Skills and Research
Throughout the duration of my honours project I have
researched into a number of different fields in order to gain the required
knowledge and skills to successfully plan and execute my honours project.
As the subject of my project is Sonic Branding, there were a
lot of areas that demanded attention. The first of these areas was naturally
the use of sound and music in marketing.
There are many different marketing strategies used
within this area. One of the most popular methods I researched features
the effects of music being targeted at the point of sale in many shopping
environments such as shopping centers, restaurants and supermarkets. The music
played in these environments is often designed to create a specific mood or atmosphere
for the consumer. This specially created ambiance is done so in an attempt to
evoke and encourage the consumer purchase intent. Attributes of the music can
also contribute towards evoking a sense of comfort within the consumer, which
can lead to them staying longer in the store thus creating new opportunities
for them to discover a product they wish to purchase. As a result of this
research I became acutely aware of this sonic branding strategy in retail
environments.
I discovered a significant element involved in the
process of creating sonic branding in the form of touch-points. These
touch-points are the points of communication between the brand and the
consumer. Understanding the power and danger of these touch-points is essential
to the success of a brands sonic identity. The main original touch-points available were T.V, radio,
materials such as posters and personal interaction. With the emergence of new
technologies the amount of available touch-points has increased bringing with
them new possibilities for brands to communicate with their consumers. These
new touch-points can also present problems for brands. As new technology is
evolving and expanding at a fast pace, many brands are struggling to control
all aspects of their perception. This is because the new channels are not
controlled by the brand nor are the messages they deliver.
Potentially
the most important area of music marketing I encountered was the sonic logo. I
analysed the success of sonic logos designed by various other brands and drew
inspiration for the creation of my own for the IRN-BRU brand. Two of the most
inspirational sonic logos I encountered were those of McDonalds and Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola was particularly beneficial as it too was part of the non-alcoholic
soft drink industry.
I
continued my research by examining aspects of general branding such as brand
image, identity and corporate identity. An understanding of branding in general
was beneficial when creating a sonic identity to accompany the foundations of
branding.
I
began to develop a critical framework for the effective creation of sonic
branding. I did this by using an exploratory research method to draw
inspiration from areas of success with regards to the use of sound and music in
media. I determined success factors and refined these factors to contribute
towards the specific demands of my project. These areas of success included
music in film, advertising and other sonic branding projects. I also examined
the use of theoretical factors such as music score, music theory and instrumentation.
One
of the most important developments I made was applying the use of semiotics in
a sonic capacity. By using semiotic theories, I designed the sonic logo for
IRN-BRU to connotatively reflect the history and image of the brand.
I
demonstrated practice based research and ability to design a sonic identity in
accordance with my critical framework.
Sources
I used various different sources to conduct my research into
sonic branding. These sources include…
‘An Introduction to Sonic Branding’ by Jackson. D
‘The Music Instinct’ by Ball. P
‘Music, thought and feeling: Understanding the psychology of music’ by Thomson.
W.F
‘Music in Advertising: Commercial Sounds in Media
Communication and Other Settings’ by The Aalborg University Press
Why brands are like people by Parr. S
Understanding Jingles and Needledrop: A Rhetorical
Approach to Music in
Advertising by Scott. L. M
Music and Advertising. International Journal of
Advertising by Dunbar. D. S
Purchase Occasion Influence on the Role of Music in Advertising by
Alpert. M. I
Personal Critical Reflection
Reflecting on my development, it is apparent that my
progress has been a consistent, slightly turbulent but overall positive
process.
Despite finding my area of interest early on, refining this
aim was not a one step task. It’s not until after receiving feedback on my
research proposal that I managed to finalise my project aim. Even at this point
I had not refined the particular aspects of the project.
It was quite late on that I began applying my work to the
IRN-BRU brand as I realised the application of sonic branding to a fictitious
soft drink had no basis for testing. All of these elements provide evidence to
suggest that more preparation would have been beneficial in avoiding such
turbulence during a time I should have been focusing on the project.
Time keeping has always been a weakness of mine. This
weakness thrived during the first semester and hindered my progress. This is
due to the indecisiveness regarding a project aim, which again points towards
better preparation being the most important lesson learned here.
For the ‘brand identity’ section of my dissertation, I had
hoped to include an interview with Martin Steele, who is the senior brand
manager for Barr’s. I tried to contact Mr Steele several times over the phone
with not success of getting in touch with him. I eventually acquired his email
address and I wrote to him asking for a ten-minute interview. He replied and
agreed to meet with me. He asked me for a list of times when I was available. I
provided him with these details and he did not respond. I sent a follow up
email asking if he was still able to meet with me. Again, there was no
response.
I feel that I did everything I could to achieve my goal of
interviewing someone directly involved with the brand identity of IRN-BRU. Aside
from turning up at his office uninvited, there was nothing more I could do.
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