“That’s the big problem. That’s the whole thing. You know, if it’s not done right, then it will definitely not be sustainable, it’ll just end up in some drawer after two weeks. And we’ve seen that a thousand times, how these great sounds are made, and then, after a few months, a week, it’s kind of like what happened? It’s just disappeared.’” – Simon Kringel This episode is the second half of my conversation with producer, sound designer, and co-founder of the sonic branding agency Unmute as we talk about the things to consider when building a sonic brand, what sets Europe and North America apart when it comes to marketing and brand building, and what new companies can learn from McDonald’s’ twenty-year-long sonic branding success. As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available and what the newest audio chats will be about. If you’re getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts. (0:00:00) - Exploring Sonic Branding in UX DesignThe second half of our discussion begins with an audio clip of Simon’s work on Clever’s new brand, and he tells us the process behind its success, from incorporating natural elements to what he calls smashable design. “The whole idea of, you know, I call it smashable design,” he explains, “is so you can take things apart and they will still be recognizable on their own.” We talk about his work on brands ranging from streaming interfaces to telephone hold music, and why building an audio brand isn’t necessarily a one-and-done solution. “I think that’s an important point to make,” Simon tells us, “it’s that you cannot create a sonic identity for anybody just as one project.”(0:19:21) - The Evolution of Sonic BrandingWe talk about McDonald’s famous sonic logo, how it’s evolved and become more streamlined over the past two decades, and what we can learn from that process. “What’s amazing,” he says, “is that they’ve used it just consistently for more than twenty years and, of course, they managed to do all these variations and adaptations depending on whatever music is on the ad, but still, the core thing is being used consistently, consistently for so long.” Simon also tells us why, no matter which industry it is, excitement is key to building a successful brand. “You know you need to be excited about the new brand sound you have,” he adds, “otherwise it’s going to be difficult to fight for it.”(0:24:38) - The Role of Audio in BrandingThe conversation wraps up with his firsthand observations of branding differences between European and American markets. “I think what we’ve seen is that in North America,” he explains, “it has definitely been the ad agency who are the kings in this, and everything was, like, evolved around the ad agency and the creative.” We talk about why audio is so easily overlooked and how its subtlety can be an advantage for branding. “When we tell people about it,” he observes, “they’re suddenly like okay, they recognize the sound, but then it’s like, ‘I’ve never thought about it. It was just there.’” Episode SummarySimon’s sound work on Clever and his process for creating modular branding elements.How McDonald’s iconic jingle demonstrates the...

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