By popular demand, we were pleased to announce the first ever Audio Branding Award, to be presented to the single most outstanding case study showcased at the 2011 Audio Branding Congress. Six case studies in the field of audio branding were nominated by a diverse jury of experts from media, art, advertising, marketing and music.
The following 6 brands were among the finalist for the Audio Branding Award 2011: ING DiBa, the city of Vienna, Sabesp, SNCF, Airela, and UBS.
ING DiBa marketing manager Waltraud Niemann not only explained Dirk Nowitzki’s role as testimonial for the bank but also their audio strategy. Claudia Meinschad and Herwig Kusatz provided an inspiring presentation of the Vienna case – and they even danced to the typical Vienna sound. Zanna showed how she used archetypes to derive the brand personality of Sabesp, and from there, derive its sound branding.
Today, the SNCF sound is “the most famous sound identity in France”, Boumendil and Goris pointed out in their best case presentation. Dytz, Tonetto and Lima showed how they established brand coherence at Airela through 3 domains: language, physicality, and emotion. In the last best case presentation, Wilbert Hirsch made clear how his team made sure that “wherever UBS is heard, it sounds like UBS”. The success of UBS’ sound branding was, among others, based on employee trainings and on making the sound identity available online.
The winner of the 2011 Audio Branding Award was determined by popular vote, submitted by Congress participants. Although a very close competition, Swiss financial company UBS won against French railway company SNCF by a very narrow margin.
Requirements for Contributions
- Case studies must be a project from the field of audio branding, completed after January 1, 2007.
- The project should be innovative and set new standards.
- The presenting individual, brand, or agency has been primarily responsible for conception and realization.
- The ideal case study includes a project presented by both representation of brand and agency.
- The presentation must include description of project’s approach, tasks, and results.
- All submissions and presentations are to be presented in English.
- The case study was not submitted previously to the Call for Cases in 2010.
- Multiple case studies may be entered, but only one case per entrant can be selected for presentation.
