After finding out about Coca-Cola’s clever injection of their own sonic logo in K’naan’s World Cup song “Wavin’ Flag”, many of our readers called Coke out as being sneaky and/or cheeky. So we at soundlounge are here in defense of their brilliant (if a bit devilish) sonic branding strategy.

In the brand-sphere, Coke have proven to be masters of this kind of “audio watermarking” – subtly embedding their brand’s sound in the music of their advertisements. But the idea of a sound signature is hardly new. In fact, the original master of audio watermarking lived and died three centuries ago: J.S. Bach.

Most composers think long and hard about the structure of their music. But Bach took it to an extreme new level. As both a musical and mathematical genius, he composed pieces so intricate and layered that scholars today still find secret meanings in his work. Some say he used the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 8, 13…) as guides for his compositions.

But his most famous hidden message is just four notes: B-flat, A-natural, C-natural, and B-natural. In the original German spelling…B, A, C, H!

It’s the Bach motif! It appears in so many of his pieces that scholars agree it’s there for a reason. It was Bach’s way of “signing” his compositions. Was it vanity? Or was it just a quirky sense of humor? We can’t be sure, but whatever his reason, this recurring theme connects his pieces on a deeper level. It might not be as obvious (or catchy) as Coke’s audio watermark in “Wavin’ Flag”, but Bach’s audio watermark is one of the most popular of all time. Over 409 works by 330 composers have used Bach’s motif in memorial to this brilliant man.

Is Coke taking a few notes from Bach? Since the start of their Open Happiness campaign, they’ve “given” their melody to dozens of international music superstars. K’naan is just the most recent in a long list of musicians to use Coke’s motif.

But “Wavin’ Flag” has seen success far beyond any of the other Coke-watermarked songs. The beauty of this for Coke is that they own this hit-single melody. They can reuse it in their advertising without any licensing fees, unlike say, the McDonald’s/Timberlake “I’m Lovin’ It” scenario. Ideally for Coke, people will hear their melody in the next Coca-Cola commercial and get all nostalgic about that fun song from the 2010 World Cup.

If any brand comes close to musical genius, it’s Coke. Will their melody last for three centuries though? We (probably) won’t be around to report on it, but don’t hold your breath…

Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant
Matt Lee, Music Supervisor
soundlounge

And the soundlounge award this year goes to…(drum roll please)…a totally brilliant piece of sonic branding from the Coke team of music supervisors. Those who have been following soundlounge’s extensive blog coverage of World Cup advertising music will know that there were dozens of contenders for the crown. However we are all agreement here, that apart from the vuvuzelas, the most recognizable sound from this year’s World Cup has come from a previously little-known Somali-Canadian artist.

Thanks to Coke, K’naan’s song “Wavin’ Flag” has reached an amazing number one in eleven countries (and still counting). With over twenty regional remixes featuring local superstars, “Wavin’ Flag” has become the most popular and memorable soundtrack to South Africa 2010.

Coke has made K’naan an international superstar by modifying his song and promoting the “Coca-Cola Celebration Mix”. But this socially conscious rapper and poet insists this relationship with Coke doesn’t affect his integrity as a musician: “I don’t work for Coke or anything; what I do is my music.” (Billboard).

So isn’t this just a piece of band-brand marketing? Whether or not listeners are consciously aware, Coke have used a technique we call audio watermarking. This is a popular and well-known trick that has been around for centuries and used by composers and producers to weave a sound/motif into a piece of music. Unlike say the Audi sonic logo, which sits at the end of a commercial, watermarking acts like an ‘earworm’, which gets inside our brains and becomes so compulsive that we go around humming it as we walk down the street and not understanding why. We effectively become living, walking, singing commercials for Coke. Whatever K’naan would have his fans believe, embedded into “Wavin’ Flag” is an interesting piece of branding, and Coca-Cola have been priming us to wave their sonic branding flag for a while now…

Watch on Vimeo

We’ve actually been hearing this melody for years in Coke commercials. But this time the branding is even less obvious than their original “Open Happiness” song. By sneaking the Coke melody into an otherwise musically unbranded song, they’ve seen incredible success in the charts. In our opinion, it’s a much more intelligent form of branding than paying artists to name-drop brands in their lyrics.

So why doesn’t the average “Wavin’ Flag” fan connect the dots? It took us a few times before the penny dropped and we started to research. It’s as if Coke wants their motif to be subliminal, so that listeners recognize the sound but can’t say exactly why they recognize it. No other hit single has captured the sound of a brand in such an effective and clever way. Even Billboard didn’t come out and say it’s the Coke motif:

‘["Wavin Flag"] features many elements of the original song but includes a pre-chorus that sets the uplifting, unified tone of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, turning the song into one that is “more open, more inviting, more celebratory”‘.

Coke has clearly been steering the ship, taking K’naan on a grand tour of 84 countries. The big question though – what happens after the World Cup? A&M/Octone Records CEO James Diener says that Coke is “invested in K’naan for the duration of his career” (Billboard). That’s a bold statement given the fickle nature of musical popularity. If K’naan loses momentum, will Coke drop him for a fresh new artist or another ‘local’ artist for the next big sports sponsorship? Until then, will they be moderating all of K’naan’s music and infusing it with the sound of Coca-Cola?

You can be sure soundlounge will be listening out for the next Coke advert. And now that you know the Coke motif inside and out, keep your ears open and let us know if you do hear it anywhere else!

Ruth Simmons, Managing Director
Matt Lee, Music Supervisor
Charlie McCarron, Sound Consultant
soundlounge

If you enjoyed our article, feel free to say hello on Twitter – @soundlounge (and @soundequity for Ruth)

The World Cup has been with us for over a week now but it’s not just football matches that have kept us music supervisors entertained. There has also been a battle of the brands and with it a deluge of high budget football-themed adverts. The best and biggest of the bunch is of the course Nike’s “Write the Future” ad:

But what about the other adverts? We’ve been looking at a couple of match ups on the run-up to the World Cup.

Coke vs. Pepsi

Both brands start this match with a sense of fun but you get the feeling Coke have more conviction from the off with a strong use of actual match footage. Pepsi must be disappointed with themselves after trying to no avail to get their players to act…no doubt we’ll see plenty more acting from the players during the games! Coke then double their efforts with an online campaign to inspire viewers to upload their own celebrations and its 1-0 to Coke.

Never ones to be defeated easily Pepsi attempt to strike back with a heavily African influenced track, but it seems the pace is all wrong as Coke counter with their own African influenced track that is far more evocative and memorable, 2-0 Coke. The exposure of “Wavin’ Flag” means we’re all singing along with Coke’s ad, whilst Pepsi’s remains distinctly forgettable.

Pepsi continues to battle on and has one final chance with their use of a very strong cast. The big name players such as Henry and Drogba never fail to grab our attention (2-1), although they lack the flashes of skill we’ve all come to eagerly anticipate from the Nike ads. While the familiar faces draw us in, the music certainly doesn’t…an unfortunate end result for Pepsi.

Final Score:  Coke: 2, Pepsi: 1

Matt Lee, Music Supervisor
soundlounge

Last week, our Music Supervision team was sent “The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album”. I know…we could barely contain our excitement either. It seems FIFA have been putting their name to a glut of songs from Shakira’s “Waka Waka” to K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag”, the latter isn’t even on the album. How can it be that there are so many so-called Official World Cup songs?

This year we’ve been granted the power to choose our own World Cup song, as there is no FIFA approved song for England. So, left down to popularity (surely the fairest way rather than whoever gives FIFA the most money!) we, the British public, have chosen “Shout For England” by Dizzee Rascal and James Corden. Like it or not, this has topped both the iTunes chart and the official UK top 40 this week.

The closest English competition came from…yes you guessed it, “Three Lions ‘98” at no 10 in the UK top 40. Terry Venables came a not-so-close 3rd with “If I Can Dream” coming in at 23, which The Sun has picked up as the soundtrack for its World Cup Campaign. They should possibly have taken a leaf out of Coke’s book who really did their research and sent out detailed briefs to get sent a list of 55 songs. Coke finally landed on K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” which is arguably the most globally popular World Cup song this year:

So, if we can choose our own World Cup song without FIFA’s help, why can’t the rest of the World? For a start there’d be far fewer official songs, and maybe there’ll be one that the whole world can get behind and enjoy without the clutter of all the other FIFA approved tracks.

Matt Lee, Music Supervisor
soundlounge

Let’s start with Coke. These guys have asked the public to send in recordings of themselves mimicking the sound of opening, pouring and enjoying a bottle of the famous fizzy drink, with the aim of later broadcasting these on TV. A forward-thinking and innovative approach – well-placed in a world where social media and user-generated content rule the roost. But what’s the long-term value to Coke of converting this one-off, tactical execution into something which has much more important ramifications? It’s not the first time Coke has used the ’sound of enjoyment’ concept, so lots of points for consistency. Coca-Cola has a long tradition of using music in advertising and the idea that the sound of the brand could come directly from the product itself is an unusual one. But does the fizz of a can opening and liquid being poured onto ice really capture the whole sound of the brand? Is it enough to differentiate it from other beverages out there and, more significantly, does is resonate on a meaningful level with Coke’s target consumers?
Read more…

The following UK jingles were voted the catchiest of all time, in a survey carried out by McCann Erickson:

1. Wall’s Cornetto ‘Just One Cornetto’
2. Shake’n'Vac ‘Do the Shake and Vac’
3. R Whites ‘Secret Lemonade Drinker’
4. Kia Ora ‘I’ll Be Your Dog’
5. Mars ‘A Mars a Day Helps You Work, Rest and Play’
6. Kwik-Fit ‘Can’t Get Quicker Than a Kwik-Fit Fitter’
7. Club Biscuits ‘If You Like a Lot of Chocolate on Your Biscuit Join Our Club.’
8. Coca-Cola – ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing’
9. Cadbury’s Flake – ‘Crumbliest Flakiest Chocolate’
10. Um Bongo ‘They Drink it in the Congo

Love them or hate them, there’s always one you can’t get out of your head. Does one stand out for you?
Let us know!

What makes a jingle catchy? Some advertisers are rediscovering the power of jingles.

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