Audio Branding: Unlearning Learned Behavior

The great thing about today’s digital media landscape is that it is constantly changing. It is never in one spot for a certain amount of time — platforms, channels, content blueprints, digital interfaces; nothing is ever in a stationary, dormant position. In fact, the concept of today’s media landscape is fluid.

Because there is no such thing as an ‘online status quo’, the key to being a successful brand in the ever-changing, dynamic digital market is observing and anticipating trends. For instance, over the past year, we have seen the rise of voice technology; thus, foreshadowing the next wave in marketing.

Voice technology holds a lot of potential for brands to capitalize on; however, that isn’t necessarily what comes to the mind of consumers when they think of voice technology. Other than Alexa and aspiring competitors, not many brands have stepped up to the plate to take on the new game-changing marketing strategy presented by AI technology, otherwise known as audio branding. Although a foreign concept, audio branding is so new that it has yet to thoroughly be disclosed. This means that brands have the creative freedom to make it whatever they want it to be.

To my surprise, there is yet to be a brand to tackle the new wave of marketing. As brand interactions, user behavior and expectations continue to develop, opportunities appear in unfamiliar places. Brands with household names have the advantage to deploy their brand in new markets with lesser risk. Audio and streaming continue to appear on peoples vision boards and rise in popularity as Alexa and Google Home become more mainstream products. As voice becomes more common and comfortable for consumers, branding will soon include and encompass the audio world.

A sure thing that we have all witnessed historically in this active era of digitalization is a single brand taking advantage of unmarked territory, absolutely dominating their segment and leading the pack of innovative followers who take up space in what becomes an oversaturated, competitive market. Take Apple for example. Apple is a successful brand due to the companies mission to continuously innovate and make a meaningful contribution and/or impact in their field and on behalf of their audience. Their mission runs deeper than surface level and therefore solidifies a future for the company. The brand’s promise to constantly adapt and evolves aligns company morale. This is reflected in all of Apple’s product and service offerings.

Legacy brands, at large, have created such profound, reputable names for themselves that they have cultivated a status symbol to coincide with the ownership and/or association of or with these brands. The commonality among these luxury brands is that they saw untapped potential in their market and identified consumer pain points that were unknown to the consumer… until they were formally introduced with the brand and expectations and behaviors transformed overnight.

The first brand to truly kill audio branding is likely to be one of the household brands that have a large, loyal following with many niche audience segmentations. Despite the inevitable risk factor, a legacy brand can leverage its assets such as the brand name and brand experience to alleviate consumer’s hesitation to embrace voice technology brand interactions.

Users will undeniably experience cognitive dissonance while adapting to voice technology and audio branding as they must unlearn the way in which they have interacted with brands through digital interfaces for the past decade. This, perhaps, presents brands with the greatest obstacle that they are up against.

The impending juncture with technology and voice can be assuaged in format. By creating an experience that is genuinely beneficial to the user and worthy of both their time and attention, old marketing and branding tools will soon be a thing of the past along with programmatic advertising.

Let’s take a look at some companies that are slowly, but surely venturing into the audio world and collaborating with the O.G. voice technology application, Alexa.

When I say ‘soup’, what's the first brand that comes to mind? I would venture to guess that a majority of people would say Campbell’s. Campbell’s soup isn’t necessarily a tech pioneer in nature; however, the brand is very much ahead of the curve as it rounds the corner of audio branding. Campbell’s was the first consumer brand to collaborate with Alexa and share a skill. Campbell’s offers ‘Campbell’s Kitchen’, which helps Alexa users to plan, prep, and/or make meals.

Another brand that is beginning to incorporate audio branding strategy in their marketing blueprint is Zyrtec. Zyrtec has partnered with Alexa and created a skill called ‘Daily AllergyCast’. This skill serves somewhat like a weather app in that the forecast is based on the weather with a deeper insight based on pollen count and other environmental factors that may play a role in a users personal allergies.

Partnering with Alexa is a smart transition as a means to ease into the audio world and eventually, audio branding. It has been predicted that within the next decade of marketing, consumers will shop via voice-first devices. What does this mean? It sounds like this. “Alexa, buy toothpaste.” The question is, what brand of toothpaste will be sent to the consumer?

Users expect speed and convenience in all brand interactions. Audio branding takes speed to a new level. Brands have the ability to quickly capture audience attention, resonate with them and create brand recall by tactfully engraining that audio brand identity in users heads.

Today, it is imperative that brands begin defining what their audio brand is. This begins with further dissecting the brand persona. As the landscape shifts to revolve around both voice and brand, brand audio identities will play a very important role in determining the future and success of brands.

Brands that can create a voice reflective of the brand identity that prompts brand interaction and brand association will truly be successful as voice technology familiarizes itself with the masses in due time and penetrates the market.