Research conducted by Kantar has revealed that a new global sonic identity designed and created for TikTok by MassiveMusic is already performing far beyond industry benchmarks.
After launching the sonic identity in late 2022, international creative music agency and TikTok partner MassiveMusic worked alongside Kantar in tracking the performance of the new sonic logo with over 9,000 consumers in 8 key markets.
Influenced by the diverse array of music and sounds discovered and created on the platform, MassiveMusic partnered with TikTok to create a sonic identity that would embody community-driven entertainment and creative democracy.
MassiveMusic developed a sonic identity that reflected the TikTok experience, with its simple two-beat onomatopoeic sonic logo with a melodic twist which evokes inspiration, authenticity and a sense of belonging.
The sonic logo has been designed to be a sound that fuels creativity and celebrates TikTok's musical heritage. The result is a sub-bass sound nodding to music popularised on the platform, and a distinctive ascending melody. And if the Kantar reports are to be believed then it’s certainly worked wonders so far.
To learn more about the sonic identity, we spoke to Massive Music’s Aifric Lennon (below), Research Strategy Director, and Roscoe Williamson, Global Creative Strategy & Innovation Director.
What was the brief for the rebrand?
The brief for TikTok's rebrand focused on creating its first sonic identity. The main requirement was a unique sonic logo to be used at the end of content shared on external platforms.
The aim was to strengthen brand recognition and recall, helping viewers identify content originating from TikTok. The brief also included exploring the creation of longer-form brand music to accompany content and the potential incorporation of branded sounds within the TikTok app itself.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
The initial pitch and brainstorming phase was intensive, involving a competitive five-way pitch. After assisting TikTok with substantial internal groundwork for the project, we facilitated several ideation sessions to develop a unifying creative theme and sound palette from which to work with, these emerged as the consensus after numerous creative strategy meetings and interactive music mood board sessions with the client group.
Describe the purpose of the brand and its target audience
TikTok, the premier platform for short-form mobile video, is committed to inspiring creativity and spreading joy. Aptly dubbed "the last sunny corner of the internet", TikTok is the premier platform for short-form mobile video, committed to inspiring creativity and spreading joy.
As for the target audience, TikTok's user base has an almost equal distribution of male and female users. While the majority demographic is aged 18-34, there's a growing community of users aged 40 and above. The diverse age range was a key consideration in shaping the tonality of the brand's sound to ensure it resonates with all user groups.
What was your thinking behind the rebranding solution?
We needed to develop a unique sonic identity that embodied the sound of TikTok's global community and had creative democracy at its core. This would mirror TikTok's function as a catalyst for creativity and our collective desire for the sonic brand to also act as a tool for community engagement.
The brand's name, 'TikTok', possessed an inherent onomatopoeic quality that we wove into the final logo. The first part, the 'tick', is a nod to the 808 sub bass, prevalent in much of the hip-hop and bass heavy music that has shaped the platform, while the second part, the 'tok', is an E major 7th arpeggiated synth melody that arouses anticipation about what's next, while radiating a feeling of joy.
Additionally, we incorporated recognisable user-generated sound samples like 'dog barks', 'laughter', and 'pops' into the sonic DNA - the longer piece of brand music that's being adapted for various content and requirements. This inclusion lends to an authentic, homemade feel, resonating with the UGC spirit of TikTok.
Did you learn anything new during the project?
We created a completely new type of sonic branding deliverable for this project in the form of ‘Sonic Stickers’. These are edits and remixes of the sonic DNA music that are given back to the community to use in their content however they wish.
They have been creatively deployed thousands of times around the world and it’s fantastic to see the community playing with the brand sound and creating content with it, like it was intended to be.
What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
The greatest challenge we faced was the highly complex and constantly changing stakeholder landscape. As TikTok was experiencing exponential growth during the project, there was a significant flux within the client group, and we needed to onboard a rapidly increasing number of diverse global teams.
We tackled this through extensive virtual onboarding, conducting stakeholder interviews and moodboarding sessions, and regular market testing to ensure we always had objective data to guide us.
We also adopted an iterative working approach. We never went into the kitchen for too long before presenting back for client feedback. This created an ongoing sense of co-creation with the client group that helped us engage them and stay aligned with expectations.
What kit/tools/software were used to create it?
Too many to mention as we work with music and sound talent all over the world, but a shout out to the fantastic Ableton that is always used in some capacity in our workflow.
What details are you most proud of and why?
Just the sheer fact that we managed to define the sound of one of the most relevant, dynamic and omnipresent brands in the world right now is a huge achievement in our opinion. The cherry on top is the fact that, in general, the sound is not only testing really well in post-launch research, but that the sentiment around it is largely positive.
What visual influences fuelled your solution?
More than visuals, sonic influences were key for this project and in moodboarding we really pushed the boundaries of what was and wasn't right for TikTok. We referenced a broad spectrum of genres from global musical cultures.
Ultimately, we curated a unique sonic palette that melded the swagger of hip-hop and bass music with the joy and vibrancy of pop, electronica, folk, indie and more. The resultant sonic DNA maintains an agnostic stance; it draws from numerous cultures without overly aligning with any particular one.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
It’s already achieving what was asked of it – to enhance the brand attribution and recall of TikTok content pushed off site. The Kantar research done post-launch validates this but, more than that, we are looking forwards to working with TikTok and the creator community to build out the sonic brand and let it be remixed and reimagined and in content for many years to come.
What would you do differently if you could do it over again?
In an ideal world, we would have launched the sonic brand sooner. There was a lengthy wait between us wrapping the project and the official release; during this time we could have been building even more awareness.
However, as previously mentioned, this was the most complex stakeholder landscape imaginable and the timing of the release was very important for TikTok, who surprisingly enough have a lot to talk about and comment on publicly asides from sonic branding, so we are just very grateful it is finally out there and we can all shout about it.
Credit list for the work?
MassiveMusic
Executive Creative Director: Roscoe Williamson
Account & Research Director: Aifric Lennon
Creative Director: Elijah B Torn
Senior Creative Strategist: Joe Bush
Music Producer: Gus Nisbet & Sean O'Daly
Senior Account Manager: Emma Byford & Christopher Garbushian
TikTok
Global Brand Strategy Lead: Julia Zhou
Creative Operations Manager: Gracie Jack
Brand & Creative Lead: Stacey Dsylva & Katie Riccio Puris
User Growth Lead: Ava Lin
Director of Global Brand Communications: Belle Baldoza
Marketing Intelligence: Lise Brende & Kelly Furey
Music Intelligence Lead: Fraser Smith
Global Music Partnerships & Programming Lead: James Underwood & William Gruger
Brand & Creative Designers: Alessandro Fantini & Johnny Chiu
