Dynamic melody as new BMW recognition feature
A dynamic melody will serve as the BMW brand’s future audio calling card. With its innovative mix of sounds, the new sound logo has a particularly strong recognition value. At the same time, its brand-specific soundscape underlines BMW’s innovative power and dynamism. The new sound logo will play at the end of future advertising commercials on TV and radio, as well as all BMW product and brand films. It will be introduced worldwide in 2013 and used in each country’s national brand communications. Rollout will begin in mid-March in the French and the UK market.
Joachim H. Blickhäuser, head of Corporate and Brand Identity at BMW Group: “Acoustic elements are an important aspect of the BMW brand appearance. As part of the evolution of our acoustic branding, we are replacing the “double gong” used for the past 14 years with a new sound logo, which gives the brand a distinctive modern, aesthetic and dynamic recognition factor and can be used in many different ways worldwide.”
The logo comprises various sound elements representing different aspects of the BMW brand identity, which unfold their full effect in a finely-tuned composition. Reverse technology is used to play sound elements forwards and backwards in a way that symbolises flexible mobility. The melody is introduced by a rising, resonant sound and underscored by two distinctive bass tones that form the sound logo’s melodic and rhythmic basis. The sound builds towards a shimmering, sophisticated finish. This combination of different elements represents the joy of progress, of dynamism and Sheer Driving Pleasure.
Sound designer Thomas Kisser of HASTINGS media music on the development of the new logo: “It was a very intensive process and a wonderfully exciting challenge right from the start. The questions I asked myself at the outset were: What does the BMW brand sound like to me? Which sound themes represent the values I associate with BMW, such as Sheer Driving Pleasure, aesthetic appeal and power? And how can I create a sound logo that clearly differentiates the brand from other brands – especially other automotive brands? Important criteria for the development process included global cultural compatibility, variability of application, brand fit and recognition value.”
