Sonic branding assets are among the most underutilized in marketing.Stephen Arnold MusicWith the continued growth of digital advertising—spanning influencers, podcasts, gaming environments, and AR/VR platforms—media fragmentation is no longer emerging; it is the dominant reality marketers must navigate. This fragmentation intensifies a familiar challenge: capturing attention long enough to create memory structures that ultimately influence brand choice. Consumers scroll, skip, and swipe through an endless stream of content. As Byron Sharp and Jenni Romaniuk have persuasively argued, brands that succeed in this environment are those that build and reinforce distinctive memory structures—signals that allow consumers to quickly recognize and retrieve the brand at the moment of choice. Yet despite substantial investments in creative development and media placement, many marketers continue to underutilize one of the most powerful tools available to them: sonic brand assets.The irony is difficult to ignore. A growing body of research suggests that sonic cues—brand sounds, jingles, and audio signatures—are among the most effective distinctive assets for driving recognition and recall. And yet, they remain among the least systematically deployed. Recent large-scale studies, including work by System1 on short-form video effectiveness and Ipsos on creative performance, point to a consistent conclusion: in a marketing environment dominated by visual thinking, sound may be the most undervalued asset in the brand builder’s toolkit.The Role of Distinctive Brand AssetsThe importance of distinctive brand assets is well established in marketing scholarship. These include brand elements—colors, logos, characters, slogans, and audio cues—that trigger brand recognition in memory. Their effectiveness stems from how consumers actually make decisions. Brand choice is rarely the result of deliberate, analytical comparison; instead, it is guided by memory structures built through repeated exposure to consistent signals.From this perspective, advertising’s primary role is not simply to entertain or inform. It is to encode memory. Research consistently shows that creative executions incorporating distinctive brand assets are far more likely to generate “branded attention”—the ability of consumers not only to engage with an ad, but to correctly identify the brand afterward. It is in this context that sonic assets become particularly compelling. For example, McDonald’s famous and catchy‘Ba Da Ba Ba Ba’ is synonymous with the brand image, driving attention while conveying the brand’s upbeat, pop-centric vibe. Home Depot’s “Home Depot Beat” is highly effective in gaining attention at the beginning of ads.The Power of SoundRecent findings from Ipsos, based on the analysis of more than 2,000 video ads in real-world viewing conditions, illustrate a striking imbalance. While visual brand assets appeared in approximately 92% of ads, audio assets were present in fewer than 10%. This disparity may reflect the industry’s visual bias—particularly in environments where ads autoplay without sound—but the performance data suggest a missed opportunity.Ads that incorporated audio brand assets were significantly more likely to rank among the top performers in terms of branded attention. Moreover, sonic cues themselves appeared far more frequently in high-performing creative than in low-performing executions.Importantly, sound does more than capture attention—it shapes emotional response. As Russell Boiarsky, Director of Brand Strategy at Stephen Arnold Music (sonic branding specialists) explains, “Humans are pre-wired to react emotionally to sound – we hear something, we feel something. And because sound is processed in the limbic system, responsible for emotion and recall, we quickly commit those feelings and associations to memory. For a marketer, there are few, if any, brand assets more powerful than that."Russell Boiarsky, Head of Branding, Stephen Arnold MusicStephen Arnold MusicResearch by Zorfas and Leemon published in Harvard Business Review supports the claim that emotionally connected customers provide real benefits to brands, stating that :emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers. These emotionally connected customers buy more of your products and services, visit you more often, exhibit less price sensitivity, pay more attention to your communications, follow your advice, and recommend you more – everything you hope their experience with you will cause them to do.”On practical terms, when sonic assets are used effectively, the returns can be substantial.There are several reasons for this. First, sound enhances emotional storytelling, allowing brands to connect with consumers at a deeper level. Second, it provides an additional sensory pathway to memory. Decades of cognitive research demonstrate that multisensory encoding strengthens both recall and recognition. When visual and auditory cues are linked, each can serve as a trigger for the other. Third, sonic assets extend beyond advertising. They can be deployed across touchpoints—from retail environments to digital interfaces—making them uniquely versatile compared to purely visual elements.It is no coincidence that brands such as Intel, McDonald’s, and Mastercard have invested heavily in building consistent sonic identities. Netflix is a prime example of a brand that has built a strong sonic branding identity. The familiar ‘Tudum’ is a sonic branding staple that commands interest while conveying excitement and anticipation. Chad Cook, President of Creative and Marketing at Stephen Arnold Music describes Netflix’s success in sonic branding, stating, “We’re seeing brands move beyond one-off sonic logos and into scalable sonic platforms in order to optimize attention and effectiveness. Netflix, for example, continues to expand its iconic sound across streaming, live events, and physical environments, often playfully morphing its ‘Tudum’ to support popular streaming launches."The Two-Second Branding ProblemThe importance of distinctive assets becomes even more pronounced in short-form video environments. Research conducted by System1 in collaboration with TikTok analyzed hundreds of social video ads and found that branding within the first two seconds is strongly associated with improved brand awareness. This concept—referred to by System1 as “Fast Fluency”—captures the ability of viewers to identify the brand almost immediately.Certain assets are particularly effective in achieving this outcome. Among them:Sonic brand cuesLogos embedded naturally within the sceneBrand charactersMusic and jinglesSpoken brand namesSonic assets consistently rank among the most effective signals for early recognition. By contrast, a commonly used tactic—placing a logo at the very beginning of an ad—often proves counterproductive, as consumers have learned to interpret it as a cue to skip. Distinctive assets that are seamlessly integrated into the narrative tend to perform far better.Why Sonic Assets Remain UnderutilizedGiven the strength of the evidence, their underutilization warrants explanation.First, audio strengthens a brand’s emotional storytelling, reaching consumers at a deeper level. “If you’ve ever heard a sound that immediately triggered a memory, then you’ve experienced how subconsciously audio affects us,” says Boiarsky. “For brands, those memories represent awareness and recall, but with the addition of emotional ties.”Second, building a strong sonic identity requires consistency over time, much like any other distinctive asset. Many brands change campaigns too frequently to allow such assets to develop recognition.Third, sonic branding is an investment. “Like all brand elements, sonic assets are a true marketing expense, but one that pays dividends if used effectively. Custom music and sounds cost money, require a dedicated strategy, and need to be used consistently over time. What we often see are brands that are stuck in an immediacy loop, selecting one-off tracks to suit their latest content. This is where putting forth a little more planning to dial in a sonic strategy can open a brand up to far greater rewards,” says Cook.In short, sonic branding requires discipline. But, as with other distinctive assets, its value compounds over time.A Strategic Imperative for Brand BuildersIn an era defined by fragmented media and constrained attention, distinctive brand assets are not optional—they are foundational. They are the mechanisms through which brands achieve mental availability and remain salient in competitive choice environments.Among these assets, sonic cues represent a particularly powerful—and underleveraged—opportunity.For marketers seeking to strengthen brand performance, several priorities emerge:Develop distinctive and recognizable audio signatures uniquely linked to the brand.Deploy these assets consistently across channels and touchpoints.Integrate sonic and visual cues early in creative executions to enhance rapid brand recognition.The broader implication is clear. In a marketplace where attention is fleeting and competition is intense, brands that invest in building cohesive, multisensory memory structures will be better positioned to drive both recognition and choice.The lesson is straightforward, but often overlooked: when it comes to distinctive brand assets, sound may be the most powerful signal many marketers are still not fully using.