Audio Branding: The Hidden Gem
with Jodi Krangle
Fast forward to 1993. Through gaming (Dungeons and Dragons, to be exact), I was introduced to “Filk” music—the music that’s played at science fiction/fantasy conventions. In 1994, I joined two friends from the fandom world to form an acoustic band called Urban Tapestry. In our time together, we’ve headlined at music conventions in Canada, the U.S., and Europe.
Here are some fun facts about me:
* I was honored to be the Winner of the 2018 SOVAS Award for Outstanding Narration Demo. (That's the voice over Academy Awards. 😉 )
* I’m a filker! My all-female, acoustic band, Urban Tapestry is pretty well-known in the Filk scene (science fiction- / fantasy-themed music).
* I’m a self-taught computer nerd. I sold computer hardware back when the 386SX was shiny and new. (Wow, am I showing my age!)
* My love of computers led to my discovery of this mind-blowing thing called the internet back in the early 1990s. That led me into web design and the creation of a songwriting resource called The Muse’s Muse that I ran from 1994 until 2016.
* I started doing search engine optimization and internet marketing work back when banner ads were all the rage. (I’m getting older by the second . . . )
* If I could have a chip in my head keeping me connected to the Internet, I’d totally do that. I’m just about constantly connected (which is how I’m able to respond to emails so quickly)!
In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m a grown woman who (still) loves comic books and D&D. Think of me as a smart, wry, Tina Fey-like, post-apocalyptic warrior princess leading an army of Dr. Who and Firefly fans in an epic battle cry.
"If you're not paying as much attention to the way your brand sounds as you are to the way it looks, you're doing it a disservice and not making as deep a connection with your audience as you could."
-Jodi Krangle
I’ve done voiceovers in the healthcare, corporate, hospitality, political, and non-profit sectors, among others. I tend to stick to the commercial and corporate narration lane of voice overs - and my ultimate goal of making other people money with my voice, led me to discussing audio branding - something I knew I was contributing to with my voice.
My highly satisfied clients include Dell, Bose, BBVA, Subway, Mitre, Unisom, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Kraft, Travel Alberta, HGTV, and more.
I also happen to have some folks listening who are fellow voice talent wanting to understand more about the larger picture their voices are contributing to. But I also reach people who are just interested in the subject of how to understand how sound affects us in our daily lives.
Voice overs are what I love (I've been doing this over 15 years full time now) - but I also want to do my best to raise all boats for those of us who work in sound. Audio shouldn't be the after thought in a production - and it often is. It's unfortunate - because paying attention to the sound early on - making it equally as important as the visuals - can make a so so production into something truly outstanding - because it'll reach us on a deep, emotional level. (You think I'm making this up? Try watching a movie without the sound on and see how emotionally invested you are in what's happening on the screen. Not much, am I right? I'm not a horror fan. If I turn off the sound on a horror movie, I can watch it just fine. 😉 )
“You know, the Dr. Pepper jingle, a year ago, there was that jingle. So I’m not going to make any claims that the jingle itself isn’t great. It’s a great jingle. And I do think if you analyze it, there are a lot of ways you can dissect it to actually properly represent Dr. Pepper. But I do think that the main reason it became so viral and people are still linking it to Dr. Pepper is the roll-out strategy, even though it wasn’t intentional. I believe she was an influencer or an Insta or a content creator on social media who recorded a song on her phone. And there was this whole thing. It went viral and they published it in the Super Bowl or whatever it is. But I really think it’s the roll-out that made it so big.” – Sami El-Quqa
This week’s guest is the founder and CEO of MusicGrid, a leading sonic branding agency serving brands across the GCC and wider MENA region. With over a decade of experience in the music industry, he blends creative expertise with strategic business insight to help organizations translate their brand identity into sound. A graduate of Berklee College of Music in Contemporary Music Composition and Production, he also holds a Master’s degree in International Business Management, specializing in music licensing and intellectual property in the digital age.
He’s worked with over three hundred brands across government, financial, and commercial sectors, leading projects that position sound as a core driver of brand recognition and emotional connection, and he’s contributed to copyright legislation in Kuwait while regularly participating in regional industry events as a speaker and advisor, shaping the future of sonic branding in the Middle East.
His name is Sami El-Quqa, and in this discussion, we’ll be discussing why sound is a brand’s most unavoidable tool. He’ll reveal how to cut through marketing noise, the psychology behind sounds we can’t forget, and the secrets to blending cultural heritage with modern tech. Whether you’re a CEO or a creator, you’ll learn how to stop being just ‘seen’ and finally start being heard.
And if you like what you hear and you want to support this podcast, there are a bunch of ways to do that at audiobrandingpodcast.com, including subscribing to the YouTube channel, the newsletter, writing a review, or buying me a coffee. Because this takes a lot of coffee. Thanks so much.
(00:00) – Sami’s Early Memories of Sound
As our conversation starts, Sami shares an early memory of sound that helped spark his musical career. “There’s a TV channel that, during Ramadan, would play this jingle,” he recalls. “It was called the NBC Ramadan jingle. And I’d say that’s my earliest memory… of music that not just moved me, but music that I could attach to a specific calendar day on the year.” He tells us about his studies at Berklee and how he made the jump to music licensing, and how his father’s advice helped convince him to focus on sonic branding in the Middle East. “He said, ‘You know what, this is a market that doesn’t really have that. If you stay in the UK or if you go back to the US, it’s a saturated market. You may not be really filling a gap there,’” Sami recalls his father telling him. “There’s a need for culturally relevant Middle Eastern music or Saudi or Kuwaiti music, but there was nowhere to really find that.”
(11:28) – The Secret to Creating Sonic Identities
Sami tells us more about culturally authentic sonic branding in the MENA region vs the West, and his perspective as someone who’s been on both sides. “Even Hollywood movies,” he says, “sometimes for us here in this region, when we watch a clip of a Hollywood movie and they’re in the Sahara Desert, the music is often off. We call it Orientalist or Aladdinesque.” We talk about his early career in sound and how hiring an orchestra helped give a sonic brand launch an extra boost. “For the launch,” he explains, “they wanted something grand and prestigious. So we worked with an orchestra in Europe to record and film a launch film and a performance of that sonic identity…. people not only became more aware of the brand Trolley, but they are able to remember it more because of the launch film.”
(20:16) – Blending Heritage with Modernity
The first half of our conversation comes to a close as Sami tells us more about the branding process and how it can change depending on the industry. “When we work in finance,” he says, “a lot of brands are looking to be digital first. That’s a big initiative when it comes to finance, because their most important touchpoint is their phone app.” We discuss how each campaign’s approach can depend on its region, and how the younger generation is increasingly blurring those geographical lines. “There’s a large cultural influence everywhere from North America, from England,” he explains, “so often [being] modern means being attractive to the younger generation who doesn’t only speak Arabic, but their second language is English, and they’re also influenced by Western culture.”
Episode Summary
- Sami shares his early memories of impactful music and jingles.
- The process of developing sonic identities through client workshops.
- Sami discusses how to merge cultural heritage with modern soundscapes.
Tune in for next week’s episode as we discuss how Sami fused traditional and high-tech sound for the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange’s sonic logos, his approach to implementing an effective branding strategy, and the dramatic changes he’s seen in the audio industry just within the past seven years.
Connect with the Audio Branding Podcast:
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Share your passion effectively with these Tips for Sounding Your Best as a Podcast Guest!
https://voiceoversandvocals.com/tips-for-sounding-your-best-as-a-podcast-guest/
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Editing/Production by Humberto Franco – https://humbertofranco.com/
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 – https://op3.dev/privacy
Vinnie Potestivo, Editor-in-Chief of
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