COMMENT: Broadcasters need to be braver with sonic branding

At the start of the pandemic, I got stuck into juggling working from home and homeschooling. But, after many days of failing pretty hard, I desperately looked forward to the times when I could be firmly perched in front of my TV, watching the Premier League.

There are many things that make it distinctly clear whether you’re watching the Premier League on Sky Sports, BT Sport or Amazon Prime Video – whether it’s seeing Robbie Savage or Jamie Carragher or hearing Martin Tyler or Ally McCoist.

But, oddly, considering the number of times you’re exposed to each of their sonic brands (the music you hear on each channel), it’s almost impossible to tell them apart.

Let’s test this. The following three sentences are lyrics from the theme song of either Sky Sports, BT Sport or Amazon - do you know which one is which?

1) “Can I get a ‘oohe’? Makeba, makes my body dance for you”

2) “You’ll never stop this flame, I will never let you go”

3) “Clap your hands now; people clap now”

You’d be forgiven for not knowing… It’s a prime example of the ‘sound of a sector’ where brands start to fall into the same trap and therefore all start sounding alike. Putting it in football terms, it’s the ‘own goal’ of sonic branding.

The footballing broadcast space has grown increasingly competitive in the last couple of years, as new players like Amazon have arrived on the scene, causing and responding to big shifts in audience behaviours.

For broadcasters, it’s never been more important to stand out. So why isn’t anyone?

Football and music are both so culturally deep-rooted it’s not surprising that the two are so entwined and have been co-acting for years.

We even managed to get the legendary ex-professionals Clarence Seedorf and Rebecca Smith on one of our Sonic Zoom panel discussions, both talking about the role music plays in motivating players.

In the same way that songs being sung on the terraces is all about identity (Wow, can you even remember those days now?), brands should be shouting ‘We Know What We Are’ and where their allegiances lie.

With so many links between sound and football, it’s a tap-in for broadcasters to stamp down their sonic authority. Yet, they’ve all declined this opportunity – even the great disruptor Amazon, who manages to penetrate every industry, has gone against its values and instead opted to fall into the same boring pool of the same.

We saw it last year when Netflix created a cinematic theme for its theatre releases. Known as one of the biggest disruptors to the entertainment and cinema industry, it disregarded its core values and opted instead to copy the typical fanfare signatures we’ve come to know and recognise from legacy studio houses and advertisers.

The key takeaway is the importance of creating a sonic identity that sounds like you, rather than the industry you’re in. Everyone knows as soon as you hear the Champions League hymn ringing out, it’s time to sit down and enjoy the best football in the world. This is a perfect example of a brand creating a distinctive sound, consistently triggering recall from consumers, which forms part of a positive experience with the viewer.

Another problem we often see when brands are not strategic in the use of music – especially licensed music by artists – is that they risk muddling the association between the song and the brand itself.

I almost spat my drink out when I heard ‘Stop This Flame’ by Celeste come on the television last week. Rather than seeing what I expected to see when I heard it – Gary Neville talking me through the analysis of West Ham’s epic home win over Leeds – I saw a lineup of models, because the song is also being used by the make-up brand Mac.

Don’t get me started on the fact I also heard it within the SAME AD BREAK in an ad for Royal Mail.

Sky aren’t the only guilty party either. You may also have noticed that Amazon’s song ‘Makeba’ by Jain is also currently being used by the chocolate brand Galaxy.

The goal is wide open for modern football broadcasters to properly own this space and produce something that is distinctly theirs, which will drive recall and isn’t shared with a brand that might not have delivered a package on time and caused annoyance.

At MassiveMusic, we’ve been fortunate enough to work with some incredible football brands over the years, including FIFA for the Women’s World Cup, and ESPN as well as UEFA to create the sound of the Europa League.

Composing a sonic identity that stood out as unique and embedded in the brand was our primary aim. Throughout the process of working with UEFA, we understood the importance of benchmarking against brand values and the result wasn’t just an anthem they could fully own, but a whole suite of edits that compiled a full music package that could then be used for broadcast loops, team line-ups and match countdowns.

As we enter the home straight of the 20/21 football season, the sonic title is there for the taking. It’s time for brands to show generic ‘sound of the sector’ sonic logos the red card. Oh, and if you’ve been wondering this whole time, 1) was Amazon, 2) was Sky Sports and 3) was BT Sport - don’t worry I got it wrong too.

Paul Reynolds is managing director and partner at international creative music agency MassiveMusic.