Even before we’re born we connect with the world around us through the vibration of sound. It shapes our experiences, triggers memories, and elicits emotions. So what better way to connect with your audience than through something as primal and powerful as sound?
Using the rich acoustic tapestry that has both consciously and subconsciously influenced our lives, your brand can curate sound in a manner that affects the way your audience perceives and interacts with you.
S&W is the sonic branding and music strategy arm of the globally awarded sound studio, Smith & Western. We’re a group of musicians, composers, sound designers, and music strategists with a deep understanding of branding.
We create vibrant sonic palettes for brands looking to be heard. Think of it like a colourful yet carefully curated world of sound, music, and voice that complements your visual identity. And think of us like the custodians of your brand’s sonic identity, brought on to ensure you’re always ‘on brand’.
To create your sonic palette, we take the time to know your brand pillars in order to set a tone. This allows us to understand what you represent and want to convey. Our job is essentially to paint your brand in a particular light, only we use sound, music, and voice to do so. And once you have that palette, you can be sure that no matter how you mix everything together – whether it’s a suite of brand music, sonic logo, podcast, TV commercial or even button noises on an app – they’ll always come out sounding like you.
A short mnemonic that captures the essence of a brand in 3-5 seconds. As the audio equivalent of the brand logo, it’s synonymous with the brand and instantly recognisable as a sound that carries across all touch points throughout the entire brand ecosystem.
A brand track is the hero soundtrack of a brand. Embodied within it are melodies and mnemonics that are ownable assets, which can then be separated and used in isolation as a branding device. The advantage of a brand track is that it creates opportunities to reinforce the sonic branding in longer form content.
A collection of alternate versions of your brand track. This provides you with the flexibility to assign each version to a different style of communication and individual offering, while maintaining a cohesive sonic identity. As each brand communication is unique, having a flexible suite of brand music tracks allows the messaging to stay on brand whilst accomodating different energy levels and emotions.
A spokesperson who best represents what your brand stands for. It’s one of the most powerful sonic branding tools with its ability to draw an audience into the message you want them to hear. The voice sets the tone and is the ambassador of your brand. The human voice has the power to drive your emotions. It can draw your attention, create trust, bring comfort and familiarity to the brand.
A careful selection of instruments used to represent your brand. The tone and timbre of an instrument can profoundly affect the way we feel and is essential to creating the right mood and feel of a brand.
“The relationship we’ve developed working with Dan & Nick at S&W has been an extremely important one for us at The Star. Time and time again they’ve blown us away with their creativity, their collaborative approach and their ability to work to the tight deadlines we often throw at them. They’re true partners to our business, and a valued extension to our in-house agency.”
“From sonic branding and sound design, to voice over recording and music composition, we partner with Smith & Western Studios for all our audio needs. Their studio is fantastic and the team always takes care of us, so we look forward to attending audio sessions with our clients.”
“Working with Nick and Dan is fun, engaging and rewarding. They’re passionate experts in the field of sonic branding and have a knack for authentically capturing the vibe of a brand’s personality and attitude through music and sound … which is a tough gig!”