[From World Usability Day in São Paulo, November 2011] Most of us are familiar with the concept of sonic branding: the intentional use of music, sound, voice and silence to build relationships between people and brands. How can we apply the principles of sonic branding for the greater good—in the spaces we create, the products we design and the interactions we enable? We'll take a curious, closer look at some sonic-branding fundamentals and consider real-world inspirations for what it takes to engage the hearts, minds and behaviors of anyone with ears. Noel Franus, Crispin Porter + Bogusky

1. Pump Up the Volume
Sound, Brands and Social Change
World Usability Day São Paulo 2011
Noel Franus
VP/Experience Director
Crispin, Porter + Bogusky

2. Our time today will be focused on
music, sound, voice and silence and its
role in shaping the way we understand
and interact with the world around us.

3. First, a video: what is sound?

5. Let’s talk about what we do.

6. We are usability professionals.
Information architects.
Interaction designers.
We don’t design. We Design.

7. Looking back, design has for a long time
been left to graphic designers and
architects. The people who crafted the
world we saw and touched every day.

8. Then came the internet.

9. Then came the internet.
And the developers went nuts.

10. Then came the internet.
And the developers went nuts.
(Who wouldn’t?)

11. Many internet professionals
designed complex websites
and applications as though all
users were expert users.

12. And then the folks in the suits started
measuring performance. They saw
opportunities for improvement.
A handful of us stood up and said
“I can do this better.”

13. “User Experience” wasn’t born then,
but it certainly grew quickly.

14. Which brings us to today.
Here we are celebrating a discipline
that barely existed 15 years ago.
Now it’s thriving wherever technology
lives. (And many places where it doesn’t.)

15. We experience designers look
at the whole of an experience.
As Martyn Ware said in the video,
we’re focused not exclusively on the
end result, but on all the small parts of
which it is comprised. That’s our thing.

16. Today, our world is rich, and our
design opportunity is even richer.
Everything that can be networked will
be networked. And we’re no longer
dealing with just websites or apps.
We’re creating products, places,
spaces and new behaviors.

17. And our ability to influence all of those
moments is greater than it’s ever been.

18. Are we thinking outside of
the box often enough?
Does our past work become a
comforting crutch which limits our future?

19. What about sound?

20. It colors how we understand the
world: what we think, how we feel
and what we do.

21. Why do most of us love music but
know little about how it works?
And even fewer of us think of it
as an opportunity in our work?

22. Before we dive deep:
Enough about us. Let’s talk about me.

23. Me: Director of Experience Design at
Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder,
Colorado.
Prior to this I’ve had roles running UX
agencies and also directing sonic
branding efforts for the largest brands in
banking, gaming and technology.

24. Let’s get back to you.

25. You’re exposed to thousands
of sounds each day.
Any favorites? Least favorites?

26. Another video.

28. Sound is a key trigger to
emotion and memories.

29. Daniel Levitin
“Our neuroimgaing studies
show amygdala activation
to music...repetition, when
done skillfully, is emotionally
satisfying to our brains, and
makes the listening
experience as pleasurable
as it is.”

30. Let’s consider how music and sound
impact us in a physiological sense.
(Nerd alert.)

31. The field of cymatics explores the
effect that sound has on physical matter.

32. body

33. We’re physically and emotionally wired
to respond to music and sound in ways
that are not of our own choosing.

34. In other words: you’re human.
YOU CAN’T WIN.

36. Naturally, this impacts
how we think and what we do.

38. Larry Light, McDonald’s
“We’re not advertising any more...
what we have increased substantially is
the effectiveness...when you increase
relevance, it sticks in people’s minds.”

39. The numbers add up.
• People are 42% more likely to remember a
commercial when the music matches someone’s
expectations for a brand.
• 25% more likely to like an advertisement.
• 39% less likely to remember a specific brand’s ad
when the music didn’t fit (versus no music at all)
• 20% less likely to purchase from a brand with
music that didn’t fit (versus no music at all).
North, Mackenzie, Law. Journal of Applied Psychology, 2004.

40. What do we mean by “fit?”
A few years back my an agency of mine
created this soundscape for a retail client’s
first 60 locations around the world.
Listening quiz: what do they do or sell?

41. That’s great for brands.
How can we use music and
sound to make a better world?

42. Let’s take a look at who’s done what.
with...A brief history of the use
of sound for the purposes of
good and evil.

43. Starting with evil.

44. The Ghost Army
“In June 1944, a secret U.S. Army unit
went into action in Normandy. The
weapons they deployed were decidedly
unusual: hundreds of inflatable tanks and
a one-of-a-kind collection of sound effects
records. Their mission was to use bluff,
deception, and trickery to save lives.”

45. Fast forward: 1989. The United
States attempts to remove Manuel
Noriega from his post in Panama.

46. It was a serious effort. They
deployed troops with significant
weaponry, negotiators, and...

47. ...astonishingly loud heavy metal and
top-40 pop hits.
This music was blared from tanks and
pointed at the Vatican consulate, where
Noriega was in retreat.
Noriega* surrendered in January 1990.
* Loved opera. Couldn’t stand contemporary pop music.

48. Another popular favorite: Long Range Acoustic
Devices. Within 300 meters or less: big headache.
100 meters or less: permanent auditory damage.
Generally used against insurgents and protestors.

49. And now, for the good.

50. Music regularly plays a role in
creating cultural identity and inclusion.
Mama Eu Quero!
God Bless America!
Fight for Your Right to Party!

51. Public transit.
Seven years ago my friends at Elias
Arts built a suite of brand-based
sounds for France’s TGV. It served as
a beacon for the brand but also as a
suite of instructional cues.

53. (More) public transit:
Julian Treasure and his firm The Sound
Agency recently created a generative
soundscape for the Glasgow Airport.
The goal: lower stress among travelers.
Goal met; sales in airport shops also
went up 10%.

54. Martyn Ware, Vince Clarke and their firm Sonic ID/Illustrious
Company designed the Sensory Theatre at the Bath, UK
Threeways School for autistic and disabled children. 3D
soundscapes, immersive visuals and adaptive environments.

55. GPS walking
tours for the blind

56. Some bad, some good.
The truth? Sound is a tool for either.
The grey areas are where this gets
interesting.

57. “The road train to hell is paved with
the best intentions.”
In Tokyo, the main subway stations each have a
unique musical signature that precedes the platform
announcements. One station in particular is infamous
because it consistently has the highest number of
suicides annually (e.g. people jumping in front of
incoming trains). A friend’s theory is that the music at
this station is largely to blame for the volume of
suicides because it ends on an "unresolved” minor
note. It’s the only station in the system that has this
kind of structure in its tone.

58. Is a healthy soundscape
available only to the wealthy?

59. Best Buy Movie Mode is an app we created for best Buy’s tie-in
with Despicable Me. The app translates the Minion-ese into English
via your cell phone.
The secret sauce: working with the directors of the film, we
embedded sonic codes into the soundtrack...which allows the
phone to sync with the silver screen.

60. We worked with Old Navy to provide
Shazam-enabled links to coupons and
shopping tools in real-time.

61. Mosquito quiz: raise your hand if you
can hear these tones...

62. What about Siri?

63. So why is this our opportunity?

64. Meet Mary Meeker. She does a lot of
forecasting in her job as an analyst
KPCB. In late October she made a
bold announcement: the next big thing
would be...

66. We’re at the beginning of
something big.
And it’s all making noise.

67. This feels a lot like 1997
in San Francisco again.

68. Whose job is it to understand the
nuances that are involved in designing
complex interactive systems?
Whose job is it to know how to
make sense out of a big hairy mess
and create something magical?

69. It’s not the visual designer’s job.
It’s not the coder’s job. Or the
strategist’s, the account manager—
or even the sound designer.
They have jobs to do.

70. We’re user experience experts.
It’s our obligation.

71. If we don’t take up this role—
that of connecting the dots for the
people who use the things we make—
then someone else will.
And it will probably be the
wrong someone else.

72. Then the suits will get involved...

73. What can you do today?

74. 1. Start listening.

75. 2. Start questioning.

76. “I am a chord. You are a chord.”
Let’s make some music.

77. Thank you.
@nfranus
nfranus@cpbgroup.com