How​ ​Do​ ​You​ ​Craft​ ​the ​Sound​ ​of​ ​a​ ​Brand?

Nordic superbrand and aviation powerhouse Norwegian came to Adelphoi to make the brand known through music and sound. Their journey began by crafting a sonic brand entitled Northern Colours that will live with the business forevermore.

Senior Strategy Advisor at Norwegian Air Shuttle, Julius Einan Støback details the journey from board room to recording studio and beyond.

Q> What​ ​prompted​ ​the​ ​brand​ ​to​ ​craft​ ​The​ ​Sound​ ​of​ ​Norwegian​?

Julius Einan Støback> Norwegian has massive growth ambitions. We need consumers to remember us in a lot more buying situations through our advertising.

Our brand track and mnemonic, Northern Colours, will contribute significantly to this as we build it into a distinctive brand asset to drive recall. Furthermore, for us as an airline, music is also part of the customer experience - on-board being the most important. Travel can be stressful and we wanted to use music to help emphasise the opportunity to relax, let go and enjoy the ride with us. Adelphoi solved that in a brilliant way.

Q> Tell​ ​us​ ​about​ ​your​ ​experience​ ​working​ ​on​ ​a​ ​sonic​ ​branding​ ​project.

Julius Einan Støback> Working with music and sound in a branding context was new to us. We have of course worked with music within adverts before but for this project we had to think bigger and with a longer-term view in mind. This project differs from an ad campaign as Northern Colours will represent not only Norwegian Air but the whole Norwegian brand across all audio touchpoints. This includes the bank, the reward program, our cargo business and any other potential future industries we find ourselves in.

I did my homework before the project began (in the hope of not sounding like a ‘newbie’ in the agency discussions!) reading ‘How Music Works’ by David Byrne and ‘This Is Your Brain on Music’ by Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist and music producer. I learnt a huge amount and Adelphoi’s approach was very informative and patient. We listened to a lot of music together to reach a common language for the process which was crucial for later decision making and most importantly, a lot of fun.

Q> And​ ​the​ ​end​ ​result?

Julius Einan Støback> It was such a great moment when we decided upon Northern Colours as The Sound of Norwegian. Our decision making was informed by a combination of strategic criteria and human emotion, and that has been part of the magic of this process - music encompasses body, heart and mind.

Norwegian Air currently flies over 35 million people a year across five continents. The fact that this music will be experienced as part of the product on board for all these consumers as well as our crew every day is very humbling.

Q> When​ ​does​ ​Northern​ ​Colours​ ​roll​ ​out​ ​across​ ​the​ ​Norwegian​ ​business?

Julius Einan Støback> We are in the midst of making it come alive now; adapting the theme to sit across our plethora of touchpoints without moving too far away from the original score. There is a balance to be found because we want to build recognition but we also genuinely want people to enjoy it as a piece of music and not feel they are being “subject to brand building”. But that is the beauty of Northern Colours, it has turned out to be a very versatile piece of music. My personal favourite is the twenty minute boarding music track. Whilst it’s not on the PA just yet, I carry it on my phone and listen to it every time I board and take off. Even though the hero track is distinct and contemporary, Adelphoi has proven that it has longevity and that it is recognisable across very different instrumentations, tempos and arrangements.

I can easily see us developing a new version of The Sound of Norwegian in ten or twenty years that sounds edgy and contemporary for that moment in time whilst the core musical essence of the sonic brand we have created today remains the same.