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Poppy ThaxterUsing sound to cut through the noise: Here Design’s Josh Shires demystifies audio branding
From the irresistible, unshakeable jingle in a commercial to a powerful recurring leitmotif in a film, sound is more than just a form of communication – it’s an intense, immediate catalyst, capable of evoking emotional and physical sensations. By that logic, surely it should be considered a fundamental pillar of a brand? Josh Shires, the Audio Director of London-based agency Here agrees. With several years of experience working with music and sound, he knows a thing or two about what sticks in our heads, what lifts the mood, what conjures a memory, and how these can be effectively created and utilised within a brand’s world. In this enlightening conversation, Shires traces his journey to his current position and unravels the process behind creating a distinctive sonic identity and framework – the unique, resonant voice of a brand.
PT Hi Josh! How are you?
JS I’m well, thanks. Appreciate the opportunity to chat.
PT Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you began working with sound in the branding world?
JS I originally entered the industry working on music and sound for campaigns and content. Moving into the design and branding world came a little later, and I’ve now been at Here for just over six years in total.
In that earlier stage of my career, a common theme on projects was that music and sound were only considered towards the end of the creative process, and on a per-campaign basis as opposed to being driven by a brand-level approach. We believe audio – across music, sound, and voice – should be considered as a fundamental pillar of a brand and its world, so we set up Here’s audio department to deliver that.
PT What skills do you typically need in your role?
JS At its heart, I would say my role is strategic. Using that lens to identify opportunities for audio in a brand context, and then creatively direct how to capitalise on those are two essential parts of the job.
A background in music composition and sound is useful, but not always called upon directly – we are always looking to assemble a team of collaborators best placed to deliver what’s needed on any given project.
We believe audio should be considered as a fundamental pillar of a brand.
PT How would you describe the role of sound in brand design and communication? How does it contribute to brand recognition and differentiation
JS Audio provides an additional (sonic) canvas through which to express a brand and shape its experience. It unlocks a sensorial channel to deliver that brand recognition and differentiation. Identifying how to use it in a way that’s both distinctive and true to the brand is the challenge.
As a means of communication, sound is powerfully immediate in the way it taps into the subconscious. It can evoke an emotion, a memory, or a feeling even before you’ve computed what you’re hearing. That might be through music, a sound, a voice, or a combination of those.
Netflix’s ‘da dum,’ Coca-Cola’s ‘Holidays Are Coming,’ Terminator’s “I’ll be back,” – all of these have become incredibly recognisable equities that distinguish each from its competition, and entrench them within culture as a whole.
PT What does a typical day look like for you?
JS At Here, we’re in the studio two days a week as a baseline. I tend to use those days to do any strategic, thought-based work and research, pick up any conversations with external collaborators, and then make the most of the full team being in by having catch-ups face to face.
If we’re working on original music or sound, I tend to book larger chunks of time to focus on that, often a full day at a time.
PT In the process of crafting the identity of a new brand, is sound something that’s taken into consideration from the get-go, or is it something that’s defined at a later stage in the process?
JS As a fundamental and powerful part of a brand’s identity, we believe audio should be considered from the outset. The brands that are doing that are stronger for it.
We typically begin our process with a collaborative stage of work, framing input from all of our in-house disciplines as well as our clients. This allows us to consider a brand (or project) holistically and identify the opportunities in each area, audio being one. This then sets the trajectory for the subsequent creative phases of the project, allowing us to actively shape how different aspects of the brand relate to one another throughout.
PT Could you take us through the process of creating a distinctive sonic identity for a brand?
JS We start with a strategic stage, establishing how to most effectively represent the brand personality and enrich the experience through audio’s three components – music, sound, and voice. This is always anchored in the brand strategy and positioning, so our strategy and audio teams work closely together throughout.
We also appraise the category state of play, observing what competitors are doing and where the opportunities are to be different. We then open up the frame of reference to see if there are any relevant out-of-category brands or behaviours that could influence the approach.
Considering the full sphere of touchpoints within a brand’s ecosystem, from the master brand level to more day-to-day interactions, allows us to identify which are untapped, and which can be improved. From there we move into the creation of assets.
PT What strategies, techniques, and softwares do you use?
JS Building a strong narrative around a creative idea is a foundational approach. Giving people choices and opportunities to influence the progress and the direction you’re taking ensures good understanding, and tends to mean people become invested in what you’re doing. Crucially, as is often required, it means they can then independently represent the idea to other decision-makers effectively.
The adage ‘show, don’t tell’ is particularly pertinent when you’re sharing ideas around audio too.
On a practical level, audio software varies depending on who we’re working with and what’s being created, and even then, it’s often down to personal preference. I use Logic X day-to-day for composition, sound design, editing and mixing.
Pitch has been a game-changer for us in featuring audio and motion content in presentations. We also use Miro for collaboration both internally and with clients.
PT Likewise, what metrics or methods do you use to evaluate the effectiveness of audio branding?
JS I find this an interesting area. These days there are sophisticated data analysis/research-oriented approaches to pre-emptively test how well a certain sonic execution – whether a logo or track – ‘fits’ a brand. But, for example, Netflix’s now-iconic ‘da dum’ was meaningless until the association was built through exposure over time. I suspect backing that would have been a decision that relied heavily on the instincts of the team involved.
We believe audio should be considered from the outset.
PT Have you ever had to adapt sounds for different cultural contexts or international markets? If so, can you share some examples?
JS A recent campaign we created for Weber is currently live in several markets, so the roll-out included recording language voiceovers to swap in as required, but there was a bigger audio challenge in that area – to choreograph the action so that any incidental dialogue was language agnostic.
The spot focuses on a growing family’s life around their Weber grill, so there are people in shot throughout. How we managed that presence whilst retaining a natural feel with no audible language was a topic of conversation from as early as storyboarding. What is universal though is the sound across the campaign. It was the first opportunity to deploy Weber’s new audio identity, a central part of which is giving space to sound to evoke and amplify the outdoor grilling experience. The universal understanding people have of sound – in this case, the sizzle of the grill, the social atmosphere, and the ambience of the outdoors – is a huge part of its power.
PT Out of everything you’ve worked on, which bespoke sound production project are you most proud of?
JS High on the list would be our audio work for La Fantaisie, which is a new boutique luxury hotel in Paris’s 9th Arrondissement.
Audio is a medium not commonly leveraged in hospitality beyond playlist curation, so we were lucky to have clients who believed in the potential for that extra sensorial layer to shape the guest experience.
The creative idea that underpins the hotel is ‘The Dream of the Garden,’ which was a great jumping-off point for us. Audio has ultimately influenced many areas of the guest experience – to bring it all to life we spent time in Paris recording birdsong in the parks and recceing audio tours, and recorded French poetry, jazz and opera musicians. The hope is that all of those ideas and expressions contribute to creating a distinctive and truly memorable experience at La Fantaisie. The project case study is on our website, for anyone who’d like to hear more on that.
Be sure to bank any good audio references you see along the way.
PT What advice would you give to an emerging audio strategist or sound designer, looking to do what you do for a living?
JS I’ve taken a bit of an indirect route to get to the role I’m in now, but in hindsight, there’s been value in that as different experiences widen your frame of reference and – on a personal level – allow you to understand what drives you as an individual.
An understanding of the mechanics of branding and strategy and how to leverage them creatively is a cornerstone of the job, so finding environments and people that can help to develop that understanding is a worthwhile focus.
In balance with that, having an outlet to experiment and find your own feel and approach to audio (whether creating sound or music) will give you knowledge and individuality that’s as valuable as experience gained shadowing and working with established audio professionals.
Finally, be sure to bank any good audio references you see along the way. In an area of branding where client advocacy is lower than in others, the perfect reference can be telegraphic in conveying the power of audio in context.
PT And, to wrap things up…. What is your favourite sound?
JS I can’t honestly say I have a favourite, but I love being outdoors outside of the city and the natural ambience around you is a big part of that. To quote Steve Coogan in The Trip – nature never rejects you.
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