Latest Audio Index shows Bunnings, Menulog brands leading the way

Bunnings remains Australia’s most iconic audio logo but Menulog continues to rise up the ranks thanks to ongoing investment into its catchy tune and use of pop icons, the latest SCA iQ Veritonic Audio Logo Index 2022 reveals.

According to the latest Index, Bunning retained the top spot for performing audio logos, ranking highest across almost all indicators including recall, correct identification of the brand and industry and emotional attributes including trust, familiarity and authenticity.

In second place was Menulog, rising from seventh position last year, and off the back of changing its audio logo in mid-2022 from the iconic Snoop Dogg rendition of ‘Did somebody say Menulog’ to Katy Perry. The original Menulog version came in 11^th on the index this year.

In third place was Chemist Warehouse, which rose two places from its 2021 effort. A new entrant, O’Brien, came in fourth, while Bob Jane T-Mart was fifth on the audio index list.

Rounding out the top 10 in this year’s Index were AAMI (6^th), Toyota (7^th), BCF (8^th), McDonalds (9^th) and Telstra (10^th). Dropping out of the 2022 top 10 but still in the top 20 were VB, Harvey Norman, Myer and Woolworths. SPC fell further to 28^th position.  

When it comes to emotional attributes specifically, VB led the pack in 2022, followed by Menulog featuring Katy Perry, BCF, Bunnings and Schmackos.

The SCA iQ Veritonic Audio Logo Index 2022 is an annual study looking into audio branding effectiveness and surveyed 44 Australian big brands. Each test has about 300 respondents, with eight tests conducted.

It found audio logos which were melodic reported a +20 higher audio score. What’s more, Australian brands outperformed UK and US audio logos, with an average recall score of 69 per cent, compared to 59 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively.

It was also apparent familiarity plays a key role in consumer recall and is a strong driver of high scoring audio logos: All of this year’s top 10 are significant advertisers, as well as prioritise placement and use of audio branding in creative.

Overall, the study identified three factors contributing to a successful audio brand effort. The first is melody, with melodic audio logos 54 per cent more memorable. Secondly, mentioning the brand name in an audio logo resulted in a brand effort being 30 per cent more memorable. Thirdly, frequency is an important part of encoding an audio logo into long-term memory.

For SCA national head of creativity – The Studio, Matt Dickson, audio logos are critical in the important attention economy.

“Audio logos assist with keeping brands top of mind – Bunnings has been using the same audio brand strategy since 1995 and, due to its catchiness and longevity, Australia has a long-term love affair with the Bunnings jingle,” he pointed out.  

“Melody plays a tremendous role in the power of an audio logo and some brands have successfully transitioned their audio logos without using their brand names, such as Woolworths and Toyota. Toyota stopped using its melodic ‘Oh what a feeling’ audio logo several years ago, but the halo effect of that asset sees the car brand still rating highly.”

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