Check out this LinkedIn thread about this topic.

Here's a summary of the examples highlighted in the thread:

Sound logos (or audio signatures) are tunes or sound effects that have become part of a brand’s identity. Here are some famous examples:
 
FamilyMart (Asia)
Shoppers entering a FamilyMart convenience store in Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Suzhouwill always hear the same twelve-note sequence. It’s known as 'Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. Doorbell Chime EC5227WP’. (The tune is owned by Panasonic not FamilyMart because the retailer simply bought a whole load of doorbells rather than buying the rights to the tune).
 
Meow Mix (US)
The Meow Mix tune with the lyrics 'Meow, meow, meow, meow etc.’ has implored cat owners to buy the product since 1974.
 
Channel 4 (UK)
The same five-note sequence has been used by the UK TV company since it launched in 1982.
 
MGM (Global)
The sound of a lion roaring has been used since the studio’s first movie with sound in 1928. Other studios including 20th Century Fox, Disney and Marvel also have distinctive sounds that they use at the start of all their movies.
 
Intel (Global)
The chip manufacturer has it’s famous 'Bong’ as its sonic signature since 1994.
 
McDonalds (Global)
Their tagline, 'I’m Lovin’ It, is usually accompanied by a five-note sequence which has become an asset in its own right. It comes from a song commissioned by McDonalds, written by Pharrell Williams (and others) and recorded as a single by Justin Timberlake in 2003.
 
Dominos (Global)
In 2021, the pizza company created an app for easy group orders and used an ad featuring yodelling to promote it. The sound 'Domin-oh-hoo-hoo’ has since become one of the brand’s strongest distinctive assets and is used in most of its ads.
 
Microsoft, Apple, PlayStation, Netflix etc.
Many brands that have come to the fore in the digital age play the same signature sound when users boot their hardware or open one of their applications.
 
Some brands have gone further by linking their brand with whole pieces of music or musical genres.
 
Airtel (India)
The Indian communications provider has used the same tune, composed by multi award-winning musician A.R Rahman, since 2002. It has become the most downloaded ringtone on the planet.
 
CNP Assurance (France)
The insurance brand is strongly associated with stirring, nostalgic French music.
 
El Almendro (Spain)
The Spanish confection brand uses traditional, nostalgic Spanish music and songs in its advertising.
 
Chevrolet (US)
The song 'Like a Rock’ by Bob Seger was featured in Chevrolet truck commercials during the 1990s and became closely linked with the brand's image of strength and durability.
 
Bertolli (Europe)
The brand used variations on the same lively tune, with similar instrumentation, in most of its early ads. The music soon became associated with the brand and helped people remember the fun atmosphere and healthy-diet storylines of the ads.
 
British Airways (UK)
BA plays The Flower Duet by Leo Delibes from the opera Lakme in its aeroplanes and has featured it in many of its ads. The connection with this classical piece reinforces the brand’s quality perceptions and helps customers feel calm and relaxed. United Airlines and Quantas also have their own distinctive music.
 
Stella Artois (UK)
The beer brand used the melancholy, accordion theme tune to the 1986 film 'Jean de Florette’ in seven award-winning ads between 1991 and 2002.
 
Jet2holidays (UK)
Since 2015, 'Hold My Hand’ has been used by Jet2holidays on their TV ads. The catchy tune works with the visuals to convey family togetherness, and these have both become strongly linked with the brand.
 
Go Compare (UK)
The insurance company has featured a fictional opera singer called 'Gio Compario’ in its advertising since 2009. He sings about the brand’s features and benefits, ending each ad with a musical crescendo to the words 'You’ll thank your stars that you went with Go Compare!’ (or similar).
 
Beats by Dre (Global)
This brand of headphones, owned by Apple, has become strongly associated with hip-hop and urban music.

There have also been cases of single tracks used in one-off ads that have been become strongly linked with the brand. 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)’ is a song originally created for a Coca-Cola ad in 1971 and later released as a full-length song. It captured the mood of a generation and is still associated with brand to this day. The Phil Collins track 'In the air tonight’ is strongly linked with Cadbury’s in the UK thanks to its vital role in the famous 'Gorilla’ ad. Australian department store The Good Guys did the same with a version of 'Good Vibrations’ by The Beach Boys. Levi’s jeans used a string of songs in the 1980s and 1990s and is still linked in many people’s minds with 'I Heard it on the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye and 'Inside’ by Stiltskin.

​What to learn more? Try asking Virtual Dan White.




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