Sound is part of a universal language that can convey emotion, communicate information, and help us understand how to navigate our daily lives. It can also be a powerful tool for creating brand recognition. Today's guest is Collen Fahey, U.S. Managing Director Sixieme Son, an audio branding agency exclusively dedicated to sound identity, audio branding architecture and in-store sound design. Collen explained that audio branding is not about jingles or licensing popular music. It’s the art of creating a brand¹s distinct audio identity that expresses its personality and values while managing all of the necessary customer touch points. The conversation expanded my view of using audio for branding and I hope it will inspire you as well.

Here's a taste of some of the Audio Brands that Sixième Son has created for clients around the world.

Here's the full transcript:

Welcome back to Open Source Marketer. I’m your host, Charles McKeever.

Today’s topic is audio branding.

Audio branding has become a very popular topic but is it just about jingles and licensing music? Or is it about the art of creating a brand’s distinct audio identity?

Joining us today to discuss the topic is Colleen Fahey, US Managing Director at Sixieme Son.

Sixieme Son is an audio branding agency exclusively dedicated to sound identity, audio branding architecture, and in-store sound design. The company was founded in 1995 and is the pioneer of audio branding. They’re currently Europe’s leading agency in the business.

Colleen, thank you for being here!

COLLEEN FAHEY: Thanks for inviting me! And thanks for inviting me to talk about my very favorite topic.

CHARLES: Yeah, this is fantastic!

COLLEEN: Yeah, I got into audio branding by complete happenstance. I was invited to the first audio branding congress ever held in the United States and it was just at the tail end of 2011 and I looked around this very excited room full of people talking and everybody was wearing very narrowly-cut suits and scarves around their necks and I was like, “They’re very excited. They looked very European. I don’t see any Americans here,†and so I began to realize there was something big going on in Europe that hadn’t quite arrived to the United States.

When I went to the speeches, I was just blown away because the idea had never occurred to me and I’ve been in marketing for over twenty years. I’ve talked about marketing around the world. I give speeches on marketing. I had never thought about the idea that you need to manage your audio with the same care as your visual identity.

CHARLES: Well, I’m glad you say that because I think that we all understand that audio is very powerful. I know we hear it in commercials and TV and film. But, you know, just like you just said, I’m not sure that all of us understand exactly how it all works. So, if you would, just take a moment then to educate us on what is audio branding and how is it commonly used?

COLLEEN: Well, with Sixieme Son, what you do when you create an audio brand is exactly the same as when you’re taking a look at your visual identity. You’re creating a set of tools but they’re auditory. So, instead of your logo typeface colors, you are creating your temple instrumentation – melody, rhythms, harmony – that will be like your audio style guide.

And then, from there, everything that you do comes from it – whether it’s training videos for your people, whether it’s an event in a store, whether it’s a big expo, whether it’s an ad, whether it’s an app or a YouTube video. They all begin to speak the same language. It’s not repetitive like a jingle. It’s not, like, over and over and over and you sing the same thing. You have an audio universe. And then, after a while, people begin to recognize you when they walk by a booth at a conference or they recognize you in many ways.

So, the important thing you have to think about when you’re doing audio branding is, f