One of the many ways Air India is trying to differentiate itself is by presenting itself in a more evolved format, such as the new brand rollout. As Air India has rolled out the first of its new aircraft, the A350-900, the airline has also unveiled a new in-flight safety instruction video, new uniforms, and so on. Today, the airline unveiled its new Sonic Identity.

What is a sonic brand?

Sonic branding is a recent concept where a brand tries to create an identification with the use of the same underlying audio all the time. Sonic branding is the art of creating an auditory identity for a brand, encompassing elements like music, voice, and sound effects. It’s a holistic approach to sound that goes beyond mere jingles. For instance, The Wave by Intel and Tudum by Netflix. One of my favourite sonic branding instances is that of BBC. The point is that you listen to the sound/tune, and you identify the brand.

In aviation, sonic branding goes back a long way, and one of the first ones I remember is from Emirates. The notes haven’t changed over the 11 years it has been playing on every flight operated by Emirates. You can listen to it here.

In India, the first airline to do a sonic brand was Vistara, and you’d have the notes memorised if you were on the phone with them at some point in time.

Air India launches its sonic identity.

Air India unveiled a signature track defining its sonic identity, ‘India Takes Flight’, reflecting what it says is the sound of a bold, vibrant, and confident India.

Air India’s new sonic identity is a jugalbandi (musical collaboration) featuring Grammy awardee Shankar Mahadevan, percussionist and composer Taufiq Qureshi, lyricist and writer Prasoon Joshi, and London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The track embodies Raga Yaman, a timeless Indian classical raga known to effortlessly captivate the hearts and minds of audiences. Air India also onboarded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with a vision to create a global symphony that resonated across cultures as a warm invitation to India while acting as a homeward melody welcoming Indians from around the world.

You can listen to it here.

 

And Air India also released a behind-the-scenes video to show how the sound came to be.

Sunil Suresh, Head of Marketing, Air India, said,

We wanted to create a melody that embodied the Indian spirit. We also wanted to capture a universality that brings people together. This musical odyssey accomplishes it expertly, and as the country’s flag-bearer, we are proud to carry this to the world.

Air India will progressively roll out adaptations of the sonic brand identity, starting from digital touchpoints and marketing campaigns to airport lounges and inflight boarding music. I’m curious to hear how this works in the boarding music. Airlines usually aim for soothing music for their boarding experience to calm down passengers. But around here, the notes keep going higher.

For that matter, I find Air India Express’ sonic identity to be better. It is exciting and focuses on the youth, so it was supposed to be exciting. It takes inspiration from its roots in Kerala and has a smart play on the call bell chime.

Bottomline

Air India has unveiled its new sonic identity with the backing of Shankar Mahadevan, Prasoon Joshi, Taufiq Qureshi and London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It is an energetic song that combines Air India’s Indian Roots and international ambitions. It will be progressively rolled out at various touchpoints of the airline.

What do you think of the new Air India Sonic Idenity?

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