Michelle ThompsonAuthored by Dougal Shaw, a business correspondent for BBC News.
In the contemporary era, we are constantly exposed to rapid visual content, such as social media videos and digital billboards in urban areas. However, advertising entrepreneur Michele Arnese observes a parallel surge in auditory stimuli. Arnese believes that brands can only stay competitive with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI).
Arnese suggests that the sound of a brand is becoming increasingly fluid, adapting to the customer experience. He contends that only AI enables sound to undergo such shape-shifting transformations in our rapidly evolving, digitally interconnected world.
In 2009, Arnese established Amp, a music company centered around AI, based in Munich. Recently, it was acquired by Landor & Fitch, a part of the WPP advertising group. Amp harnesses AI to produce various sounds for businesses, ranging from brief audio cues when an app is launched to the auditory confirmation of a bank card transaction, and even longer compositions for podcasts and social media videos. Arnese refers to this as a brand’s “sonic identity.”
The internet has recently showcased numerous examples of what AI is capable of, including reimagined films with muscular characters, new music created using the voices of late artists like Amy Winehouse or Kurt Cobain, and innovative architectural designs.
So, what role can AI play in the realm of advertising sound? Arnese, a leading figure in this domain, emphasizes that humans still hold a crucial position in the process. His in-house composers initiate the creation of a track known as the brand’s “Sonic DNA,” typically lasting around 90 seconds.
AI’s initial function involves verifying that the created sound isn’t resembling audio previously utilized by other businesses. Additionally, machine learning can assess whether the distinctive musical patterns are likely to make an impact and remain memorable.
After establishing this sonic DNA, AI’s primary role, as Arnese explains, is to enable companies to produce music on a large scale, particularly to cater to digital platforms.
Using this DNA as a foundation, AI can generate an array of music variations, encompassing different tempos, moods, and durations, tailored to various contexts, whether it’s for a TikTok video, the startup sound of an appliance, or the introductory music for a podcast. Each of these results is reviewed by humans before being presented to the public.
The rationale behind employing AI is its efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to having humans choose and purchase individual pieces of production music for a multitude of diverse situations. Furthermore, it fosters a computer-guided uniformity in brand representation.
In today’s landscape of in-app payments and contactless transactions, even brief sound snippets hold growing significance for consumers, as noted by Arnese. These sounds play a vital role in building trust and solidifying a brand’s identity.
Human involvement remains essential in the process, encompassing the composition of Sonic DNA and the validation of AI-generated musical content.
Arnese, originally hailing from Italy, embarked on a unique journey. He initially pursued his passion for music by studying the clarinet at a conservatory. Simultaneously, he pursued an education in IT at the University of Pisa, where he developed a keen interest in machine learning. Upon completing his studies, he relocated to Germany, transitioning into a role as a management consultant.
Fearing that his love for music might fade into the background, he took a bold step and left his corporate career to establish his digital agency, which revolved around his foremost passion: music. Convincing brands of the need to invest in music was initially challenging, as he recounts. However, this perspective has dramatically shifted in recent years. In the past, large companies might produce just one or two television advertisements annually.
As Arnese puts it, “These days, no brand remains silent.” Some brands now upload a multitude of videos to YouTube every week, prompting the question of how they manage to sustain this frequency.
There is still some skepticism about whether AI truly represents a “gamechanger” for the advertising industry.
Molly Innes from Marketing Week urges caution, pointing out that many marketers previously invested heavily in concepts like the Metaverse, crypto, and NFTs, only to backtrack afterward. Consequently, numerous individuals in the advertising field are adopting a cautious “wait-and-see” approach toward AI, especially given the current financial constraints.
Arnese, on the other hand, is confident that AI will significantly impact advertising but doesn’t believe it will result in the substantial job losses that some fear. He views AI as merely another tool to enhance one’s work. Arnese sees an opportunity for creative inspiration in unexpected ways when collaborating with AI-generated content.
He reflects on how ten years ago, the role of a data scientist didn’t exist in the advertising industry, but now it’s a standard part of agency teams. Arnese asserts that AI is here to stay but emphasizes that it doesn’t replace the role of humans.
