Call signs

On a train this morning, a mobile phone rings. There is a collective intake of breath. The ring tone is the unmistakeable sound of a hunting horn.

The sound has lasted no longer than it takes to remove a handset from a handbag. In that time, forty people have formed their opinion about the owner of the phone. It’s a polarising sound – some thinking “one of us”, others thinking “one of them”, and not everyone thinking nice thoughts about hunting and hunters. Guessing from the age and dress of the owner, I’d say they just thought it was a helpfully distinctive ringtone.

How good would it be if you could position yourself or your brand with such speed and economy of effort? That’s why so many television adverts use well-known music as a backing, as a carrier for the idea. It’s why television stations spend so much money on station idents. Yet the ident doesn’t mean anything until it has had time to build its own story.

What sound could you use to support and explain your brand? What’s your ringtone?