The Face of Human Error

This logo was part of the packaging design of a gift I received from family who visited New York.

As soon as I saw it my head sang  N   B   C

Now – that’s down to the work of the graphic designer who capitalised on the NBC ident but still, it got me thinking about audio trademarks.

I have no affection for jingles.  There is currently an acoustic theme song for a certain broadband company that, at times, refuses to leave my head.  Sometimes these songs are pleasant, at least to begin with, but more often than not they are annoying.  We – the savvy media consumers that we are - immediately recognise them as childish and silly and desperate for attention.

So I don’t like jingles but I find audio trademarks to be genius.

Where jingles are annoying, obvious and try very very hard to be likable and memorable in almost every case an audio trademark is in and out and in a handful of notes.

Always Coke-a-Cola.  I’m Loving It. 

These started with the jingle, granted but then they earned the right to play it cool through persistence and being musically simple to begin with.

Younger generations might not be familiar with the lyrics but the notes mean the brand and for the type of connection a corporation needs that’s all that matters.

It’s easier to teach the world to sing if you only have to teach them 3 notes.

Sheer economics of scale mean a Pavlovian response should be far more rewarding than wishing your company was a rock star.

I feel the most perfect example of an audio trademark is the first audio trademark: the NBC chimes.

The NBC chimes were born from the necessity to alert announcers at local affiliate broadcasters that it was time to do their callsign identification as required by the FCC.

NBC saw this as an opportunity to brand themselves sonically.

What really gets me about it is the versatility that’s available.  The same 3 notes played with thousands of different sounds will all bring you back to the same place: the space that the singing corporation have carved out in your head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzwKAX-CgXE