Back to Sonic Branding
Example engagementConsumer streaming

A sonic identity for a global streaming app

A streaming app that had grown from a regional player into a global one was still using its launch-era jingle. It tested poorly outside its home market and clashed with a new visual identity. The brief: one mnemonic that works on mobile splash, smart speakers, in-car handoffs and a pre-roll slot, without sounding like a startup chime.

An illustrative engagement showing how we scope, compose and deliver a sonic system. Client names, figures and quotes are withheld until each client approves publication.
A sonic identity for a global streaming app

The challenge

A streaming app that had grown from a regional player into a global one was still using its launch-era jingle. It tested poorly outside its home market and clashed with a new visual identity. The brief: one mnemonic that works on mobile splash, smart speakers, in-car handoffs and a pre-roll slot, without sounding like a startup chime.

Our approach

Discovery covers listener interviews across markets, a competitive audit of streaming and social apps, and a workshop that maps the brand's pillars to musical attributes. From there we compose a set of mnemonic candidates, narrow them, and run a blind recall test with real users. The winning motif is then voiced for every product surface, each tuned to the device's loudness curve and latency budget.

Process

1Phase 01
Listen
Interviews with listeners across markets and a teardown of every audio touchpoint in the existing app.
2Phase 02
Frame
A sonic brief agreed with product, marketing and design leadership: musical pillars and a short list of 'never' rules.
3Phase 03
Compose
Candidate mnemonics scored against the brief, then a blind test with users on recall, mood-fit and brand-fit.
4Phase 04
System
Functional cues derived from the winning motif: playback states, errors, milestones, voice handoffs.
5Phase 05
Ship
Loudness normalisation per device, latency-aware playback, fallbacks for low bandwidth, and a guideline kit.

What we delivered

Master mnemonic
48kHz/24-bit · stereo + mono mix
Adaptive variants
Mobile, web, TV, in-car, smart speaker
UI sound library
Stems + masters
Brand sound guide
PDF + Figma library
Ad pre-roll bumpers
3s, 6s, 15s broadcast-ready
Governance kit
Licence terms, DAW templates, do/don't audio

What this delivers

One mnemonic across every client and market, a functional cue library that shares its harmonic language, and a guideline set partner agencies can work from without breaking the brand.

More examples