Crunch, Crackle, Chomp: Why CPG Brands Are Turning Their Sound On With Sonic Branding

In a world with endless snack options, many CPG brands are looking to stand out in the supermarket aisle by taking a sound-on approach to marketing and investing in a sonic identity.

Consumer packaged goods have long used sonic cues in advertising to give their products personality, such as those with familiar brand mascots like Tony the Tiger or the Kool-Aid Man. But today, modern CPG brands are seeing their marketing ecosystems branch out of linear advertising and into the digital world.

Consumers, especially Gen Z, are spending less time watching television and turning to audio-first formats like TikTok, Instagram, and "phygital" activations, where sound is integral to these experiences. In fact, a recent study showed that 75 percent of Gen Z consumers say music helps them feel more connected to a brand. In this shifting landscape, a strategically crafted sonic identity system is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have if brands are looking to make an impact. Sonic brand assets can connect the dots between customer touchpoints to form a cohesive experience that stimulates visceral, emotional connections.

With such an expansive category as CPG, there are many ways to use sound to connect visual assets with sonic branding. Here are a few key drivers behind the CPG shift toward sonic branding, as well as examples of brands that are doing it right:

Creating a Multisensory Brand Experience

From cereal to fruit snacks and everything in between, sonic branding helps give each brand a distinct personality and bring its brand's world to life. As we see consumers crave more out of their day-to-day experiences, music and sound have become a way to cut through the clutter across the entire customer journey even when you can’t see their visual branding. Sonic logos, on-brand music, brand themes, and social media beds are all part of a modern sonic ecosystem.

Global CPG giant General Mills has implemented sonic branding across several of its brands, including Totino’s Pizza Rolls, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and their Fruit Snacks portfolio. For Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular, it needed to reach Gen Z fast with a solution that dimensionalized its brand world for teens on TikTok and Instagram Reels. The brand's new sonic logo is funny, disruptive and designed to be an interactive audio photobomb wherever it’s heard, remixed or reshaped. It’s one part of an entire world of sounds for the brand.

 

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Measuring Success With Audio Research

Research shows that sound has a measurable impact on consumers. In fact, there's an 86 percent correlation between our subconscious emotional response to sound and our conscious desire to return to that experience. CPG marketers looking to de-risk their investments are turning to new audio research capabilities that measure the effectiveness of sonic assets even before they go to market! They can test for a number of key performance indicators, including brand appeal, recall, and how well a sound matches key brand attributes.

For example, Corona recently launched its first-ever global brand theme. Not only did its sound need to capture the brand’s beach vibe, but it also needed to appeal to a global audience and be an effective, ownable replacement for the licensed track it was previously using in ads. By testing with Ipsos in multiple markets, AB-InBev learned that Corona’s new sound boosted brand recall by 22 percent and brand appeal by 37 percent when measured alongside the previous track.

Moving the Culture With Music

With more and more consumers receiving their marketing messages through social media, brands have incorporated their sonic identity into innovative projects that become part of the cultural conversation. Some of the world’s biggest brands have immediately recognizable assets like logos or mascots. Chip company Frito-Lay already had a long history of iconic visual assets like the Doritos triangle and Cheetos’ orange dust when it began moving the culture with sonic branding.

Just this past year, Tostitos became the first CPG brand to release the musical ingredients of its sonic identity to fans. After launching its sonic logo uniquely composed of the sounds of the brand's chips and dips, Tostitos amplified its success with a first-of-its-kind TikTok challenge. In partnership with content creators, Tostitos invited fans to duet songs made entirely of product sounds and beats. The activation garnered millions of impressions and countless duets that created online buzz for the tortilla chip brand.

Whether a brand creates its own distinct music or a short snackable logo focused on the product itself, smart CPG brands are grabbing attention in the supermarket aisle and beyond by meeting consumers with a distinct, evocative audio strategy. Whether tapping into nostalgia from the brands we've loved for years or creating something entirely new and distinct, sonic has become an essential element of a CPG marketer's toolkit.

Mike Stango is director, global brand partnerships, Made Music Studio, a company that creates unique sonic identities that solve real business challenges and get real results.