Why It's Time Brands Find Their Sound

With over a decade at A-MNEMONIC Music, executive producer Rob Dunham brings a wealth of experience and passion to every production. His background includes roles as an account handler at McCann London, an assistant TV producer at Havas London, and a producer at Animated Storyboards.

This diverse experience has given him a deep understanding of both the creative and strategic aspects of music production, allowing him to collaborate effectively with brands, agencies, and broadcasters to deliver impactful and memorable audio.

An issue within the industry that has been on my mind a lot lately is brands that pour time, energy, and budget into how they look but often neglect how they sound!

We all engage with brands through smart speakers, radio, voice assistants, streaming, and so on, without actually seeing the brand. Yet, a lot of brands treat sound as an afterthought, leaving them with forgettable, inconsistent, or generic audio identities.

At A-MNEMONIC, we know sound is a brand asset - an investment, not just a finishing touch. A strong sonic identity creates instant recognition, just like a visual logo, but even more importantly, it builds an emotional connection.

This should matter because audiences aren’t always looking, but they’re always listening. Which is great… especially with so many distractions in modern life. The brands that don’t sound distinct risk becoming invisible in an audio-first future.

This remains an issue because some brands still focus on the music at the end of a project, instead of building a strategic, well thought out sonic identity from the very start. 

We need to treat sound like a visual logo. Ownable, consistent, and recognisable everywhere the brand is heard.

And what are the first steps?

Audit your sound. Is it distinctive? Consistent? Where’s it going to be heard apart from in a traditional advert. Think apps, in-store, voice assistants etc.

Create a real sonic strategy. Not just a jingle, but a branded sound identity.

Take Mastercard, Netflix, TikTok, McDonald’s (obviously) for example; their sounds are instantly recognisable brand assets.

The brands that invest in sound now will be heard. The rest? Just more background noise.