Joel Beckerman and his company, Man Made Music, are synonymous with the notion of “sonic branding.” Man Made defines that as the “strategic use of music and sound to build brands.”

Now Beckerman has expounded on that concept in his new book, “The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel and Buy,” written with former Fast Company Editorial Director Tyler Gray and released on Oct. 21. The book’s entire mission is to help people use sound to make their lives better.

“Instead of being the emotional victim of the soundtrack of your life, you can curate it,” says Beckerman.

What that means is understanding how music and sound serve as emotional triggers, even though sounds are often so much in the background that people don’t even notice them. Cuing these emotional triggers — creating “boom moments” — is key to creating effective sonic branding, says Beckerman.

Beckerman talked with Brief Editorial Director Paige Albiniak about why he took the time to put his experience and research down on paper, while freely offering some tips for marketers on best practices in sonic branding.

Brief: How would you describe what you do?

Beckerman: I do one thing: I tell stories with music and I help communicate with music and sound. That shows up a lot of times in the marketing with these different brands, as well as TV shows, for which we do themes and scoring.

We work with a lot of different brands to help them understand the third dimension of brand expression. Every brand has a visual identity, including logo, color palette, and graphical motion. All of that is signature to the brand. The second dimension is the brand voice, there’s a certain way that a brand will communicate in writing. The third dimension is sonic.

Brief: What would you say is the core concept of sonic branding?

Beckerman: It’s about the “boom moments,” those moments when sound or music radically transforms your experience and creates this emotional connection.

Think about the song you grew up with that was your prom theme. If you hear it, your brain shoots you back decades. Other day-to-day sounds also have prominence in your life: The Apple start-up sound, for example, is very calming. If you went to Las Vegas, the sound of slot machines makes your heart race. Our whole life is a soundtrack.

(Beckerman offers some playlists and videos to help people curate that soundtrack at www.sonicboombook.com, the companion website to the book.)

Hollywood picks up on this in amazing ways. Sometimes there are scenes where the story is really told through sound design and soundtracks.

All of these conversations I’ve had with creators over the years has informed me on how music triggers emotional reactions in our lives. These conversations have provided a bridge of understanding about what music and sound can do creatively for networks and for shows. As human beings, we’re wired for this stuff.

Brief: Considering all of that, what are the keys to effective sonic branding?

Beckerman: Here are some principles I turn to:

One: Use music and sound strategically.

Instead of just picking music to drive a cut, consider what story you are trying to tell, what emotion you are trying to get across.

Two: Take the sound out.

People always freak out when I show up and do this first, but if you are working on marketing and branding a show and you are working with music, take the music out and see if you miss it. If you don’t miss it, maybe you don’t need it. TV is not a visual medium, it’s really a sonic medium.

Three: Make sure that the music and sound is communicating the right message.

The music needs to tell that story, it needs to be impactful, it needs to make people feel something and elevate their experience or it shouldn’t be there.

There’s a tendency for people to take the latest pop hits and smack them together with a concept and call that a campaign. Music has to work harder for producers. It should provide something magical to a campaign or to a brand or to a show. There should be some perfect combination for the expression of that song or lyric that illuminates the scene. It has to trigger the right emotion.

Four: Your sound needs to be highly differentiated from everyone else in the same space.

If it’s not, no matter how good your soundtrack is you won’t pop. It’s just the same as if you used the same color palette as all of your competitors. It’s about understanding your brand, your message and your story and making sure that it’s helping your brand to resonate.

And Five: With everyone moving to TV Everywhere and with television becoming an interactive two-way conversation, viewers need new ways to navigate those interfaces. We advocate using very short, very purposeful brand navigation sounds that are functional but that also trigger little emotions that will help people navigate the brand or the app.

Those sounds might notify a viewer that his favorite show is on the air, or a user that an update has been downloaded. There will likely be less and less space available on screens, so you can’t take up screen real estate for tons of navigation, graphics and type to tell you what to do next. If sounds can be there, they help shortcut the experience.

Brief: What are some examples of campaigns where you think sound was used brilliantly?

Shakira and Activia. This was not Shakira’s first World Cup hit, but it was the first that Activia sponsored. This is the most shared video of all time as of October 2014, and represents exposure only musical experiences that connect with your audience can get you. And the partnership with the World Food Programme—- that’s putting your money where your mouth is.

Burt’s Bees. This Music From Nature video in partnership with Diego Stocco creates an emotional connection with audiences while resonating with the Burt’s Bees key message - it’s all from nature.

Coca Cola. Just a touch of musical surprise makes a brand stand out in the least likely of places.

Brief: Can you provide any examples where you think sound was used less well?

Royal Caribbean’s use of Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” was intended to show their adventurous side when the song is actually about heroin addiction.

Nissan’s use of Modest Mouse’s “Gravity Rides Everything” to show how minivans are cool now. No one, especially Modest Mouse fans, was fooled.

And finally, the Sunchips biodegradable bag that was pulled from shelves because of noise complaints from consumers.

Brief: Thank you for talking with me today, and for giving away the store a bit, so to speak.

Beckerman: My mission is really “sonic humanism.” It’s about using sound to make people’s lives better. This book is all about giving away the store.

Beckerman is the founder and lead composer of New York City-based Man Made Music. He’s also a composer, producer and arranger who has created unique and distinctive sounds for hundreds of television shows and brands, including the soundtrack for Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, the theme for ESPN’s 30 x 30 documentary film series.

Beckerman is a longtime member of PromaxBDA and has hosted many sessions at The Conference over the years, including last June’s session on The Weather Channel’s rebrand. He and Man Made Music are the recipients of 12 PromaxBDA Gold Muses and the Broadcast Design Association Pinnacle Award. He’s also received the ASCAP Most Performed Themes Award nine years in a row. In 2010, Fast Company named Man Made Music the world’s third-most innovative music company behind only Apple and Spotify.

His book, “The Sonic Boom: How Sound Transforms the Way We Think, Feel and Buy,” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) is available on amazon.com, iTunes and other booksellers.

Images courtesy of Joel Beckerman.

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