Irish sonic branding agency LAUDHAUS has picked up three awards at the International Sound Awards in Hamburg for its work with Heineken, Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey and the University of Limerick.
The Dublin agency was the most awarded company at this year’s event, taking three awards across the Audio Branding and Audio Marketing categories. The German agency Why Do Birds picked up two awards.
LAUDHAUS won in the Audio Branding category for Heineken GREENLIGHT and The Sound of Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey, while its work on the University of Limerick’s UnLeash Your Best campaign was recognised in the Audio Marketing category.
The wins come just one year after LAUDHAUS was established by creative director Keith Lawler and it underlines the growing interest among brands and agencies in sonic branding and the use of distinctive audio assets.
Sonic branding has become an increasingly important part of the wider debate around distinctive brand assets as advertisers look beyond traditional visual cues to improve recognition and memorability across different platforms and consumer touchpoints.
According to Lawler, marketers have historically devoted considerably more attention to the visual identity of their brands than to how they sound.
“Brands have spent decades thinking very carefully about what they look like. But research shows that they should be just as deliberate about what they sound like,” he said.
LAUDHAUS works with brands to identify a sonic territory that reflects their positioning before developing audio assets that can be deployed across advertising, content, brand experiences and other communications.
The agency’s approach combines brand strategy with an understanding of how different sounds can influence emotion, recognition and memory.
“We all have a deep relationship with sound. We are all about understanding how our audiences react to specific sounds neurologically and designing intentional audio assets to elicit the correct emotional response,” Lawler said.
LAUDHAUS also works with musicians, composers, producers and sound designers selected according to the individual requirements of each brand and project.
For the award-winning Heineken GREENLIGHT project, it collaborated with Richie Egan, also known as Jape. The Sound of Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey project involved producer and musician Ruairi Lynch, better known as Bantum, and Ben Wanders.
For the University of Limerick’s UnLeash Your Best campaign, meanwhile, LAUDHAUS worked with Mawuli Boevi, also known as Murli, Shane Serrano and Greg Burrows.
Lawler said working with specialist creative talent was important in ensuring that the resulting sound remained credible and distinctive.
“It’s important to work with specialist artists to unlock the strategy, people who have spent a lifetime developing a specific sound. The audience can feel when sound is not authentic or genuine. That’s what makes music so powerful — it’s just a part of us,” he said.
Commenting on the three awards, Lawler said the wins represented an important milestone for the fledgling business.
“Winning three awards in Hamburg, more than anyone else there, after just one year in business is a huge moment. I feel truly humbled by it,” he said.
“But what’s really exciting is the bigger shift happening in marketing. Brands are thinking harder than ever about what makes them distinctive and memorable, putting audio at the forefront of that.
“I am delighted to work with such excellent clients at Heineken, Foxes Bow and UL. The question isn’t just whether a brand sounds good. It’s whether its sound is doing the right strategic work for the brand.”
