so, let me start by introducing myself and the company I founded.

I was born in Austria, and at the age of 23, I released a #1 hit in Europe with my band Edelweiss. 6 years later, I moved to Los Angeles to study film music, which had always been a passion of mine. In 1992, I founded Musikvergnuegen, a company specializing in custom music, which allowed me make this interest a reality. More recently, I founded the Beyond music library. Although I did not know it at the time, this path would lead me directly into audio branding. Composing audio brands is a unique compositional process. It is not about finding a melody that fits the brand as much as allowing the brand to express itself through music and sound. It requires an acute ear, as well as an understanding of human physiology.

Based on each client’s brand attributes, we can determine a range of optimal frequencies, notes, and intervals that encompass the company’s identity. These methods have contributed to Musikvergnuegen’s success over the last 17 years. Most notably, we have participated in branding campaigns for Intel, LG Electronics, Samsung, Spring Nextel, Red Bull, and HLN, among others. We have also written scores for Steven Spielberg, Wim Wenders, and Joe Wright (Atonement), in addition to several Clio and Emmy Award-winning commercials.

“It is Not What We Say but How We Say it”

The above German proverb fits our purposes more succinctly in its original language: “Der Ton macht die Musik”. However, when it comes to audio branding, it is both important what we say and how we say it. A certain melody performed and arranged one way will not have the same effect on its listener when performed and arranged in an alternate way.

When I gave a talk at the Audio Branding Congress in Hamburg, I attempted to illustrate this point by playing well-known melodies in unfamiliar arrangements and juxtaposing them with clips from the original songs. So, for instance, I played the 8-bar introduction from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (Mijac Music, 1982) using pizzicato strings and asked the audience to name the tune. No one could correctly do so. Once I played the original, however, many people instantly recognized the song.

For another example, I played a pre-recorded arrangement of the James Bond Theme (Mony Norman, 1962) on solo, Arco Violin. Having been accustomed to the distorted electric guitar, only about a quarter of our audience recognized the tune as such (although, this result might have been skewed by the fact that another speaker had previously played the original track during his talk). Again, when it came to the original arrangement, a good portion of the audience visibly recognized the theme.

Target Demographic: The Whole World

When I worked on the original Intel branding campaign 16 years ago, the message was “Pentium – Intel Inside”. Up to that point, audio branding was wholly product-specific. In 2005, with their newest slogan, “Leap Ahead”, we moved into the world of master branding. This required appealing to a broader audience, targeting business people, as well as family members of all ages. At that point, the audio brand was attached to countless original equipment manufacturers (OEM) spots from HP to Dell, and studies showed that some consumers were associating the melody with these brands.

Thus, in an effort to distinguish Intel as an independent entity, we produced the version that is commonly known today. By today’s count, there are currently 6,000-7,000 active cultures on Earth (Christoph Antweiler, Die Vielfalt ist begrenzt, 2009). Within each of these cultures exists an infinite number of communities based on interests and occupations. Therefore, to allow our audio brands to have the most extensive reach, it is imperative that we find common denominators for a cohesive, global audio branding experience. Below, I have listed some key attributes that we can find in all cultures. Only the first 5, in bold, are relevant for audio branding purposes.

• aggression
• sexuality
• decorative art
• humor
• lay
• ownership
• gender specific roles
• gestures
• marriage
• hygiene
• medicine
• law and norm
• hierarchy
• religion
• shaming about bodily function
• inheritance
• tools fabrication
• counting

These 5 are particularly important because they are some of the most base human behaviors and characteristics to which advertisements invariably cater.

The Science of Listening

The issue then becomes whether one mnemonic will suffice for a successful, global audio branding campaign. For us to appeal to the greatest number of people, we need to study the physiological process of hearing and listening. The more we know about neurological behavior, the better our audio branding results will be.

Hearing is a physical process, but listening is a relationship, a choice, and a skill. In our daily lives, we are surrounded by far more auditory information than we can possibly process. So, our brain employs a Reticular Activating System (RAS) to filter out the common stimuli and hone in on the sounds that we ultimately listen to. Psychology expert Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi observed that our brains can process a maximum of seven, broad items of information at one time (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 1990). So accounting for such limitations, we must use pattern recognition (sounds, rhythms, phrases) to promote a listener’s retention.

In the long run, another problem arises regarding the life span of a mnemonic. It would be impossible to place a definitive length of time on an audio brand’s effectiveness. However, with the musical zeitgeist changing so dramatically from one decade to the next, it is a challenge for any piece to stay relevant. Hilmar Bading from the University of Heidelberg asserts that “[the] brain, through its own activity is constantly changing links” (Die Biologie der Seele, October 2009), attributing such changes in taste to inherent human behavior.

Points of Reference

With a basic knowledge of music, one might be inclined to think that a melody in minor always evoke sad emotions, while a major melody always convey playfulness. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita #3 in minor BWV827 contradicts the former assumption, as its tempo and time signature evoke frolicsome feelings, despite its key. Similarly, Arvo Paert’s Spiegel in Spiegel in F major succeeds in feeling melancholic and lonesome. By the same token, musical passages with faster BPMs do not necessarily convey more energy and “speed”.

In the Audio Branding Congress talk I referred to earlier, I played Beatles’ “Revolution 9” and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” for the audience. Even though the tempo on these two songs is practically identical, their overwhelming reaction was that “Revolution 9” sounded faster than “Crazy”. Analyzing a single melody or note in a vacuum is like trying to determine if a digital display indicates a watch or a timer. In making musical observations, we need to keep the bigger picture in perspective.

Contextual Factors

The following are some contextual factors which can affect the success of any melody (not simply a mnemonic):

• The environment of the listener (busy offices, concert venues, crowded public transportation)
• Sound quality of the distributing source (iPods, computer speakers, studio monitors)
• The setting when melody is played – wedding march breeds sentimentality, whereas, in an elevator, the same song might induce yawning
• Novelty vs. Habituation – Habituation is the process by which we gradually lose interest in anything that was once novel (North, The Social and Applied Psychology of Music, 2008).

Although there is no way to account for every circumstance in which consumers will interact with audio brands, there are some things we can do to increase our chances of success. For starters, the mnemonic should be such that the most important frequencies will faithfully translate to lo-fi systems. Compositionally, it should also refrain from startling the listener, promoting habituation – which, in the case of audio branding, is a positive result. These characteristics enable the subconscious to absorb audio brands, which has contributed a great deal to Intel’s branding ubiquity.

Focus Testing with Musikvergnugen

When we finalized the Samsung mnemonic in 2005, Cheil, Samsung’s in-house agency, insisted on performing rigorous focus tests. These tests spanned major cities across the globe, including New York, London, St. Petersburg, Seoul, Tokyo, Hamburg, and Cairo. I was curious how the focus grouping was done and I invited myself to the first New York session. For this particular test, Samsung brought in a handful of working women between the ages of 30 and 40. Each participant was presented with recordings of the mnemonics for Samsung, Intel, Phillips, and T-Mobile.

After hearing the 4 audio brands several times, the subjects were asked to identify from a list of 40 attributes which words they would use to describe each company’s mnemonic. Despite some technical difficulties, which made Samsung’s mnemonic sound like a Nine Inch Nails track, the test went on without a hitch. Ultimately, Samsung received some of the most positive results in focus grouping history. Globally, 92% of testers associated the audio brand with the relevant attributes.

The Negatives of Focus Testing

I do not mean to suggest that focus testing is entirely ineffective, but it would be a mistake to rely solely on the results of these tests. As I mentioned in another section, there are many contextual factors that contribute to the way listeners perceive audio brands. And, while testing methods attempt to eliminate these outside influences, it its impossible to perfectly replicate conditions where mnemonics would unexpectedly play in consumers’ daily lives.

There are so many factors to control for, and this makes focus grouping audio brands very challenging. Moreover, successful audio branding works on the subconscious and takes effect through repetition – both of which are compromised during testing. For example, Dr. Adrian North (North, The Social and Applied Psychology of Music, 2008) performed a single-blind test to see whether stimulus such as music affects the subjects’ response to advertising.

All participants were shown advertisements for various pens and given a choice of those products at the end. However, the participants were divided into two groups, A and B, and Group A was told beforehand that they would have a choice of the advertised pens. Group B, acting as the control group, was not told of their choice. In the end, Group A tended to choose the pen that was advertised as being smudge-resistant, whereas Group B tended to choose the pen whose commercial featured the most appealing music. In this case, musical conditioning seemed to occur when participants had no reason to evaluate the advertised product, whereas product information was more important when participants were motivated to process product-relevant information. On one hand, focus testing can reveal some valuable insights, but very simple conditions can derail and skew their results.

Inspiration

Although we rely on scientific and behavioral analysis to determine the characteristics of the most suitable mnemonic for each project, it is essential to draw inspiration from other places. If I had to put a number on it, about 80% of our methodologies are based on science, and the remaining 20% comes from intuition and musicality. Of course, each composer’s creative process is different, and he or she will draw inspiration from different sources.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says that “great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present” (The Creative Personality, 1996). Throughout my life, literary pieces such as the fairy tales written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu, “Siddharta” Hermann Hesse, “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho inspired my creativity and helped me make this leap. There is a certain fantastic and magical element to each of these works, and such stories have helped jog my artistry during creative droughts. Regarding inspiration, my mentor, the late composer Otto M. Zykan, used to say that it is essential to listen to all types of music or none at all. To only listen to Western music, for example, isolates you from the majority of music that exists in the world. And on the other hand, cutting yourself off from music altogether will produce truly unique and unparalleled results.

Creative Mistakes

Another aspect of musicianship is that oftentimes, some of the most brilliant ideas spring from mistakes. When I worked on the main title to “Eraser” (Eraser, Warner Bros. 1996), I had 2 days to compete with Alan Silvestri to come up with a unique, suspenseful theme utilizing sound design. After 36 sleepless hours, my piano chops started to fade rapidly. As I replayed the main melodic element, I accidentally hit an erroneous key, which, much to my surprise, added an intriguing hint of dissonance and drama. I decided I would present it that way, and the studio approved it. I had my first major movie open.

The Value of a Mnemonic

The branding website Interbrand has developed a method to evaluate brand value based on publicly available information , however it is a much different problem assessing the value of a mnemonic. I can say with great certainty that corporations like Intel and Samsung save money by strategically utilizing mnemonics. When an audio brand has been implemented successfully, it instantly inundates listeners with the master brand experience. Such mnemonics leave a uniquely lasting impression – one that words, visuals, and 30 second spots cannot achieve. By using the mnemonic, corporations can reduce their media buy expenditures dramatically.

Conclusions

Corporations exist beyond the products that they sell; they now offer their customers an experience. Nike isn’t a running shoe company; it is about the idea of transcendence through sports. Starbucks isn’t a coffee shop chain; it’s about the idea of community. And they sell this experience through any channels available. In the present day, we are exposed to more branding information in the form of music than ever before. According to one statistic (North, Adrian, D. J. (2008). The Social and Applied Psychology of Music, Oxford University Press, USA), 42% of commercials were scored in 1986, in contrast with 89.3% in 1993. And as audio branding rises in popularity, it is not a stretch to envision a day in the not-too-distant future when every corporation has its own mnemonic.

Such an oversaturation will serve to devalue music, an effect we have already begun to experience, and in time, advertisements with- out music will stand out more than scored ones. Already, companies have even sought to distinguish themselves by unbranding their products. In May 2009, Absolut Vodka launched a limited edition line called “Absolut No-Label”. The company’s global public relations manager, Kristina Hagbard, explained that “for the first time we dare to face the world completely naked. We launch a bottle with no label and no logo, to manifest the idea that no matter what’s on the outside, it’s the inside that really matters”.

A few months later, Starbucks opened its first unbranded coffee shop in Seattle called 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea. This “stealth Starbucks” (as the anomalous outlet immediately became known) was decorated with “one-of-a-kind” fixtures and customers were invited to bring in their own music for the stereo system as well as their own pet social causes – all to help develop what the company called “a community personality”. Customers had to look hard to find the small print on the menus: “inspired by Starbucks”. Tim Pfeiffer, a Starbucks senior vice-president, explained that unlike the ordinary Starbucks outlet that used to occupy the same piece of retail space, “This one is definitely a little neighborhood coffee shop”. After spending two decades blasting its logo on to 16,000 stores worldwide, Starbucks was now trying to escape its own brand (Naomi Klein, How Corporate Branding is Taking Over America, 2010).

References

Antweiler, Christoph (2009). “Vielfalt ist Begrenzt”, http://zeit.de.
Bading, Hilmar (2009). “Die Biologie der Seele“, http://zeit.de.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1991). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perrenial.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1996). “The Creative Personality”, http://www.psy-chologytoday.com
Klein, Naomi (2010). “How Corporate Branding is Taking Over America”, http://guardian.co.uk.
North, Adrian, D. J. (2008). The Social and Applied Psychology of Music, Oxford University Press, USA.