13 Oct 2021

The Legal & General Group has launched its first sonic brand identity.

Produced by global creative music agency MassiveMusic, the Music, Mind and Brain Group at Goldsmiths University and tested by Soundout, the new audio identity aligns with the company's wider purpose of delivering the economic and social benefits of 'inclusive capitalism' to improve the lives of its customers. The launch of the sonic brand follows Legal & General's global brand refresh last year by WPP brand agency Superunion, who continue to work with the company on brand development.

Learn more about how the new Legal & General sonic brand was created

Established in 1836 and one of Europe's largest insurance and asset management groups, Legal & General's purpose has always been at the heart of everything it does. As a company, it has invested more than £30bn in direct investments including homes, urban regeneration across the UK's towns and cities, clean energy and small business finance. Therefore, MassiveMusic, who are renowned for helping global brands become more effective with the power of sound, developed an asset that could further extend this sentiment, enabling the brand to live across an audio ecosystem, work consistently across the brands' vertical business, and reflect its desire to offer something more meaningful to customers.

Inclusive Capitalism - backed by science

Inspired by Legal & General's umbrella as the symbol of protection, and its 'inclusive capitalism' ethos that 'aims to improve the lives of customers and build a better society for the long term,' Legal & General's sonic identity aims to give back to society and enhance lives through the power of sound.

MassiveMusic crafted a unique sonic logo that brings to life the sound of the brand's iconic umbrella and a feeling of reassurance, alongside a sonic DNA track and adaptations to cater to all of Legal & General's content and brand communications.

By working directly with the specialist team at the Goldsmith's Music, Mind and Brain Group and implicit testing with Soundout research, the MassiveMusic team took the idea further and created empirically-tested music designed to effectively promote a sense of calm and improve wellbeing, aid with sleep and promote better focus. Grounded in science, MassiveMusic mapped sound against the colours of its highly recognised umbrella logo, creating four different functional music tracks which are supported visually by album artwork created by Superunion, to target four different emotional scenarios:

  • Red: Functional music to aid focus (eg. Work, study)
  • Blue: Functional music to aid sleep (eg. At night or 4am scenario)
  • Yellow: Functional music for a moment of pause (eg. On commute, coffee break)
  • Green: Functional music to calm down emotionally (eg. Feeling stressed, irritable)

The tracks are accessible on Spotify here, and YouTube here without restriction, alongside a limited run vinyl release.

The Legal & General umbrella is one of the most recognisable brand visuals in the sector and something many of us have grown up seeing over and over again. It was important that this iconic symbol of protection was embedded at the heart of the Legal & General sonic experience. Our passion for the healing power of music has shone in the past through our Music x Mind initiative, so when we realised that Legal & General shared this passion, developing a sonic brand empirically tested to help people made perfect sense. The resulting sonic brand is rooted in who Legal & General are as a company and what they stand for - giving back to society.

Roscoe Williamson, Global Creative Strategy Director and Partner at MassiveMusic

It really was an incredible experience developing the sound of Legal & General with both MassiveMusic and the scientific minds at Goldsmiths. We're known for how we look but not how we sound, so the process and collaboration of finding something that is rooted in our brand values and offering something more to our customers means we have another hugely valuable asset that can play a part across our global communications.

Tamara Bates, Group Brand Director at Legal & General

Further information

You can read more about Legal & General's global brand refresh by WPP brand agency Superunion here.

MassiveMusic is the agency of record for some of the most famous brands in the world. As a trusted partner, MassiveMusic delivers everything a brand needs in the field of music, voice and sound. Impactful strategies, sonic brand identities and best-in-class compositions - the agency creates this and much more thanks to its fervent passion for music combined with craftsmanship and scientific research. The ultimate goal? To make the world sound better, while helping brands and agencies be more effective through the emotional power of sound. The nifty creators and strategic thinkers behind MassiveMusic can be found in offices and studios around the world. Rumour has it they also throw a massive party every once in a while.

Established in 1836, Legal & General is one of the UK's leading financial services groups and a major global investor, with international businesses in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia. With almost £1.3 trillion in total assets under management*, we are the UK's largest investment manager for corporate pension schemes and a UK market leader in pension risk transfer, alternative asset origination, life insurance, workplace pensions and retirement income. Through inclusive capitalism, we aim to build a better society by investing in long-term assets that benefit everyone.

* at 30 June 2021

Attachments

  • Original document
  • Permalink

Disclaimer

Legal & General Group plc published this content on 13 October 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 13 October 2021 08:21:02 UTC.