Sonos tasked an agency to create a campaign that would sustain cultural conversation around Era 300, the brand’s newly launched spatial audio speaker. The campaign had to celebrate the emotive power of sound, leveraging global platform “Nothing feels like Sonos”, reinforce the brand’s credibility in music and reignite its innovation narrative.

Objectives:

- Generate earned coverage across lifestyle and culture media

- Fuel social buzz and conversation

- Drive brand awareness and affinity

- Connect Sonos to culture and reinforce its credibility in music

Sonos Frisson Trigger: A groundbreaking music experience, engineered to give you goosebumps.

Composed and mixed by Grammy, Emmy and ARIA award-winning producer and spatial audio expert, Eric J Dubowsky (Flume, Odesza, Tones & I), “Frisson Trigger” is a track loaded with sounds scientifically proven to trigger frisson, informed by academic research in collaboration with experts in music psychology.

From compositional choices including chord progressions descending the circle of fifths, a sharp timbre, melodic appoggiatura and unexpected harmonies to acoustic properties including high quality sound and, significantly, sound that moves through space.

Mixed in Dolby Atmos using innovative spatial audio techniques and tailored to the specs of Sonos Era 300, “Frisson Trigger” immerses listeners deep into the music, enveloping them completely in high quality sound, proving that “nothing feels like Sonos”.

The world is going through an emotional awakening. Our audience is searching for awe-inspiring experiences and music is a powerful vehicle for accessing emotion.

Sometimes, a piece of music connects so deeply that we feel a physical sensation,
a “frisson”.

Frisson, also known as aesthetic chills, is a psychophysiological response to music that induces a pleasurable state resulting in skin tingling or chills, goosebumps, an elevated heart rate and pupil dilation.

Existing tracks had been studied and referenced for their frisson-inducing qualities, but as far as we know no one had attempted to create a piece of original music with causing frisson as its primary objective.

What if we combined art, science and Sonos spatial audio hardware to create an audio experience, specifically engineered for frisson?

The ‘Frisson Trigger’ story was shared through the release of the track, online content and a media and influencer event.

The track was released worldwide on Apple Music, one of the only platforms that can deliver a spatial audio-mixed record.

Teaser and launch films were published on Instagram by Sonos and Eric J Dubowsky and on Sonos' YouTube channel. The content was created to evoke an intimate, magical feeling that echoes the mysterious nature of frisson.

A launch event in Sydney provided 44 hand-picked media, influencers and music artists (Illy, Montaigne, Mallrat) with an immersive Sonos ‘Frisson Trigger’ listening experience. The event included a discussion between Dubowsky, music psychologist Dr. Solange Glasser and host Flex Mami, on the science of frisson and the creative process behind ‘Frisson Trigger’.

The event culminated in the premier of ‘Frisson Trigger’ in a purpose-built listening space that featured the ultimate Sonos spatial audio setup.

A groundbreaking, innovative audio experience that connected with culture and drove conversation about the emotive power of Sonos spatial audio technology in Era 300. As well as achieving national and international press coverage, ‘Frisson Trigger’ is now being elevated to a global Sonos platform that will be leveraged across multiple markets.

Coverage Examples:

- “Frisson Trigger takes listeners on an emotional odyssey that showcases the potential of spatial audio innovation.” New York Times

- “A track designed to make you get the chills.” Junkee

- “Music lovers…immersed in a one of a kind listening experience.” The Sunday Telegraph

Stats:

- 9.9M Total opportunities to see* (combined media impressions and social opportunities to see)

- 98 Influencer Posts

- 49 media articles

- 5.7M media impressions

- 46k video views