What do these have in common?
- Voice assistants: Alexa, Siri, Llama, Grok, Gemini, ChatGPT.
- Social platforms: Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, Discord’s Stage Channels.
- Apps: Calm, Headspace, Noisli.
- Entertainment/Learning: Scribd, Audible, Podbean, Spotify, Buzzsprout.
They are all audio-driven platforms (or soon to be).
People are embracing a new way to experience the world – through sound. We’re in the midst of an audio revolution, and its importance is growing every day, even if you haven’t noticed it yet.
Let’s take a look at some numbers that highlight this trend.
- There are 8.4 billion digital voice assistants in use worldwide in 2024, a 100% increase from 2020.
- The audiobook market is growing at a compound annual rate of 25.7% year over year and is expected to reach almost $40 billion worldwide by 2032 from $5.3 billion reached in 2023.
- In 2023, the number of podcast listeners worldwide reached 464.7 million worldwide, marking a 70% increase since 2019. This market is expected to grow at an astonishing 27.6% compound annual growth rate for the next 7 years (until 2030).
- Currently, Spotify has 615 million monthly active users, adding 193 million monthly active users in just the past two years. They reached $14.5 billion in annual revenue last year.
With this shift in consumer behavior, it seems logical for brands to follow this new audio trend. But is your firm taking full advantage of audio?
Pavle Marinković
There’s more to audio than meets the eye
2021 experienced a significant investment in audio branding by companies across different industries. There was a 22% increase in brands launching audio identities for the first time. Firms turned to audio more frequently than ever before to connect with their customers on an emotional level.
Seeing this shift in consumer behavior, brands are trying to meet their customers where they spend more time: the sound space.
This sound universe is much broader than you realize:
- Sonic logo
- SFX in apps
- Ambiance music
- Corporate song
- Audio uplift (mood/cognition)
- Retail music zoning
- Audio watermarks
- Voice branding
The possibilities are vast, and understanding these concepts is crucial if you don’t want to miss out.
Sound and music can be used to elicit different outcomes depending on who you’re targeting.
- For clients: music reduces stress, makes waiting times feel shorter, and can even encourage more spending on your products.
- For employees: music can relax, uplift, and enhance focus, supporting both emotional and cognitive processes.
- For the brand: music reinforces your story, enhances recognition with sonic logos, and communicates your values across all touchpoints.
Many companies have taken advantage of music’s multiple possibilities and they’ve understood that what people hear is as important as what they see.
Both small and big companies have been using sound to get to their audience, either consciously or unconsciously. The sonic element can get a company to stand out even as a small business among giants
Case study: Mastercard
The key to creating an audio advantage over competitors lies in becoming glocal. Make your customers feel close by having a local vibe, but at the same time being able to speak to a global market.
What does this look like from a sound perspective?
Let’s take Mastercard’s example, considered the best Audio Brand for the last four years.
They created a sonic logo — a specific sequence of notes — that instantly identifies their brand worldwide. However, to make it more relatable to local markets across the world, the brand had to adapt its sonic logo. Here are a few of these glocal examples:
Every version has the same music sequence (global) with a specific cultural twist (local). As brands start communicating with their customer’s cultural framework, people can relate more easily to the brand.
Audio can transform your market presence
Audio is not just important but essential for any brand looking to carve out its place in the market.
Sound has the unique ability to reach consumers on a personal and emotional level. Unlike visuals, which we can easily ignore or swipe past, sound demands attention.
Emotions are a marketer’s secret weapon. They influence buying behavior more than any other factor. Tapping into emotions like nostalgia, happiness, or motivation creates an emotional bond with consumers that visuals alone cannot achieve.
Just like Mastercard, it’s vital to establish a consistent identity across different markets that people can relate to. Sound is the tool to achieve this. In a world where the average consumer is bombarded with thousands of ads daily, sonic branding can ensure your brand doesn’t just get seen — it gets remembered. A good sound can last a lifetime.
Your brand should aim to be heard, remembered, and emotionally connected with customers. Brands that embrace sound as the language of the future will connect with consumers more deeply than words ever could.
If you’re not investing in sound, you’re leaving money on the table.
It’s time to tune into the power of audio.
Writer: Pavle Marinkovic, audio branding consultant, book author, and partner with Radio Embassy audio ‘marcareting’ agency
