Sabine Kloos

101 Great Minds on Music Brands and Behavior

Sabine Kloos, Senior Vice President Global Brand Management, Telenor

Sabine Kloos is the Senior Vice President Global Brand Management at Telenor Group. With close to 30 years of extensive experience, Ms. Kloos holds an impressive record in managing brands and brand communication, in addition to revolutionizing branding strategies of significant companies such as Telefonica with the brand O2 and Blau, where she also impeccably transformed brand communication. A force to reckon with, Ms. Kloos’ expertise is bound to significantly transform the Telenor Group's brand strategies and practice.

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“Sound fuels what the brand stands for in a very unconscious way, and consistency is key to building and strengthening a brand over time.”

— SABINE KLOOS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT GLOBAL BRAND MANAGEMENT, TELENOR

Reese:Can you start by describing your role at Telenor, please?

Kloos: I’m in charge of the global brand and brand management practices at Telenor. We have nine business units which are independent in the way they operate. Built on the conviction that a brand needs to be first and foremost relevant to and differentiating in the local market context, we don’t believe in one global brand in Telco, although in common values, assets, and methodologies in managing those brands. We’re in charge of equipping our brand and marketing teams with competencies, methodologies, and assets they can apply to their local markets. Next to this, we of course, also obtain a governance role, and while there are some exceptions, we have a corporate brand identity and design which is leveraged across most of our market. 

Reese:Telenor is in the process of creating a sonic brand, so what is your advice to fellow CMO’s who are wary but know they must dive in? 

Kloos: I would say to the CMO’s, that only when you’re clear on what your brand stands for, can you translate it into different brand expressions. By that, I mean the logo, typography, picture style and sound. You should understand how it all translates from a strategic-conceptual to an executional level. If we, from a global level, understand the fundamentals and cornerstones, we are able to provide flexibility within a framework for our markets and support them in building strong brands via, amongst other, sonic assets.

Reese:Out of our five senses hearing is the first and the deepest, but what role does sonic play when it comes to trust-building?

Kloos: From my point of view, trust is the highest qualifier of a relationship. It needs to be earned by being consistent in delivering what you promised. It’s easier to be rewarded by trust if you are equally consistent on the explicit delivery of things and on the implicit communication level. In that context, sound gives you an underlying feeling of ‘Hey, this is familiar’ as it happens in the unconscious part of your brain.

“Audio can contribute to strengthening the brand, and by doing that, it can support the build of trust with the customer.”

Reese:How are decisions made when it comes to sonic branding in terms of creating a unique sonic DNA versus using elements of pop culture? 

Kloos: It’s a question of what you’re aiming to achieve with the respective communication.  If you are aiming to leverage a sonic DNA to strengthen your brands identity, consistency is needed. Sound as an identity cue fuels what the brand stands for in a very unconscious way, and that needs time and consistency. But I would say that there are situations where it’s appropriate to use a famous pop song, as driving engagement activity for a TV commercial for example. You need to take an informed decision based on what you are aiming for. If you use pop songs all the time however, you might lose out on the opportunity to establish sound as a brand cue to strengthen your brand. Given that sound, although implicitly, is highly effective in driving a brand’s attention, it is worth leveraging it for brand building. I am still surprised that this is not applied by a lot of companies.

The choice is often driven by decision makers who don’t understand how it undermines the brand, so we must educate the importance of sonic at a very senior level.

“We need to make it clear that there’s a value in a consistent sound, while at the same time understanding that occasionally, we can also use a famous pop song.”

Reese:I agree that for the Super Bowl, for example, it can be perfectly fine and authentic but would you agree that having a sonic DNA brand book gives credibility? 

Kloos: You just said credibility and authenticity. If a famous pop song fits into your story, then it makes sense, but it shouldn’t be the case all the time. Advertising is part of it, but there’s also the retail experience or hotlines, where you can positively impact the sound of waiting with a song. So for me, authenticity is a good criteria when it comes to looking at whether you take a piece from the sonic DNA or use a pop song. I would define the cautious usage of pop songs in the sonic DNA brand book.

Reese:Why has sonic become so dominant in today’s world?

Kloos: It’s all to do with digitization, particularly the younger generation who is into short-term attention pieces and often use multiple devices. That, in combination with screenless devices such as Alexa or Siri, has had an impact. A very frequently asked question I hear these days is ‘How should my brand sound on Alexa?’ If you don’t have a sonic DNA, you need to work out some sound identifiers – that’s why so many companies are now asking this question. In a telecommunications context, 25 years ago, you were able to stand out by technical features or accessibility, but now that’s been completely diminished. Everything is commoditized on the core service, so the bigger companies now realize they need strong brands with an emotional experience to make a difference.

“If you think about the multi-sensorial experience with brands, sound always comes into play because it directly connects to your brain and your emotions. It’s the reward system, and that is why sound has become a priority.”

Reese:What would be your advice to a brand looking to establish their sonic DNA?

Kloos: One question I often get, is ‘How does this effort drive our business? What’s the connection between having a sonic DNA, and how does it contribute to the top line of our P&L?’ When you talk to CMO’s about this in the context of sonic, you should always be prepared to have a good answer to the question.

Note: The interview took place in Oslo on January 12, 2021.

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