With a 200-year history and a truly global audience, Colgate is a household name.

As part of reshaping their brand identity, Colgate was in search of a distinct sonic identity to own the 'white space' in a competitive FMCG landscape.

Challenge

In the process of reshaping its brand identity, Colgate looked to develop a memorable and modern sonic brand that could:

  • Have global appeal and relevance across their 200+ markets.

  • Provide new opportunities for distinguishing itself amongst a crowded FMCG market.

  • Be easily recallable by their global audience.

But the main challenge? To embody Colgate’s promise of being a ‘Champion of Optimism’.

Approach

Fundamentally, what is the sound of optimism? It was our mission to truly understand this complex attitude in all of its different forms.

We spoke to experts in this field including historians, scientists and ethnomusicologists, learning from the past, to create the future. And it turned out that, according to ethnomusicologist Joseph Jordania, “there is overwhelming evidence that humming among contemporary humans is the expression of enjoyment."

“We needed to create a sonic architecture that could tie Colgate’s diverse marketing content and geographical reach together with a sound that could be universally understood as optimistic."
ROSCOE WILLIAMSONDirector of Global Strategy
LQIP
Solution

So, how do you incorporate the human hum into Colgate’s sonic logo?

Using the D Major key – a note widely considered to embody optimism – we blended both feminine and masculine tones to record a 2-second sound with effects to make it feel more intimate, natural and real. 

And for an overarching approach to the Colgate brand sound, our research pointed us in the direction of musical ingredients such as strong beats, thrills, bright sounds and surprising moments. We also made sure the core sonic DNA was adaptive and flexible enough to be able to work in many different styles and music genres, but always unmistakably Colgate.

Results

The sonic identity achieved strong results quickly after launch. One year later, the brand measured:

52%
recognition by global audiences.
LQIP
22%
able to spontaneously attribute it to the brand.
LQIP
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