Marketing with Sound: Captivating Generation Z in 2022

As marketing trends evolve, businesses might ask themselves what can be done to captivate the younger generation in 2022. When you’re focusing on brand marketing, the senses come to mind. First, you might think about the visual aspects of a logo for example, but what else do consumers look for?

Sound Marketing is making its comeback, with jingles and sounds that users can now easily link to brands. This sort of marketing can be used to increase your brand awareness and communication with your target audience. So let’s look at the strategies you can employ this year to respond to the generation of sound, with nearly 60% of Generation Z saying they stream music daily according to the US Media Consumption Report.

In the most general sense, sound marketing is the concept of using audio, whether it is jingles, sounds, or music to market your brand. With sound marketing, businesses can use another sense beyond visuals to connect emotionally with target customers. This is why using sound marketing fits well with today’s music-focused Gen Z, more than previous generations.

So what are the different ways that companies are using sound to promote their brands? A common thing to see is the uptick in audio logos. Companies use short and memorable sounds to easily make customers think of their brand without necessarily seeing their visual logo. This includes well-known examples such as Intel's start-up sound, Mcdonald's “I’m lovin’ it”, and Netflix’s “Tudum” Intro.

But you won’t only hear audio logos in sound marketing. Last year, the Barilla pasta company also released Spotify playlists for different pasta types with each one corresponding to the equivalent cooking time. These playlists gained popularity on social media such as TikTok and Twitter with people using the playlists while making their meals.

With the right ideas and by using the right sounds, your company can create emotional and connective experiences with your customers.

Now, the real question is, how can your business take advantage of sound marketing? To successfully prepare, there are multiple aspects to think about, including the software or hardware you’ll need as well as information about your customers and their preferences.

The key guidelines to creating your sound marketing campaign will start with understanding your target audience. Continue to analyze the trends that are present on their most-used digital tools such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube. Take advantage of multiple channels and create sounds or content that are short, memorable, and therefore, easily shared.

Once your company’s target audience is analyzed and technical tools are acquired, your marketing team will be right on track to use sound marketing to increase brand awareness for your business.