Designed to evoke
The biggest reaction came, surprisingly, a few weeks after the launch from ATM users, who contacted the bank to express joy in hearing TD's upbeat jingle when completing a transaction.
"Although we have embedded the sonic identity across various channels, our ATMs have generated the most feedback and comments. It affirms that a customer's transaction is over and it's familiar, because customers may have heard it in the TV or online spots. And then here it is in the ATM," Armstrong said.
Customer response to the sonic brand at TD Bank's ATMs underscores the possibility that certain routine electronic beeps and other audible notifications could potentially be missed marketing opportunities for financial services providers, if handled judiciously.
"Because of technology, consumers push buttons all day long and most of the sounds they hear are like warnings that are annoying and irritating," said Michael Boumendil, president of Sixieme Son, the global branding firm that developed TD Bank's sonic brand. "We wanted customers to hear a pleasant sound that completes a feeling of satisfaction and confidence every time they interact with the bank."
Since launching the sonic brand, TD Bank has been steadily expanding its use in a wide range of its media and physical environments.
"The goal is for our customers to feel a connection with our sound that is likable and upbeat, as if you were walking through a familiar neighborhood into your local TD branch," Armstrong said.
Other financial institutions have launched their own sonic branding in recent years. Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada adopted a brief chime-like "sonic logo" in 2017, and in 2019,
The moves follow a broader trend in which major consumer brands including insurance giants USAA and Liberty Mutual have made a sonic brand part of their overall advertising strategy.
Sonic brands enable companies to align with consumers' immersion in digital entertainment through personal music channels, videogames and streamed entertainment, said Patricia Camden, Americas loyalty leader at EY.
While music and jingles have been essential to TV and radio ads for decades, marketers are starting to recognize new ways to harness sound to make more "holistic connections" across different types of platforms and devices, she said.
"Auditory branding has evolved as a powerful way to help consumers experience a company's brand connect across traditional and online media and newer channels including mobile devices, smart speakers, Web3, podcasts and sound-on social platforms," Camden said.
Typically a company works with an advertising or other specialized marketing agency to develop a sonic brand that reflects the character and attitude of a company, according to Camden.
"Ideally, a company should invest time and research to make sure the sonic brand is thoughtfully considered and tested, and then thoroughly deployed across the marketing journey so it creates an emotional connection that evokes a specific, positive feeling and when it's reflected in different channels," she said.
Sixieme Son created a 36-second "brand melody" and a six-second "sonic logo" for TD Bank that can be applied to different marketing environments. The 50-employee firm has its main offices in New York, Paris, Singapore and operates smaller offices in London and Toronto. It also worked with
Since founding the firm in 1995, Boumendil has tried to persuade marketers to give as much thought to the sound of their brands as they give to their visual materials, logos and advertising taglines. "Many times the music an advertiser uses in a commercial is tacked on at the last minute and there's no connection to past or present messaging, which is such a waste," he said.
Over decades of studying marketing trends, Boumendil said he believes that sounds matter more today to younger consumers, while text-based ads are less meaningful.
"For years, ads were all about the words. But anecdotally, I see that younger adults now pay less attention than ever to the written or spoken words in an ad, and they care more about visual images and the sound. I think it's because of how much time they spend on screens," Boumendil said.
Navy Federal Credit Union said its sonic brand, introduced last year, underscores a similar trend.
"Gen Z and Millennials are increasingly embracing new technology, from podcasts to streaming platforms and more, and we saw from research that ads with sonic branding cues see a higher lift in attention [to our brand]," said Michelle Schoening, Navy Federal's assistant vice president of marketing communications and design.
While developing its sonic brand with help from Navy Federal's creative agency MullenLowe and sound-specialist firm Made Music Studio, the credit union aimed to develop a sound that would appeal broadly to younger and older consumers.
The resulting nine-syllable melody playfully sings the name "Navy Federal" with strings, bass and snare drums, which is "adaptable to convey different moods" and can be used for TV, digital video, radio, streaming audio, podcasts, social and other content channels, Schoening said.
"The sonic brand we developed feels down-to-earth," she said, noting that consumer response has been strongly positive.
TD Bank said it's still researching new ways to use its sonic brand.
"We're continuing to explore rolling [the jingle] across different channels and customer touchpoints including the TD mobile app and collaborations with external sponsorships, among other ideas," Armstrong said.
