Icon or Symbol, Which is Best for Branding?
Iconic Sonic Starts with Strategic Symbolism
While brands must show up sonically in the most accessible touchpoints for consumers, that does not mean that brands should sound like prototypical versions of those given touchpoints. For example, if every time someone walked into a bank a “cha-ching” sound played, no individual brands would become connected to that sound. Instead, the sound would serve as an indication that someone has entered a bank. This is why finding a sonic identity that matches your specific brand identity, and not an entire industry, is crucial.
Our research has revealed that brands across industries frequently turn to two specific sounds in their “branded” sonic assets: The Doorbell or The Heartbeat. These two sounds are both recognizable and are often associated with positivity and warmth. Brands regularly want to associate with life, health, safety, and comfort, and these attributes can create a more human and personal connection with consumers.
While these characteristics may exist within a brand’s ethos, are the literal sonic icons necessary for portraying them? No! Iconic music, like Jimmy Hendrix’s raging version of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” performed in protest of the Vietnam War, can be extremely effective messaging, however, this representative musical approach is not ideal for capturing the full set of nuances that encapsulate a brand. Symbolism, on the other hand, tends to be more effective. For example, T-Mobile’s sonic logo does not sound like a ringtone, but 84% of people know it belongs to that specific cellular brand1.
“While the concept of iconicity can be beneficial for UX/UI sounds like the iPhone lock button, which mimics the sound of an actual lock, as a sonic logo, it lacks the uniqueness to drive brand association. “
Newcomers like Homes.com and Snapdragon entered the sonic sphere in 2024 with respective icon-driven sounds. The inability to own the generic sound of a doorbell or the sound of a human heartbeat firmly places these brands at a sonic crossroads: should they rebrand to avoid blending into the bland?
Brands like Lowe’s and Audi may run into issues soon as additional brands entering their respective industries may further utilize generic icon-based sounds, rendering these sounds even less brand-specific. Sonic branding is a marathon, not a sprint; brands must steer clear of easy icon-based sounds, and trade these for strong symbolic sonic assets derived from direct brand attributes and moods.
While symbols may be defined as arbitrary independently, this does not mean they are meaningless. They may be more meaningful to brands due to their inability to be associated with anything external. Symbolic meaning runs deeper and associations are not attached to generic actions, rather they are specific and learned attributions. It may require additional legwork in the beginning, however, the best way to be an iconic sonic brand is through sonic symbolism.
References: 1.amp Super Bowl Research 2024/Foodbev Media
