The sonic brand trigger in action

Crabbie’s – the alcoholic ginger beer drink, was the sponsor of Christmas on ITV. Take a look at their main TV ad ..

The piano musical theme tune really stands out and provides a perfect accompaiment to a visual sense of a ‘totally spiffing world’ that is all ‘Tickety Boo’ at Christmas with George and Camilla. A successful Sonic Brand Trigger is able elicit a response of some kind, rather than just existing as musical accompaniment. The theme in the advert has become linked to the Crabbie’s brand over time through repetition and does a great job at allowing the viewer to create a strong visual image and trigger a response in the consumer relating to Crabbies.

“You can call it Sonic Brand Triggers, you can call it whatever you want, but I think people instinctively absorb and replay sounds that entertain them or move them or remind them of things. I think that’s why we remember hymns and pop songs – including the words. Jingles and catchphrases may have gone out, but there are advertising campaigns out there still using sound to make people remember brands. It’s a very powerful territory”
Charlie Higson, writer, actor, producer, The Fast Show

Why do Sonic Brand Triggers work? They immediately allow the consumer to be aware of the brand – its unmistakable branding. The creative treatment from Yorkshire based creative agency Ponderosa brings a sense of uniformity to all their commercials. A good sonic brand trigger has an easily recognisable musical theme – like this one – so its not hard to have people ending up singing along  and this obviously helps in making the advertising and Crabbies brand  memorable. This alongside the repetition and frequency of a ‘Christmas Sponsorship’ across all ITV programming provides a successful TV campaign.  The creative agency have developed  various interesting executions that shows how sonic brand triggers actually become part of our every day life in the shop, at the call centre and in the pub ….  How often have you started humming theme tunes or sonic logos to famous brands?

There’s no doubt that I could see this campaign transferring to radio very easily. It’s a strong brand trigger, that would allow the listener to create an emotive response  and would amplify their TV creative. Want to find out more about Sonic Brand Triggers?

There’s more about Sonic Brand Triggers on this fantastic resource page from by the RAB – by click here