Many situations in which we have previously used a search engine such as Google or an app will soon be covered by the digital assistant.
‍A number of studies predict that in three to five years' time 30% to 50% of all searches will be done by voice. This is causing uncertainty among marketers for the time being. How can brands counter this new trend? What do we have to do to be noticed and found in the Alexa confusion? How can a brand still be recognizable in the context of voice assistants if learned visual codes of a corporate design no longer play a role?
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Can audio branding offer solutions here?The increasing popularity of voice assistants is significantly changing the staging of brands: away from visual to auditory. Therefore, companies will have to deal with the following issues in a timely manner:
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1. 1. A clear and consistent brand tonalityWhen users actively call up a brand via voice assistant, they must find the same tonality in the audio channel that they are familiar with from the corresponding homepage in the visual. A sound logo or a concise earcon (user interface sound) can take over the function of the visual logo here and serve as a sender identifier.
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2. A brand-specific Brand VoiceThe dialog with voice assistants is controlled on both sides – input/output – via voice. This means that the brand communicates with its customers via voice. In order to build an independent, memorable brand personality here, it is crucial to find your own "brand voice" and clearly differentiate yourself from the Alexa & Co. voices.
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3. Brand Music and Brand SoundscapeWhat is communicated on corporate websites via text modules, films, image and product images can also be conveyed emotionally through audio contributions with speech and backed by atmospheric brand music or brand soundscapes.


Brands that have already developed audio branding have an advantage. They can draw on learned sound elements and adapt them for the new communication channels. Audio branding was already a CI element in the past, with which a brand could be positioned more clearly and made more easily recognizable. However, the implementation often lacked final consistency, the need was not great enough. Brand management was rarely properly positioned here. This will change in the future. Perhaps we will soon see corporate sound managers in companies alongside corporate design managers?


Alexander Wodrich