The Sound of AccuWeather
The Sound of AccuWeather
The unpredictable turn of the weather can be annoying at best or damn right dangerous. And in some countries, the switch between clear skies and full washout can take just a matter of minutes. (Looking at you, the Netherlands) 👀
Thankfully, AccuWeather sought to create a stress-free way to alert you to abrupt weather changes, enabling you to be better prepared for any storm passing through.
The brand wanted its app to accurately reflect weather changes in real time, utilising data to ensure that you’re never caught short without a brolly.
As part of its wider brand transition, AccuWeather contacted us at MassiveMusic to assist with sonic transformations to make alerts as user-friendly as possible – and to help you steer clear of the grey.
The Challenge
At that time, AccuWeather was transitioning to a digital-first approach. While they were still operating across traditional marketing channels like television, they were keen to explore new formats and spice up their offerings to entice new users to their services.
Though they could produce updated weather notifications, they wanted to upgrade their sonic logo and work on incorporating recognisable and ownable musical sounds into the alerts to ensure that these were non-intrusive and captivating for users.
The Approach
Rainy days no more. Well, technically yes, but you know what we mean. Knowing we had a combination of new motion graphics and UX design to play with, it was an exciting prospect for us to weave in new elements to upgrade AccuWeather’s sonic proposition.
We began by defining the app’s user interface and product sound palette to start building out the sonic package, familiarising ourselves with their trusted and friendly yet direct personality – something we were sure would influence the finalised musical style.
Most weather channels tend to overly rely on classic news-style music, so we took the plunge and decided to take the opposite direction and created a modern bespoke sonic identity with particular sounds available for specific weather conditions.
The Solution
We crafted a number of assets: a DNA track, a sonic logo and product alert sounds.
Through researching and analysing AccuWeather’s in-house weather data, we also put together a library of sounds inspired by the weather – from rain droplets falling to thunderous storms, windy gales and tinkling birdsongs. These acted as inspiration for our composers to remix and weave into their final sounds.
You can match bespoke sounds to particular weather, meaning you’ll never be unexpectedly caught out on a rainy day.
Let’s make your brand massive through the power of music and sound.
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