Swiss Re Audio Branding
GRAND PRIX 2022 | Category: Audio Branding
Entrant
why do birds GmbH
Abstract
Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, has modernized its brand expression, focusing on high impact touchpoints such as video and social media. All this content being audio-visual it was clear that the development of a distinct and recognizable brand sound was just as important as the development of the visual identity.
Description
Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies, has modernized its brand expression, focusing on high impact touchpoints such as video and social media. All this content being audio-visual it was clear that the development of a distinct and recognizable brand sound was just as important as the development of the visual identity. There are two main pillars to our audio branding composition concept.
1. Resilience
Expressing the brand vision of “making the world more resilient“ in audio was essential for Swiss Re. The sonic metaphor we found for resilience is most simple: the constant repetition of a single note. It is the starting point and destination of all compositions and runs through the music as a steady pulse. As an ostinato, the sound sequence can also evolve in its appearance and scale in depth and size. No matter how great the changes along the way, the music always returns to this stable condition. We call this the “One Note principle”.
2. Partnership
The new tagline „Partnering for progress“ inspired the core melody of the audio brand: the Partnership leitmotif. It is a rising sequence of notes that always sounds in two voices. These two sequences of notes work their way up in parallel supporting each other, symbolizing Swiss Re’s partnership attitude. The leitmotif was conceived in such a way that it can appear in many different settings. In dramatic contexts where the minor key is predominant or in positive situations that demand a turn to major – the motif stays the same and works harmoniously.
These two principles also form the ingredients for the Swiss Re Sound logo. The sound logo comprises the brand core in an approx. 4 seconds long sound-file. It is the closing element to the brand’s audio and audio-visual communication material. Here, the One Note Principle and the Partnership leitmotif come together. From a driving crescendo, it flows into a confident, opening final chord. Through the combination of instrumentation and composition we have created an audio language that’s unique to the brand. This language is able to flex to accommodate the different needs and moods. We have created a custom music library developed especially for Swiss Re, consisting of music titles of various genres and moods. This way the foundation has been laid for a flexible and easy-to-use audio brand.