The blog post The Emotional Impact of Colour has an interesting coverage of the importance of colour choice for brands and products.
Once again, though I was reminded how visually-dominant the marketing and branding world so often is, for I hardly ever encounter articles on the importance of the right voice in marketing, business communication and branding.
“We have come to the conclusion that the mind works by ear, not by eye.” - Jack Trout, author of Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Following is a nominally modified version of the comment I added to the ‘importance of colour post’.
I found this article very interesting, as I am a blind person, and consult to the marketing and branding industry.
What really amazes me, though, is just how little is researched, written or said about the capacity of the human voice (rightly directed) to transmit emotion, reinforce brand values and personality, connect with and evoke vivid emotional responses in customers and potential buyers.
Which is why I founded Vocal Branding Australia – to bring my extensive voice experience and philosophy to the marketplace, so that brands and customer communications are more authentic, pleasant and respectful.
Colour may well make up 60 percent of buying impact from packaging or signage alone, but I doubt it is anything like that when the vocal dimension is brought into play.
Over the radio, telephone or podcasts, we assess the sincerity and attitude of the speaker 84 percent from the tone of voice and all the nuances of How the words are expressed. The words only make up 16 percent of this assessment of attitude, sincerity etc. Face-to-face the tone of voice makes up 38 percent of how we perceive the attitude of the speaker., with visuals, bodylanguage and eye contact making up 55 percent.
The human voice is the most influential sound on our planet, however in most cases we fail to give it anything near the level of attention it deserves, resulting in weakening or even damaging our overall brand messages.
Shape, Colour, words and music are all important, but the human voice has the untapped capacity to create a personal connection, and is able to open up an authentic conversations with clients, customers and buyers.
Emotional Engagement: The Emphasis on colour Versus the Importance of Voice and Vocal Color and expression in Branding Theory
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Tim, so glad you made this post. I wrote the Emotional Impact of Color as part of a series of articles on how the brain processes visuals and what implications that has on successful logo design, which is a visual practice. However, you are correct. Language and sound are an integral part of branding and more important than they are given credit. “I’m lovin it”, “What can brown do for you”, ” Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener”, “Where’s the Beef”, or “Just do it” are a few examples of the power of the spoken word. Each set of words has its own rhythm, pacing and inflection that we associate with a brand. Federal Express wouldn’t have become Fed Ex if the consumer hadn’t created the nick name. A brands language is visual, verbal and aural. While we as a species would think that our eyes are our strongest sense, we don’t realize how much sound influences meaning in the world around us. Would walking up the staircase in a Hitchcock movie be half as scary if there was an upbeat rock song playing or if there was no sound at all? How would we clearly feel the anticipation, the fear or the pacing of the scene without the sound? My master’s thesis was an installation that explored the relationship between the designed word and spoken word. It’s probably time to dust off the paper and write a blog post.