The Importance of Sound in Advertising

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“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising” (Mark Twain). Advertising, the very business of claiming attention. Through many successes and twice as many failures, advertising has always been a competitive field to be a part of. New techniques are constantly being shouted out or thought of to try and get a head in the game. Propaganda, obnoxiously large print headlines, and lavish pictures are few of outrageous techniques to get the message out there. However the need to bluff, or over exaggerate products and brands is no longer needed, when you can simply emphasize with a simple tool. Sound, the very tool humans use to associate language, can be the tool used to associate advertising endorsements. With the emotional effects sound can create, it has been shown to create emotions to certain adverts and companies. Despite which emotion is trying to be perceived, sound proves to be more useful as an influencer than visuals in marketing. Either used as the main source of an advert, or the backdrop, sound creates an environment or advertising persona. Truly, sound is the key to successful advertising in society. With the rapid decline in print media and up rise of technology, sound is more of an important factor to advertising media masses today. While sound is found more intrusive than visuals, it has also found to have more impact on consumers. Due to its booming qualities, sound can create both positive and negative attitude towards advertisements and brands. However the echoic impact is still stronger than iconic, and shows in fact why sound should be more widely used.

Technological advancements have changed our culture in many ways, even having it’s personal effect on advertising. With the invention...

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