Sonic Branding

Sonic branding, or sonic identity, is the process of conveying a brand’s personality and identity to audiences through sound elements. These elements include the audio logo, music, ambient sounds, and even the tone and manner in which messages are delivered.

The goal of a sonic identity is to create a unique, multi-dimensional experience for audiences—one that enables faster brand recognition and fosters deeper, more emotional connections. Sonic identity plays an equally important role as visual identity in strengthening a brand’s positioning in the audience’s mind.

Designing a sonic identity begins with analyzing the brand strategy—where the brand’s personality, values, and core message are defined. This process involves selecting the right mood and atmosphere for the brand, designing the audio logo, and choosing key elements such as music and ambient sounds.

Every instrument and sound is selected based on the brand’s message and identity to evoke the right feeling in the audience. For example, using the piano conveys delicacy and refinement, while the guitar conveys excitement and energy. Ultimately, these elements must be applied consistently across all brand touchpoints—from advertising to digital user experience—to create a lasting and impactful identity in the audience’s mind.

To better illustrate these concepts, we use Platin itself as an example. One of Platin’s main brand personas is The Ruler—a character built on order, authority, and guidance. We believe that over the years, we have provided answers to our clients for questions we ourselves have posed to them. As a result, inquiry holds a special place for us, which inspired our tagline: “Powered by Question.”

Since nothing is absolute, this uncertainty is reflected across all our brand touchpoints. For example, in our visual identity, we use three right angles (90°) alongside a 45° angle in all touchpoints, symbolizing uncertainty. This same concept is embedded in Platin’s sonic identity: the sounds and rhythms are designed to align with this philosophy, evoking a sense of the unexpected and uncertainty for the audience.

Audio Logo

The audio logo is the shortest sonic symbol of a brand, helping embed it into the audience’s memory.

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Jingle

A short sonic element that conveys the brand’s core message to the audience.

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Main Theme

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The main theme is the brand’s signature musical composition, reflecting its spirit and philosophy.
The video above takes you on a deep journey through Platin’s world over the past decade—a journey filled with questions, changes, survival, growth, and learning. Each scene symbolizes the challenges, victories, and moments that have shaped Platin into what it is today. From endless questions to answers yet to be discovered, it is a story of life and continuous motion.

Secondary Theme

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Following the design of the main theme, secondary themes are created based on the desired mood and signals—such as Christmas, Yalda, or epic tones.
In the featured video, a more epic composition than Platin’s main theme is heard, designed and applied for settings that require such an atmosphere.

Before defining the main theme and overall sonic strategy, the foundation for the brand’s musical details had already been laid. At that time, our focus was on creating a composition that best reflected Platin’s personality and values. These efforts resulted in the creation of a C Major chord with an added F# note (C Major 11#)—a combination that evokes feelings of liberation, excitement, and dynamism, while conveying concepts such as curiosity and exploration.

From this foundation, the final melody was composed from the notes F, E, G, and E#, using instruments such as the Tongue Drum for creativity, Piano for elegance, String Ensemble for harmony, Brass Ensemble for grandeur, and Ambient Sound Design for mystery. Looking back, it is clear how these details laid the groundwork for defining the broader strategies and creating Platin’s main sonic theme.

After designing the brand’s overall musical themes, the next step is creating more specific sound elements for various brand touchpoints. These include items such as audio logos for brand recognition, short jingles for advertising, ringtones, sound effects (SFX), on-hold music, and the voice of the IVR (interactive voice response) system. Each of these elements is designed to align with the brand’s sonic identity while creating a unique and professional experience for the audience.

Platin’s Cheerful Theme

A joyful variation of Platin’s sonic identity.

Platin’s Cheerful Theme

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Ringtones & Notifications

Ringtones and notification sounds are designed based on the brand’s sonic identity to deliver a cohesive and enjoyable user experience.