BMW 聲音形象

品牌經營上除了商標的視覺印象，現在的趨勢是「聲音形象」，品牌的聲音識別度就如同寵物對主人特定頻率的呼喚一般，能夠增加消費者對於品牌的印象，加強傳遞品牌形象，更接近目標客群。聲音形象可以是配合商標的音樂、一段旋律、或是符合品牌印象的主題，通常是一段識別度高、容易記憶、也富有彈性的旋律，並設置在廣告的開端或結尾，除了品牌廣告的視覺印象外更強調聽覺上的識別程度。

自2012年底，BMW開始在歐洲地區的廣告片尾，透過兩次的鐵鎚重擊聲響，還有深沉響亮的金屬敲擊回音，強調新的品牌理念「純粹駕馭的愉悅(Sheer, Driving, Pleasure)(暫譯)」，並預計在2013下半年拓展到全世界的市場，增加品牌識別度。BMW其實也並不是第一家使用聲音識別的汽車廠商，Mercedes-Benz和Audi都已經有聲音識別設計可以見得聲音形象已是一種新的趨勢。

What does BMW sound like?
　　Not "a" BMW—they're performance cars that can go from throaty to whisper-quiet in a matter of moments, and then back again. Even cooler, BMWs emit distinctive sounds that aficionados can identify just like a dog knows its master's whistle.

Instead, what the brand sounds like, in the beginning of a new refinement effort, is a measure of music and non-musical tones that BMW has begun using as an auditory signal at the end of new TV and radio ads in Europe and, later this year, around the world.

The line ends with two identical sounds that have a hammer-and-tongs tinge, a deep and highly resonant tone with a metallic edge. It will replace a "double gong" used in BMW advertisements since the late 1990s.

"The melody is introduced by a rising resonant sound and underscored by two distinctive bass tones that form the sound logo's melodic and rhythmic basis," the company said. BMW also said that the new sound represents "sheer driving pleasure" and that it has been composed to appeal to a wide variety of geographic markets. It also mimics Mercedes-Benz and Audi, whose ads have their own sound signatures.

The new BMW sound also is part of an overall sensory-branding initiative that, two years ago, included the introduction of a new co-branded line of hand sanitizers with Austrian natural-cosmetics manufacturer Susanne Kaufmann.
　　Other brands also have been staking out aural territory for their brands lately, including Apple, Nokia and Coca-Cola. So, BMW's new noise sounds like part of a trend.

參考資料來源

1. http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/03/20/BMW-Sound-Signature-032013.aspx
2. Communicate magazine 'Sonic Branding' July 2010.
3. 2013 New BMW Concept 4 Series Coupe Amazing TV Commercial