The dreaded Nokia tune. Where did it come from?

I’m kicking off the day with a mixed bag of goodies ranging from the annoying (and world famous) Nokia tune, a feature film on mobile telephony (can you believe?) and something I’d like to call sound branding (sonic mnemonics for the tech gurus).
Annoying Nokia Tune
With billions of Nokia users across the planet and a smart marketing move by the manufacturers of Nokia phones, it is a default setting on the most popular phone brand in the world that’s got people intrigued, humming, cursing, jumping for an iPhone and some, yes, that selected annoying few, adjusting the volume on the most popular ringtone in the world.
But where did it all start? As with most sound related things in life, it came from a European composer.
Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (yes, that’s a name) was an influential Spanish composer and guitarist from Spain during the 1900s. He is often considered to be the father of modern classical guitar playing.
He is also the composer of what has been claimed to be “probably the world’s most heard tune.“
[Download [8 KB] the original piece and pay close attention to the 18 second mark – prepare to cringe]
Or
[Listen to a rendition of the piece on this video]
Roll out the red carpet
You may have noticed that it seems like a trailer for some sort of movie. And you’d be right. Last month at the BAFTA in London, Mobile Planet, a documentary on the social and economic impact of mobile telephony across the world, graced the red carpet.
Here’s a news cast on the documentary. Will it be available in South Africa soon?
Sound Branding
You have all experienced the effect sound has on the human mind at some stage or another during your life. Sound branding (or audio logo) is something I haven’t heard many marketers speak about and it’s also a subject not hotly debated by many of my peers, but it’s a fascinating experience once you manage to let your mind encompass it for a bit.
Just the other night, it was the audio logo of Musica while I was preparing supper that caught my attention. For a music loving generation, the three second Musica audio logo is highly distinguishable and causes an affinity with a brand more effectively than anything I have experienced in such a short time span.
Similarly, every single time I hear or see James Earl Jones, I think about his part in the BMW “pleasant motoring” commercial. (Although it might possibly be because I haven’t seen Star Wars and my love for advertising)
BMW also has a signature audio logo though. A very brief, subtle yet distinct sound that resembles a metallic pulsating heart. Classic. Two beats is all it takes for BMW to carry their brand to millions without any form of visual stimulation.
Have you paid any thought to your company’s audio logo? Do you know of any other popular brand that has established a strong presence through sound? I’d love to get this debate going.

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