Boom Bling: TikTok's sonic guerrilla marketing

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Dallas Taylor

Music, Design, Arts, Music Commentary

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

TikTok’s sonic logo is one of the fastest growing sonic logos in history. Today, that little sound is being heard millions of times a day on apps like Instagram, Reddit and Youtube… but creating it wasn’t easy. To make it, the creative team went through thousands of iterations, executed a covert marketing strategy, and fought through a final debate about a single note. Featuring Roscoe Williamson and Aifric Lennon from MassiveMusic. Apply for the Associate Sound Designer/Mixer position at Defacto Sound at jobs.defactosound.com. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free. If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.org. Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn. Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial at shopify.com/20k. Claim your $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/hertz. Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/tiktoksboombling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to 20,000 Hertz.
0:02.6	I'm Dallas Taylor.
0:04.7	How the heck does everyone learn these cool TikTok dances?
0:08.2	Let me show you my little trick.
0:09.6	Boys, I think I broke the new TikTok voice.
0:12.5	A-H-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J.
0:14.9	TikTok is the first social media platform that makes me feel very old.
0:19.5	Chapter 5, Season 2, Fortnite teaser trailer reaction.
0:22.6	Everyone underestimates me, but then they turn their back and I'm like boo!
0:27.6	And they're like, wha!
0:29.6	Now, I do have a TikTok account, but whenever I go on it, I feel a bit like,
0:34.6	howdy-do, fellow kids?
0:43.3	But while I might not be great at the Renegade or the Wednesday dance, which, to be honest, I have no idea what I'm even reading right now,
0:47.3	I do know a good Sonic brand when I hear it,
0:49.3	and TikTok's Sonic brand caught my attention way before the app did.
0:53.3	A while back, I was watching this video on Instagram.
0:56.0	Here's a secret sound design trick no one is talking about.
0:59.0	Start with some white noise.
1:00.0	When the video ended, a TikTok logo appeared and I heard this little sound.
1:05.0	TikTok had added a Sonic logo to the end of the video,
1:09.0	and pretty soon, I started to hear this sound everywhere.
1:12.6	Can I pick that dog?
	...

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