The Purpose
I’ve been talking about the power of sound in marketing for a long time. I cite examples and share my own work as well. However, I haven’t been able to find a really exciting study that outlines all the different opportunities and possibilities that I know are available in sonic branding.
So I made one up.
Left Coast Airlines is a fake company I created to highlight a successful use of sound strategy.
Branded sound is about brand identity. When brands use sensory marketing, such as sound, as an integral part of their marketing strategy, they present themselves in a very human way. When a brand becomes more human, it becomes more relatable and thus more relevant to the consumer.
Relevance is key in the shopping experience.
Relevance and relatability are built through an emotional connection. The more a brand can be relevant, the more sales are driven. This is what I demonstrate in the following sound strategy scenario about Left Coast Airlines and its expanding market.
The Summary
In this scenario, Dreamr Productions helped Left Coast Airlines generate new clients and build brand awareness by creating a branded podcast, a theme song for the podcast, and a sonic logo.
All of this was documented in detail on the Sound In Marketing Podcast episode – “Left Coast Airlines”.
The Sound In Marketing Podcast
Left Coast Airlines- Ep. 123
The Client
We envisioned Left Coast Airlines as a small U.S. West Coast-based airline with a quirky personality. They prided themselves on efficiency and everyday low prices. The scenario was that they had been primarily known as the “business person’s airline” and as such, generally flew shorter distances.
Due to the large percentage of frequent flyers, LCA would have gotten to know their customers extremely well. Staff and crew acknowledged the humdrum life the customers felt as they joined in on the joke. They would listen to customer stories, tell some of their own, and strive to make that mundane business commute just a little bit more fun.
Left Coast Airlines’s marketing campaign would have been designed to lay on the humor and sarcasm pretty thick.
As they eloquently state in their “newest” radio commercials, they offer-
“Happy clouds for normal people”.
We imagined that its newest endeavor would be to expand its service offering to include flights to Canada, Mexico, and Alaska. Their radio campaign, “Happy Clouds For Normal People”, would have been designed to advertise to both current clientele as well as to the shorter vacation seekers.
Note: The inclusion of the sonic logo at the end of these commercials will be explained further down in The Partnership.
The Project
We envisioned Dreamr Productions being hired to create a branded podcast for Left Coast Airlines.
The intention was that Left Coast Airlines no longer wanted to be known as just the “business person’s airline”. It now was offering more attractive destination locations and so it would also want to appeal to, “weekend warriors on a budget”. The radio campaign was clever and inviting but they still needed something more.
Left Coast Airlines needed to find new and intriguing ways to broaden its exposure and increase its clientele.
Our idea was that a branded podcast would be, “just the ticket”. A podcast would give Left Coast more opportunities to build brand awareness, increase its online presence in general, and create a stronger emotional connection with its current and future customers.
The Podcast
Like with any client, we built in a time to workshop some ideas. What we landed on was a podcast centering around humor and story.
The podcast’s mission was to create more opportunities for brand awareness and customer engagement. The content would be shareable and keep to the true tone of the brand’s identity.
As mentioned on the Sound In Marketing podcast, “Short Stories Made Ridiculous” is “slightly sarcastic but still conveys trust and commitment to the travel experience.”
“Short Stories Made Ridiculous”, takes the stories of Left Coast Airline’s customers and employees and brings them to life. The stories start in truth but then weave and wind into a strange tapestry of silly journeys leaving the listener completely engaged yet deliciously confused.
The story ”was in the stories.”
Here’s a clip.
The podcast focused on the brand’s personality. It gave room for Left Coast Airlines to stretch its comedic legs and offered them more time to bond and connect with their audience; something few advertisers get the opportunity to do.
“It’s just fun, which was the whole point.”
Jerry Morgan, Left Coast Airlines’s CMO
The Sonic Logo
During the mock discovery sessions, Left Coast shared their radio campaign commercials with Dreamr Productions. Dreamr suggested adding a sonic logo to the end of the commercials. This would create a familiar Left Coast “sound” that could then be tied back to all other marketing.
Everything needed to link back to LCA as much as possible. Using branded sound was the most simplistic way to do so. The sonic logo would be the glue between Left Coast’s traditional marketing (radio ads) and new marketing (the podcast).
Here’s what we created.
The Vision
Dreamr Productions wanted the sonic logo to incorporate Left Coast’s personality just as much as “Short Stories Made Ridiculous” did. It was designed to be quirky and whimsical but still convey “trust and commitment to the travel experience”.
The Theme Song
The podcast’s theme song was then modeled after the sonic logo to keep with branding consistency. We stretched the sonic logo out and added some more bounce to its step.
It was more silly and whimsical, like the podcast, yet held an air of excellence and due diligence, like the brand itself.
In this scenario, the sonic logo would have already been playing in the radio ads before the podcast even launched. The theme song needed to sound “familiar”.
This was the result.
The Deliverables
Dreamr Productions created a sonic logo, a podcast, and a podcast theme song for Left Coast Airlines. The intent was to create functional and flexible assets for the fictitious brand.
- The Sonic Logo
The foundational piece of the puzzle. The logo was designed to be easily molded and manipulated to serve whatever needs LCA’s marketing may have had. - The Podcast
“Short Stories Made Ridiculous” was relatable and engaging. It served as a mouthpiece for brand awareness and reached a larger audience for LCA than with traditional marketing alone. - The Theme Song
Another element of the branded sound puzzle. The theme song served as another sound indicator that drew the listener back to the brand itself.
Dreamr Productions’ intention for this project was to draw attention to Left Coast Airline’s big personality and build it into a marketable asset. The idea was that it could help increase the brand’s long-term ROI through emotional engagement and connection.
The Outcome
Left Coast Airlines would be able to advertise its new offerings to both current and new customers using branded sound to tie all marketing outreach together.
“Short Stories Made Ridiculous” would allow LCA to reach a wider audience, attract a new demographic, and increase ticket sales and clientele.
The sonic logo connected the new and traditional marketing as a sound indicator. It would tell the listener, “Oh, OK. This is from Left Coast.”
This scenario showed how sound strategy made Left Coast Airlines, relatable, relevant, and fun.
“Which was the whole point.”
Ready to Create?
Dreamr Productions would love to help with your sound strategy. Contact us today for more information.
