Ferrari and a Danske Bank project are extending brand identity into product and service sounds, as marketers test whether sonic cues can capture attention beyond traditional advertising.
Ferrari says an accelerometer on the Luce’s rear axle captures frequencies from its electric powertrain, which the car amplifies to provide driver feedback. The company describes the sound as coming from the vehicle rather than being digitally generated.
Nick Wood Music says it developed a broader set of sounds and interactions for the car with LoveFrom, Jony Ive, Marc Newson and Ferrari’s engineering team, over three years that included visits to Maranello. The National reported that composer Nick Wood used recordings of instruments and everyday objects, which he altered in his Tokyo studio. Wood told the outlet the sounds “had to have a Ferrari feel.”
Unmute lists Danske Bank as an upcoming sonic-identity project. The National reported that the agency had worked on the project for a year and commissioned a piano with two strings for each note. Unmute co-founder and sonic director Simon Kringel told the outlet the work was to translate a brand into meaningful sound.
Ipsos analyzed 2,015 U.S. video-ad cases in a 2020 report. It found that ads with sonic brand cues were 8.53 times as likely to fall in the high-performing rather than low-performing group for branded attention. The analysis measured attention to the brand and did not report a sales effect. SoundOut’s 2025 index covered over 170 brands, using findings from more than 70,000 consumer studies. In separate methodology material, the company lists recognition, recall, brand fit and emotional response among its assessment measures.
General Mills dates a Wheaties commercial radio jingle to Dec. 24, 1926. Kringel told The National that websites and apps give brands more chances to use sound. Russell Boiarsky, director of brand strategy at Stephen Arnold Music, warned the outlet that more branded audio could compete for people’s limited attention.
Nick Wood Music says the Luce’s broader sound will be heard during test drives, but has not given a date.
