As global soundtracking platform Epidemic Sound moves from providing a transactional audio library to becoming a true partner for creators, they need a brand that looks, moves, and speaks like the creative partner they really are.

From the starting point of a new business strategy and brand platform, this Brand Refresh project ran over approximately 12 months, focusing on developing a holistic concept and system for aligning all parts of the brand experience — how it feels, talks, sounds, moves and looks.

The scale of the identity implementation ranged from a full reskin of the product UI and all other branded touchpoints, to an extensive launch campaign led by OLV, paid social, guerilla and 100+ bespoke and unique OOHs and projections (with connected campaign sites) across NYC, LA and London during Feb-Mar 2024.

Our motivations were clear early in the process: stay away from sound cliches like mic drops, static noise, slow downs from record players etc., and most importantly of all, find a way to seamlessly integrate an audio signature with the music from Epidemic Sound’s catalogue.

Instead of relying on conventional solutions like jingles, audio logos or brand themes, we identified a key inspiration in the user behaviour of its target audience — using sampling as a tool to create new and interesting musical solutions.

We developed a rhythmic sequence that follows the tempo of a chosen track, and added samples from the same track into the sequence. This resulting sonic solution cements ES’ position as a soundtrack innovation platform, and ensures that we’re always in the same key, tempo and genre as the song we’ve chosen to use — so we can make any sound an Epidemic Sound.

We created a flexible framework solution that we can apply to any track by taking an existing piece of sound and arranging it in a rhythmic pattern that follows the song’s BPM. This creates a repeatable sequence that can be applied essentially anywhere in a track to put an 'Epidemic Sound flare' on a moment we want to highlight, and allows the brand to make countless assets that are always in key and on time, whilst staying fresh and unexpected to audiences across different viewings.

The result is a wildly flexible and scalable treatment, built as an easter egg for anybody in the audio industry, whilst delivering distinctiveness and an element of surprise when synced with the vivid visual brand assets.

Such an audio solution has also proven to be financially astute — by tapping into and sampling Epidemic Sound’s own catalogue, we end up not spending a single dollar in the development or production of a typical ‘brand jingle’ that has a limited shelf life.

The new brand identity was just launched at the end of February 2024, so we are unable to track its longterm impact on funnel and brand tracking metrics as of April 2024.

What we have is design test metrics on identified important category drivers and brand associations, which were verified in quantitative pre-studies to have the highest impact on volume and price premium.

Difference between New and Old Design:

- Playful +57%

- Unique +36

- Creative +34%

as well as a decrease in the negative association:

- Technical -13%