Have your say about Sound...

Web Audio Research (WAR) - TOYOTA

Extending our research into how companies use sound on the web.  This month we look at Toyota

SOUNDINGS (May 2008)

Talk to me. (yes, me!) – Michael Spencer on why mass marketing no longer exists
Talking the walk – guest contributor and acclaimed radio ad director, Tony Hertz, asks whether the way a brand talks influences how customers see it?
Beyond the words – robotic voices are killing communication (Andrew Peggie)

SOUNDINGS (Apr 2008)

Will noise become the new cigarette smoke? – Michael Spencer on the implications of International Noise awareness Day
Not shouting about noise – AEG-Electrolux  makes a point about domestic noise without ever raising its voice (AP)
Noise?  What Noise? – definitions that should matter to the audio media (AP)

SOUNDINGS (Mar 2008)

Composers up  in arms about composers– Michael Spencer comments on a rare example of composers       complaining about music.
Advertising should be paying more attention to musical omnivores – how musical tastes are evolving in key age demographics (AP).
Is on-hold audio holding up – the psychology of the on-hold caller (AP).

SOUNDINGS (Feb 2008)

Enough or too much – Michael Spencer compares audio in broadcast media and the internet.
Broadcast music drowning in sonic gloop -  why creating the perfect soundtrack doesn’t always help (AP).
How music on the web entices convergent surfers - audio on a website can be a real asset (AP).

Engaging sounds on the web – what you can learn from the 3% that do it well, and the 97% that don't

Reported in today's Financial Times, Sound Strategies has examined over 450 websites, focusing on global corporate, brand and product sites, plus international travel, leisure, entertainment and media sites.  Intriguingly, Andrew Peggie found that less than 3% of companies are using sound effectively on the web.  These findings are now informing the development of AddMusicToYourWebsite.com, as a learning resource for the other 97%, plus the bespoke consultancy that Sound Strategies offers to its corporate clients.

"The one thing that we don't normally associate with the web is sound, even though it is a vital part of everyday communication.  As musician Andrew Peggie puts it: "the web is a silent place.

...Only 12 sites showed excellent examples of 'considered and effective' usage.  He believes sound is often an afterthought on websites:  "Web designers have very strong visual backgrounds, so they don't have the same awareness of how music can work as they do with the visual elements."

FT journalist, Kim Thomas posed the question: Does sound matter?  Web users commonly want to find information quickly. Does adding sound to a website increase its appeal or get in the way? What do you think?

Among other findings from the research, some 47% of the sites examined included audio of some sort. However, only 27% used integrated sound or easy-to-find audio and video.

We found that effective use of sound (music, speech, sound effects) on a website:

• ‘humanises’ the product, brand or organisation by increasing the visitor’s emotional engagement with the site
• ensures visitors spend longer on a page than they would if it had no audio elements
• converts convergent users (looking for specific information) to divergent users (willing to explore other areas of the site).

People remember sites with sound more easily than those without and well-designed and synchronised audio can turn people on to a site and its message or contents. But they also remember the bad experiences more clearly…

We also found that almost 60% of the music used fell into a bland techno-ambient category which had little connection with the site contents or more importantly the corporate image.

In designing the research, we developed a multi-strand qualitative assessment tool for evaluating all types of audio on websites, enabling aspects such as musical originality, audio quality, fit with images, enhancement of the brand/company image, accessibility and visitor experience to be weighted into an overall web audio rating score.

SOUNDINGS (Jan 2008)

Manipulation or Management – Michael Spencer on the age-old question of how music affects behaviour.
Savage Breasts – how local authorities enlist the aid of classical music in civilising public spaces (AP)
...and Sensitive Souls...Hear Here! – a new alliance of music organisations is concerned about our lack of aural awareness (AP)

SOUNDINGS (Dec 2007)

A Musical Mery-go-round - Are our ears in a spin from too much choice?
'Just whistle while you work' - "Hi-ho, hi-ho" it's off to Music in the Workplace we go!...

...plus a selection of free downloads one of our clients, classical.com and a Sound Strategies podcast on The Engaging Brand.

Hear us on The Engaging Brand Podcast

By Ronna Porter

I'm often told that our areas of interest at Sound Strategies would make a great podcast.  We agree, and are planning to develop one - along with lots of other exciting projects - in 2008.

In the meantime, Anna Farmery of the popular Engaging Brand podcast interviewed Michael and I last week.  In this half-hour interview we discuss how to align your audio to your brand values, the evolution of sound within our lives and also how to improve employee engagement with audio.  You can listen to in now direct from The Engaging Brand blog, or can subscribe to listen to it later via the Blubrry Community, or on to on iTunes (Anna Farmery/The Engaging Brand, Show #129).

We'd love to hear your thoughts on any of the points raised.

Communications, Confucius, and Kanji

By Michael Spencer

Spending  much of my time as I do flitting between Japan and the UK in my work for Sound Strategies, I decided to set myself the challenge of attempting to learn the Kanji, the Chinese characters imported into the Japanese language some 1,200 or more years ago.

There is a whole range of underlying meanings behind many of these characters which gives a depth and subtlety in nuance of which Westerners are seldom aware.

As a musician, one such coalition of characters I find particularly intriguing...

 

is the character for sound  (pronounced ‘oto’), and  when combined with the character for ‘pleasure’...

gives the word for music; ‘ongaku’.   This same character when combined with the character for ‘faith’ produces the word ‘onshin’ or communication.

   

A subtle and potent combination from which to start an exploration into the world of sound and its role in social exchange.

Its just this sort of example that I hope to draw upon at the International Association of Business Communicator's EuroComm conference in Barcelona on 5 February 2008, which will be considering all aspects of Innovation through Communication.