Sound in Advertisements

Other than the visual aspect of advertisements, it would be extremely helpful if advertisements appeal to humans?sense of hearing. This would broaden the manner in which the advertisements can entice viewers and makes use of other sensory organs of the viewer, other than relying mainly on his or her sense of sight. Thus, employing sound in an advertisement would increase the rate of its effectiveness. However, this method has only known to be in use after broadcast-advertisements were introduced and also is restricted to a few forms of media ?namely radio, television and the Internet. From jingles to the modern day Music Video, the sound incorporated brings the audience's perception and understanding of the advertisement to another level altogether.
There are a few ways sound can be applied in an advertisement to make it more effective. Firstly, it plays a huge role in attracting viewers?attention by appealing to their senses. As compared to a silent advertisement, an advertisement with sound would be more holistic in grabbing the viewers?attention as it does not only rely on the audience's sense of sight. If one closed his or her eyes, he or she would still be able to perceive the advertisement. This largely increases the advertisement's effectiveness by completing its first step of drawing attention to the product. Also, some people learn and respond better by hearing or listening to things rather than being exposed to something by sight. Providing sound in an advertisement ensures that the advertisement does not leave these people out in trying to reach out to as many viewers as possible.

Secondly, sound can take place in the form of a voice narrating the advertisement, a sequence of random sounds or music. These sounds are all effective in structuring an advertisement and as a linking framework, connects an image to another. Sounds, music especially, provides an uninterrupted background in which the visual images of an advertisement can be built up on. Also, similar to sounds being used in the movies, sounds can be used to emphasise dramatic moments in an advertisement in order to increase the entertainment value of the advertisement.

Thirdly, sound can contribute to an advertisement's memorability. Particular sequences of sounds or music can reinforce the particular brand's ideas or themes manifested in the advertisement itself. Sounds can serve as part of a logo or representation of the brand, helping to allow for the audience to recognise the advertisement through their sense of hearing as humans have a tendency for music or any sequence of sounds linger in their heads. Sound therefore can largely help in the forming of a brand's identity as people are able to associate different sounds with different brands. An example of this is the classic jingle that advertisers use as a brand slogan most commonly broadcasted on the radio or television commercials. Nowadays, sound branding is being commonly used as a tool for transmitting messages and ideas to a targeted audience, making use of one of the brain's most powerful memory senses; sound.

Last but not least, sound in the form of music can help convey an advertisement's message in a lyrical manner. This allows the message to seem less factual and logical but more poetic and easier to listen to. Music can bring across ideas in a non-spoken way, which will be more effective as the audience will feel entertained in the process.