#3 EXPERIENCES (4Es of music branding)
In this year’s best global brands ranking by Interbrand, brand experience is profiled as one of the key factors for success. The concept of an experience economy was coined ten years ago by authors Pine and Gilmore when they published the book ‘The Experience Economy’. The authors argued that we are now facing a new important step in the processing of economic value, where companies sell memorable experiences rather than just products and services.
In today’s digital age people look for authentic experiences that they can engage with emotionally. To be successful a brand you need to offer a multi-sensory experience that touches all five senses. In order to command a higher price, build strong loyalty and ultimately create value for the customer, companies need to understand that there is more to a brand than what meets the eye. It’s not what we see, but what we hear, feel, smell and taste that is becoming more important.
According to the Sounds Like Branding survey, hearing is ranked as the second most important sense when building a strong brand today. An experience cannot exist without music. Just think of a movie, event or nightclub without music. To be successful today companies need to define how their brand sounds and what music means to their customers. Based on this understanding they can create experiences that go way beyond muzak in-store and background music in TV-commercials. They can create meaningful and memorable experiences (such as these) that are needed in order to stay on top of the competition today.