We put enough science into our process to embolden bold thinking from our clients, allowing music and sound to step outside the comfort zone and create distinct brands.
What puts us at the forefront of the sonic branding evolution is the consulting aspect of our work we call “music intelligence.” It allows us to get "in between" marketing functions, to fill the need gap that current practices ignore - figuring out exactly what's needed and what's possible with sonics based on rigorous strategy, informed by larger marketing goals. We introduce the critical thinking that is missing at agencies, brands and music providers alike.
Sonic Lens is here to investigate, look for opportunities, help clients shape them and build strategy around them. We hold a lens to the sonic landscape to illuminate where things are resonating, with who, and how brands can resonate better than their competitors. We provide the context and supporting data that allows brands to be brave and innovative so they can be truly unique. If you can't support out of the box ideas with data and analysis, all daring ideas will end up in the "blander" once everyone weighs in - your brand will sound like everyone else in your category. You will have sacrificed a huge opportunity for sound to make your brand distinct, to own its own position in the market. We prevent that from happening, guiding brands with music intelligence to create competitive advantages using the power of music and sound to set them apart and express exactly what makes them special.
Once we've aligned all parties on strategy and creative direction, we then create “sonic identity systems”, or “SIS”. This is the audio equivalent of a “VIS” or “visual identity system”, which every brand sets up to cover all visual rules and assets for all situations. While many people think sonic branding is just a mnemonic (i.e. Intel), we create comprehensive audio "systems" that are flexible across styles, modular to fit any situation, and precise in how they evoke specific brand attributes. We give brands a comprehensive sound and audio language that fits their essence and purpose, and our SIS lays the foundation for an entire vertical in their equity stack that can be built upon over time with no limitations – just an easy-to-understand set of guidelines and asset toolkits from which to draw.
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If you can't support out of the box ideas with data and analysis, all daring ideas will end up in the "blander" once everyone weighs in - your brand will just sound like everyone else in your category, the opposite of what sonic branding is supposed to do.
The results of music intelligence and our holistic "systems" approach are undeniable. Clients have focus tested our work, all of it outperforming on every metric, with our most recent project eliciting from Sentient Labs "this is one of the strongest performing sounds that we’ve ever had the good fortune to see, and we’ve been testing sonic for years, so we’ve seen it range all over the place.” Since launching our agency in 2019, we've won nothing but gold, not to mention being named both "Creative Director of the Year" and "Brand Strategist of the Year" by the premier branding magazine Transform. Our methods are different and certainly more work intensive during the planning stages than anyone else in our field, but we don’t believe in shortcuts. Music intelligence is comprehensive, but it allows us to guarantee results that move the needle on branding and marketing objectives, using science and insight to guide all creative work. We are working on the master brand, so there is no room for error.
Finally, when we do execute creative, we know exactly what we want with client signoff and work with the best talent in the world to bring it to life. Our creative and production is of the highest caliber, as founder Marco Vitali is Juilliard trained and has worked with extensively Grammy artists like Nile Rodgers, Wu Tang Clan, Quincy Jones, Ceelo Green, Aviici, Tiesto, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, Icona Pop, Organized Noize, and Peter Wolf (J. Geils). He holds Sonic Lens to the same platinum standards one would expect from a hit record, determined to create hit brands.
