BRONZE:
“The Linde Group” – The story behind a unique sound identity.
Speakers: Michele Arnese, Rudi Mauser (amp)
Client: The Linde Group
Agency: amp – audible brand and corporate communication, Germany
Abstract
The Linde Group is one of the world’s leading gas and engineering companies, with a presence in more than 100 countries. The group manages a number of subsidiaries and brands, each of which has its own individual history. Linde employs around 50,000 people from a wide variety of different cultures – with different traditions, languages, creeds and ways of working. So what divides them is not nearly as important as what they have in common: shared values, principles and visions.
The company was looking for an element which could create an identity in order to make the group’s strong sense of togetherness into a feeling that can be emotionally experienced. And one whose uniqueness can be understood in multicultural, cross-border and intuitive terms. That is why Linde chose an unusual form of communication: a perfect declination of sound branding. After all, music is a universal language that can convey emotion, tradition and values faster than any other means of communication.
The cornerstone of Linde’s sound identity is the catchy, versatile and universal Linde Melody, which grows into a four-movement Suite, that takes you on an awe-inspiring journey through four epochs and the most important phases of the company’s history. The music joins tradition with the future, reflects the company’s values, can be used all over the world and can be performed by a wide variety of different ensembles, amongst others a classical symphony orchestra, supplemented by ethnic and electronic instruments.
After the realisation of a musical source material consisting in Linde Melody, Linde Musical motives and sequences, a Masterpiece containing Linde Melody and Linde Sound and the Linde Suite itself, we started the development of many other elements of the sound identity like soundtracks, generative soundscapes, telephone loop, ring tones, etc. in order to serve all touch-points as well as the whole corporate communication. Every deliverable of the Linde sound identity together with guidelines and examples can be accessed worldwide at the Linde Brand Management Portal.
Additional information
The Linde brand music accompanied a lot of brand change events worldwide in the last 3 years, potentiating brand image and brand uniqueness. Requests for using the brand music came often directly from local communication teams: the best way to prove, that music finds its own way. After the successful premiere of The Linde Suite at the Linde Management Conference 2010, the Linde Suite was sent on CD to all employees around the globe – as audible evidence of a common identity and accompanied by a personal greeting from the CEO of The Linde Group, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle:
“Music forms an integral element of culture – it brings its spirit to life. Our common culture is what binds us together, through the values we live and the inner conviction we share. We have translated this spirit into music, into the Linde Suite. It is a musical journey through time, from the early days when our company was founded, all the way to its most recent transformation and our rise to a truly global player. Our very own music shall now accompany us on our journey to become the High Performance Organisation we are striving to be. It shall give us a feeling for the pleasure of creating our very own unique profile.”
Time period of realization
2009-2012