Talking Insights Podcast: 4 Takeaways on the Power of Sound for Brands
In today’s sound-on world, brands aren’t just seen: they’re heard. Your visual identity might be doing work for you, but what about when consumers are watching influencer content on TikTok, or listening to a host-read ad on a podcast? If you’re not investing in a complete sonic identity system, designed to span both digital and physical environments, you’re missing opportunities to make your brand heard — and drive real results.
If you’re catching up on sonic branding strategy, or looking to deepen your impact, we and our partners at Sentient Decision Science have all the insights you need to get rolling.
Made Music Studio’s Danielle Venne (ECD) and Sentient’s Aaron Reid, Ph.D. (Founder & CEO) joined the Talking Insights Podcast to dive into how brands are using sound more strategically to meet the market where they are. Recorded on-site at the 2025 ESOMAR Congress in Prague, the conversation explores why sound is the key to real brand impact on social media, in podcasts and beyond.
Get the top four takeaways below, or check out the full episode here:
1. A Sonic Identity System is a Fundamental Part of Your Brand Toolkit
You might already be familiar with sonic logos like Netflix’s “ta-dum” or McDonald’s “ba-da-ba-ba-ba.” But a truly effective sonic identity system is more robust than just a memorable sonic logo, tagline or jingle.
One of the best comparisons is to a visual identity. A great visual brand is made up of much more design components than a wordmark — it also includes a distinct color palette, fonts, typography and photography style. about the many components of a visual identity.
You should think about your brand’s sound the same way:
“When a visual identity is done well, you feel enveloped in it — everything around you is branded. Take that same principle and apply it to sound. So not just the sonic logo, but the music that you’re choosing.”
In addition to a sonic logo, a full sonic identity might include:
A brand theme
Product and UX/UI sounds
On-brand music for social content
Custom campaign music
Curated playlists
Audio brand guidelines
Research shows that intentional, on-brand sonic design and curation can drive engagement and lift brand desire — especially in a sound-on world, where engagement is a valuable KPI.
2. A Great Sonic Branding Strategy Takes More Than Music
Believe it or not, creating the sound of your brand doesn’t begin with music. The most iconic, enduring sonic identities are built on a foundation of deep strategy work and research to back it up.
Made Music Studio’s Danielle Venne (Executive Creative Director) says that for a brand to launch a sonic identity successfully, you'll need a few key components. “Think of it like a tripod," she says:
Strategy: Develop a strong creative brief by defining who your brand is, your goals and where your sound will live.
Creative: Engage a sonic branding partner to craft music and sonic assets that express your brand authentically.
Research: Use quantifiable data to support your creative decisions and drive internal buy-in.
“You need all three to launch a sonic identity in an organization. To tell you the truth: I've rarely seen it be successful with all three of those things.”
3. Sound Drives Emotion — and the Data Proves It
The advertising landscape in 2025 looks much different than it did even five years ago, as consumers spend more time on audio-first channels like TikTok, streaming and podcasts. This means it’s more important than ever for your brand sound to stop the scroll, capture attention and build emotional connections. But by including audio research in your sonic branding strategy, you can assess impact on attention, memory and most importantly: purchase likelihood.
A recent study by Sentient Decision Science showed that when a sonic logo was included at the beginning and end of a podcast ad, emotional appeal went up by 41%.
Human response to sound is implicit — meaning non-conscious and instantaneous. So when it comes to curating music for social media or digital content:
The wrong music choices can actively hurt your brand
Trending audio might be familiar, but won’t build brand attribution
Not including sound is like putting your brand on mute
SonicPulse® Research, a proprietary methodology developed by Sentient Decision Science and Made Music Studio, measures implicit emotional reaction to sound. We test for several factors, answering questions like: Does your sonic logo have a positive or negative impact on listeners? Is it memorable after the first exposure? How do global audiences respond to each sonic stimuli? This data can align stakeholder, validate your investment and lead to real results.
4. The Future of Brand Building is in Scalable Sound
As brands increase their volume of content creation, especially on social, the need for sonic assets has exploded. There are many options when it comes to meeting this demand, including stock music, trending sounds or licensed tracks. But there are issues with each of these solutions.
Stock music is often low quality and does not build attribution since any competitor brand also has access to it. Trending audio leads to high social engagement, but can get brands into legal trouble if you don’t obtain the right music license to use this music. And while licensed tracks might be instantly familiar, they can be costly.
“We need to address the speed and fluidity that is necessary for marketing teams, while still giving all the benefits of the brand strategy,” says Danielle. “That's where we see the future of sonic branding: in creating sound at scale.”
Continuum™, Made Music Studio’s all-in-one music platform, helps you the best of both worlds: simple access to music for all of your digital platforms, while not compromising on quality. We curate music from our exclusive catalog to fit your brand’s personality and needs — so you get music that’s on-brand, ownable and ready to be deployed across every social touchpoint.
As brands compete in a noisy market, purposeful sonic branding — and the data to back it up — is more important than ever. Whether you’re a CMO or social media manager, an agency or Fortune 500 brand, the path forward is clear: the teams that embrace sound will be the ones that make the most impact.
