What follows is the final extract of a two part piece (part one here) from the fascinating interview between the brand associations, image & strategic brand comms expert Martin Dorn, Global Director / COO of M7, and Graham Hales, the CEO of Interbrand, where they suggest a framework for companies to consider for emotional branding through music.           

Martin Dorn, M7 (MD): Graham, philosophers and scientists have long tried to describe life. Whatever it is, we experience it through our emotions. Albert Einstein once said, “Life’s meaning can’t be known by customary thought patterns, but by experience.”  What do you think about the idea that we all have a kind of a “soundtrack of our live” and by that we connecting music with our emotional experiences or memory on something that later will enable us to transcend ourselves back to those particular moments?

Graham Hales, Interbrand (GH): Yes, I think you can find that there is music that belongs to a period of your life that you can play and you get quite nostalgic about and you can kind of remember where and when you were. I think you can get pieces of music that you might have listened to and then you see it in a film and it means so much more to you or you see it in an ad or whatever but it just takes on another dimension when it got other things that connect with it and belong with it. I think most people have a broad repertoire of favourite music that will suit different moods and can take me into different directions in terms whether their mood or their energies at that particular time. So yeah, I think most people have a kind of a soundtrack of there live that probably, I mean, grows. You take tunes with you.

MD: Do you consider a brand that was there and to that particular moment present more memorable for you and maybe a part of that nostalgic feeling, that transition back to those memories?

GH: Let’s say so, yes, but I think this is part of the difficulty that brands have... this is part of the challenge of the opportunities, because brands haven't attached themselves particularly effectively to certain kind of music they don't have that necessarily that identification with a piece of music, if you think the closest you might get to... with some like Levis 501's and the advertising images that have had particularly some strong fitting soundtracks to, but then like advertising, you know, this is a piece of film that’s owned by a brand as opposed to the brand really having that deep rooted connection, we know that is a brand connected with fashion or the Zeitgeist of that particular moment rather than owning it.

When brands have used music as their signature within sonic identities that the music becomes a bit more basic and a bit singular and doesn’t have the depths as described in your topic of starting with a comprehensive music strategy in branding. So when its been used around particular piece of identity it just becomes one dimensional.

To remind us that its this brand's signature, as opposed to somebody, which is there to design to change our mood, or put depths into the usage of music, and that could be... that’s a challenge and an opportunity.

Could brands add more dimensions to the music that they're putting around themselves? Almost certainly, but that creates complexity of the communication, and the demands you described earlier by bringing in comprehensive music strategy and possibly the development of the musical identity of a particular brand.

MD: And that’s a good point because on closer analysis of many brand's music usage it would seem that their music "strategies" are almost as varied as the genre of music selected.

GH: Well, yes, I still think everyone’s got it nailed so we really understand things like corporate identity. But there is still emotion attached to corporate identity that makes it difficult. We really understand what brands should say but that’s pretty much in its infancy, we still talk about verbal identity to organization and as they say “What on earth is that?”

Where is in fact verbal identity quite straight forward in terms how you explain it you know people get it really quickly? Musical identity, seems to, again are we talking sonic? Simplicity?

Or are we talking depths of music? If you think about brands attached themselves more to a singular piece of music so BA is coming to mind again, which they had that deep piece of music attached to themselves and it was much easier once they portrait the depth piece of music to say actually, I don’t like it, you know, it's not my kind of music. Or certainly, if you're flying regularly at that time it got very repetitious and unless it was a piece of music that you had particular warmth for, you know, you kind of felt this has got a shelf life, or I’m tired of it, I’m objecting it, it's not my kind of gig. You know that piece of music I mean, there was some..  it was an operatic piece that they had as their..

MD: And played over and over again...

GH: Yea, it was played in their entertainment system continuously. I think they ended up trying to brand themselves with that piece of music, or it became another part of the brand's arsenal. It didn't seem to be deliberately used for to create identity but it probably served a purpose in their flight entertainment system.

MD: This is interesting. It doesn’t sound much developed, and seems to have ignored elementary psychological facts... within sound aesthetics... when it comes down to brand experiences through music, or playing sonic elements.. So it must have been really in its infancy with them.

GH: Yes, I only say that receiving as a consumer. They dropped it about four years ago. Possibly through the previously mentioned wear out factor and that people just didn't engage with that particular selection of music.

MD: Would you agree, when talking about verbal and visual identity, and the brand, and it's musical identity, that there is the need of continuous development of it? In a sense, that you do not employ a stiff and frozen approach when it comes to the strategic use of the music. By opposing the usage of a singular, repetitious piece of music, with a development of a core musical identity, from where you recruit the DNA for the dynamic sound of a multi-dimensional brand.

GH: Quiet possible! Yes. I think musical identity is still in its infancy, and I segregate sonic identity from musical identity. Sonic Identity is much more blink, blink, blink ... Intel, noise, T-Mobile as opposed to have more rounded music attached to the brand.

 

Simplified Integration Schema for MID (Musical Identity Development) by Martin Dorn © 2011

MD: I agree. Absolutely. Sonic branding is not music branding.. and to refine and filter the core musical identity of a brand means to finally enable the brand to operate a smart music strategy within all branding and communications at all touch points, which will mobilise quite different, much deeper energies...

GH: Yea, yes, very interesting integration, Martin, and I agree, if I was looking at a brief for musical identity, I would probably trying to approach it in the same way that we do through visual identity or verbal identity of understanding what the values are and therefore where the music should take us. Within both visual and verbal identity we start quiet upstream so, you know, one of the basic elements, what should a logo type look like, what should the photographic style should look like but we're trying to bake a flexibility into it because we don't want to have a visual identity system that runs out of steam, we want it to have the flexibility, because we continue saying it is the idea that is important to communicate not just to repeat the symbols attached to it, whilst the repetition provides the identification, it's the idea that is the most important thing for the brand to convey. Similarly with verbal identity we recognize that they are key pieces, bit around the strap line, you don't want to change, but the writing needs for an organization are much extended from that, so actually what you need to do is to teach the organization how to write on behalf of the brand. So there are multitudes of different things to do and can be represented by the verbal identity

If you extend that into musical identity you would have the same logic that there would be, precisely what you've proposed, a core piece of musical identity what sits around the brand, but there'd be extension of it, as the brands have different communication needs. I agree with you, to flex the style or the particular piece of music to connect with the mood it wants to create to that time.

MD: Or even to do it vice versa and recognise the different moods of their audiences in reflection of the moments of the Zeitgeist to that particular time.

Is Music then better placed to advertise specific products or the brand at the corporate level itself, or both?

GH: Interesting thoughts, and yes, I think there is an opportunity for us to do both. I think when we recognise from your quotes earlier, music conveys emotion, some brands want to convey more emotion than others. It would be quite easy to therefore say, well, music suits brands that want to be particular emotional, but at the same point if you have brands that are trapped in being seen particular rational music could be a great way to get them to been seen more emotional within their market context.

MD: You mentioned before that over time taste changes and that you develop further, generation changes, and of episodes of change in your life and society, don't you demand from the brands you are loyal to, that they develop as well as you develop. In a sense that you still can understand that brand in ten years, so that it could possibly be an indicator to recognise this for a constantly evolving music strategy and also to drive the segments in your particular market place. And then there is the fact that music is playing a compelling role in connecting with the world of fashion, sports, entertainment, and all sorts of events; therefore can be an important amplifier for brand partnerships within popular culture.

GH: I think this is a fair analogy. I think one of the interesting challenges within the branding industry is 15 years ago people imagined that the brand was set in stone, then they woke up to understand if the brand is convey through a series of values these values need to be constantly reinterpreted to be dynamic to their market places as they exist

So what felt innovative 15 years ago wouldn't feel innovative today? We would need to work with the value like innovative to constantly proof that what we do is innovative in its existing markets. I think that’s a maturing of peoples understanding of how they manage their brand. We still know that too often organisations would see their brand values as being passive or nice words to say about themselves as opposed to words, which they strive to achieve and demonstrate to their people.

I think if you extend that issue further you quite often find that as brand manager's change within organisation they need to tune themselves into the values of that organisation and recognise that they are Stewarts of those values not their to change them they are there to make them contemporary for that particular moment and I think that is just a real struggle that business communities have it might be that working for brand consultancy we get called in when change occurs, no one phones us to maintain what it is they are doing, we are invited to help people reinterpret their brand. 

We have many more continual relationships than we used to. So people understand their brand is being an asset, therefore like any other asset needs constant activity around it, if its to maximise its value. Therefore, there is an understanding that the brand operates within a cycle of crazy activity managing the implementation of that, seeing where it is you've got to, then recreating, reimplementing, reevaluating. And that is how the organisation gets the most value out of it.

And with managing the brand's music strategy it is the same thing, you need to constantly direct, strategically manage and reevaluate the implementation - professionally and with good instincts - and not leave it up to the "guy with the biggest iPod collection", as you've rightfully described.

With that, it becomes an enticing opportunity, because everybody is looking for things to do that their competitors are not doing or too slow reacting to. Music is such a thing.

GH: I have just had another thought about a personal experience with a piece of music.  If you think about the "Shawshank Redemption" where it's got that opera scene that comes in. I think it's the marriage of Figaro. Do you know that bit of the movie where the music comes in? You don't have to like opera to really get that. It's a wonderful, wonderful piece of music. I can't begin to remember the tune, I couldn't sing it - save my life - I only think it comes from Marriage of Figaro. But I can remember that scene; remember it's a great piece of music. It was on the telly some months ago in add for the Shawshank Redemption. I have watched the movie to see that scene to see that piece of music again

MD: I can feel real emotions here...

GH: Yea, yea, absolutely, this is fantastic. But brands haven't made that connectivity between themselves and a piece of music or a musical identity in that way yet.

MD: I believe it is possible to get there, I believe it is possible to develop one musical identity of a brand, one musical mindset and style, one culture, and go with it into the marketing & brand communications activities, and still successfully manage to strategically approach different kind of segments.

GH: How would you devise that?

MD: When you market the same melody or the style derived from the brand's musical identity and compose it for a young child within a comprehensive music branding strategy for an Apple iPad,

for example, you will speak to children below 12.

GH: Quite possible. Yes.

MD: You can quite use that composition and produce it more enhanced, "edgier", remix it, or do all sort of crazy things with it and connect the brand emotionally with the same underlying musical verbal identity in a powerful global strategized approach with other generations or specific communities.

And it will work within the traditional channels the same as good as in the digital space.

GH: Yes, yes. Very interesting. I am certainly interested to see that. Fascinating. Yes.

If you got a melody, that is inarguably good, or as you mentioned something identifiable, or when you get these electronic organs, where you push the button and it chh.. ch.. chh.. ch.. chh.., you know. Yes, I can buy that, you can do things to the same piece of music to tune it into particular market segments.

GH: I think that sounds really interesting, that sounds like a smart solution to this.

MD: I consider an importance for having in the top agencies in the world and/or within leading brands themselves at least one music branding specialist with a small qualified team, which is able to understand clients, and brands, and their needs, but also audiences, and their world, their needs, culture, values, trends, lifestyle, and what they really think and feel in their life and communities. This leads to the creation of authentic brand personality.

It is that real passion for to understand people, the right instincts in music, the composition of many details... to make them happy, to make the experience meaningful to them - to inspire as a brand again - that will let you find the best emotions… and not to come up with another "plastic" campaign again.                                                                                                                           

GH: Yea, I can certainly see it! Yes, I mean, I think our last fore head in sonic branding didn't go well, but it..

MD: Was it too early?

GH: Yea, I think it was too early. I don't think we had the right people, either. I don't think we had the right level of expertise, I think we had enthusiast, not experts. It wasn't a comprehensive music strategy. It doesn't mean we wouldn't go back to it, and to a degree I am probably one of the few in the business that can remember it. You know, it was a different chapter. 

We are constantly looking at the brand coming to life across every touch point if music can become another one of those touch points then we should be there.  

That's why we need your work and things like your dissertation, Martin, to contribute into the market place

MD: Graham, thank you very much for this Interview.

GH: It's been a pleasure Martin!