Summary

The article discusses the potential of sonic branding as a powerful tool for pharmaceutical companies to differentiate themselves in a market where traditional face-to-face sales have declined.

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry is exploring innovative marketing strategies, with a focus on sonic branding, to stand out in a market that has been challenged by the reduction of in-person sales opportunities since 2020. The article argues that creating a unique sound identity can foster an emotional connection with consumers, making the brand more memorable and likely to be chosen when the need for medication arises. It cites the example of Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company that developed a sonic identity to enhance its brand presence and appeal. The piece also references the effectiveness of insurance jingles in creating brand recall and the overall growth of audio advertising in health marketing, supported by statistics showing increased engagement and conversions from digital audio ads. The author, Jeanna Isham, emphasizes that sound can be a game-changer in pharmaceutical marketing, offering a new avenue for brands to connect with customers and drive sales in the post-pandemic era.

Opinions

Sonic branding is seen as a game-changer for pharmaceutical companies, providing a new way to create emotional connections with customers in the absence of traditional door-to-door sales.
The use of branded sound can make pharmaceutical products more relatable and memorable, similar to how jingles work for insurance companies.
Sanofi's development of a sonic identity is highlighted as an example of a company successfully leveraging sound to stand out in the market.
The article suggests that sound can trigger responses and create lasting connections in consumers' minds, influencing their choices and brand loyalty.
Statistics from Veeva Crossix are used to support the claim that audio advertising, including sonic branding, is not only growing but also effective in terms of engagement and conversions.
The author posits that sound is an underutilized marketing tool in the pharmaceutical industry, with only 1% of total digital impressions being audio-based, indicating significant untapped potential.
Mark Pappas, senior vice president of innovation at CMI Media Group, is quoted to reinforce the idea that audio advertising offers unique opportunities to reach consumers across various devices and settings.
Jeanna Isham, the author and a sound strategist, invites readers to consider how their brand can benefit from a strategic use of sound and offers her expertise to help create a memorable sonic branding strategy.

A Huge Opportunity For Pharmaceutical Sales

Sonic branding for the win in a world of seemingly sameness.

Photo by Christina Victoria Craft on Unsplash

Pharmaceutical sales have struggled to find a new marketing foothold since 2020. When “shelter in place” took away the option of face-to-face sales, the drug industry was left standing in a sea of sameness.

Although it’s easing back into the face-to-face model, the question still remains:

How do pharmaceutical companies stand out from one another without their traditional door to door sales approach?

Sound like the salesman

Pharmaceutical sales have always been a door-to-door process. Salesmen schedule sales calls with administrators, and hospitals about their products to fulfill their quota. When these meetings don’t happen, the product is not sold.

Sales calls are how pharma products create the facade of an emotional connection.

But what if there were an intermediary? What if a branded sound could do a little bit of the preliminary legwork for the traditional pharma salesman?

It can and it will.

I spoke with an Account Services Manager about this very idea in late 2020 and he saw the possibility of branded sound within medicine as a very real game changer.

Sound can make the subject of drugs a “softer” and a more personable sell.

We don’t talk about Tylenol like we do Coca-Cola. It’s just not a water cooler subject. Drugs, generally, are the topic of discussion only when something ails us or when we need something specific from them right away.

Much like insurance, drugs aren’t happy. They are a necessary means to an end and that’s the only conversation happening.

After the need is met, the conversation is done.

Sound can elicit a personality for pharma that then creates a reason for people to invest emotionally in the brand and/or product.

The emotional connection that sound can produce creates instant recollection for that inevitable pharmaceutical need.

Insurance companies need a personality too!

In this episode of the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast that I produced, I mentioned how insurance is not something that we love talking about.

Much like the drug industry.

It’s a necessary subject but not one anyone looks forward to. And, generally, that subject doesn’t come up until something big has happened or is about to happen. When that unexpected thing happens, choosing which insurance provider to use is almost always decided by whoever comes to mind first.

Insurance companies need to find a way to appeal to the consumer’s senses or be left to page 2 and beyond of a Google search.

Enter the insurance jingle

Insurance jingles are that one piece of humanity that the insurance industry can cling to for support. It provides familiarity, comfort, humor, and memorability that can then generate future word of mouth and long-term ROI.

Without that insurance jingle subconsciously handy, we resort to whatever Google “algorithms” at us.

One pharma company that figured it out!

Recently, Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company from France, created its first sonic identity with the help of sonic branding agency Sixième Son. According to Josep Catllà, their new sonic identity, “is another dimension of our corporate brand ecosystem.” This identity came on the heels of their merging into “one brand, identity, and purpose”.

The sound was intended, “to embody the delicate balance between research and inventiveness, a tightrope walk between simplicity and complexity.” The piece is simple and accessible yet very nuanced and specific.

Sanofi realized they could set themselves apart through branded sound.

Sound creating connection

Let’s be real for a minute.

We don’t care one way or another about what kind of medicines we use until we have a need for them. That need followed by a clear solution can then create an emotional connection.

But is it a lasting connection?

The sound is incredibly catchy. It automatically triggers action in one way or another. The use of branded sound also connects to our short and long-term memory models. This means that 2 to 3 seconds of branded sound can be filed away in the consumers’ subconscious to be strategically recalled later.

Sound triggers response.

Connection only happens after our senses are activated. We decide we like or dislike something not solely based on facts but on our “gut” decision to stay or move on.

The stats don’t lie

Veeva Crossix released its “2022 Trends in Health Advertising” that showed the growth of not only the use of audio in health advertising but also the response to it.

Through the use of strategic audio, impressions from digital audio increased 61% year over year and conversions from audio ads grew by 11% year over year. This is impressive on its own but add to it that the share of audio impressions currently only make up 1% of total digital impressions and it’s hard to believe that anyone would doubt that audio works.

Sound for the win

COVID created an opportunity with audio advertising that is unprecedented. According to Mark Pappas, senior vice president of innovation at CMI Media Group, “You have the opportunity to reach people anywhere they are at any time of day across a variety of devices.”

Sound is that connector, engager, and motivator that any brand and any industry can benefit from at any time.

Sound bridges gaps, changes minds, and gets people up and taking action.

Sound is available and accessible to any brand that chooses to take strategic advantage. Making sound on purpose is that new marketing foothold that will spur sales forward in 2023 and beyond.

So, what does your brand sound like?

Not sure yet? Schedule a discovery call with me today at Dreamr Productions and let’s create something memorable, marketable, and monetizable.

Jeanna Isham is a sound strategist and author at Dreamr Productions and SoundInMarketing.com. She creates, consults, and educates on the power of sound in marketing. Follow her on Linkedin and Twitter or join the Sound In Marketing Newsletter here.