The world’s most famous fabric softener decided to take its multi sensory brand experience to the next level through the strategic use of sound and music.
In Downy’s brand experience, each sense has its reward: Touch is soothed by freshness and softness. Incredible and long lasting scents are for our smell. For our sight, iconic and awesome designs for the different packagings, and even visual symbols like the bloom, the capsules or the flower petals. But what about our ears?
We wanted to create a sound so recognizable that you can tell it's Downy even if you're not watching the TV or smelling the product. A unique sound strategy that reinforces its positioning and core values, enhances the multi sensory experience and unifies the brand’s communication across all touchpoints.
In late 2021 we started creating a sonic identity that could represent through sounds and music the brand’s character and core values: positive joyfulness, contagious confidence, transformative power and ultimate freshness/perfume experience
But a literal translation of the core values into sound wasn’t good enough for us. Downy's Sonic DNA needed to have a unique and memorable essence that sticks with us for the rest of the day, just like its freshness or different perfumes.
To achieve this, we've done research on the science of catchiness. If we think about the latest 30 years hit songs, is there any pattern on their melodies or the way songs get created that make them especially memorable?
Well, it turns out that yes. There are several investigations such as "Dissecting an Earworm” by the American Psychological Association that identified the characteristics that make songs or specific melodies much more memorable:
+ A simple and familiar melodic contour
+ Short and repetitive phrases
+ Symmetrical melodies that go up and return down
+ Syncopation and high tempos
+ Melisma: Singing different pitches of notes for the same syllable.
Using these tools and combining them with sounds and music that represented the brand’s positioning and core values, we created Downy’s Sonic DNA, a musical piece that contains the key characteristics of the brand’s unique sound and that serves as a starting point for developing any kind of sonic asset for the brand in the future.
This Sonic DNA was carefully adapted to every content across all media (TV, Youtube, TikTok, Radio,etc.) and in every country and made it to the 2022 LATAM Campaign.
TV & Digital, Downy 2022, México Campaign - Office:
TV & Digital, Downy 2022, Mexico Campaign - Supermarket:
RADIO:
But this was only the starting point. Based on the Sonic DNA, we created a Sonic Logo which features Downy’s unique and long-lasting brand melody with a melisma on it and many other of the characteristics proportioned by the science of catchiness.
Downy Sonic Logo
This Sonic Logo evolved into different versions for every Downy collection, based on the unique characteristics and the intensity of their perfume but always with the brand melody as the main element.
Pink
Blue
Perfume
We also created Earcons, iconic sounds that -when combined with Downy’s visual icons like the Bloom, the freshness explosions or the capsules- significantly enhance the overall multi sensory experience.
Bloom
Blue freshness explosion:
Pink freshness explosion:
Perfume freshness explosion:
Beads freshness explosion:
All of these unique sounds made it to the launching of the 2022 Downy LATAM campaign. Downy’s brand new Sonic ID reinforced the brand’s differential positioning, enhanced the multi sensory experience across all touchpoints and will help keep the communications unified across every LATAM country from now on.
Now we can say that wherever you get in touch with the brand in LATAM, Downy will always sound like Downy.