These days, everyone is vying for our attention. We’re bombarded with videos, tweets, billboards, commercials–every company is trying to catch our eye. One way to break through the clutter is to focus on ears instead. It’s called “sonic branding” and it’s increasingly how businesses cut through the noise and distinguish themselves to customers. But what is sonic branding?

To get the whole story, we talked to Stephanie Hunt and Lucas Murray, two members of global sonic branding agency Made Music Studio. Made Music has been carrying the sonic branding torch for almost 25 years; they know what it takes to create sounds that resonate with customers. Stephanie and Lucas walk us through the science and psychology of audio and the process of building a successful sonic identity.

That’s a process that we at Cadence know well, because we’ve gone through it ourselves. In 2021, when Cadence and BancorpSouth merged, part of our massive rebrand was the development of a sonic identity with Made Music Studio. The leader on the Cadence side was Chief Marketing Officer and friend of the podcast, Jackie Hooper. She’ll tell us about the opportunities and challenges of building a sonic brand–plus, how to successfully roll one out, which Stephanie says is half the battle.

Together we’ll dissect the elements of our own sonic identity and give you the tools to implement one for your business. So listen up! It’s time for In Good Companies to face the music.

Read the full show transcript.

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Meet the Host

Patrick Pacheco, Executive Vice President, President of Cadence Asset Management & Trust, has more than 25 years’ experience in wealth management, in addition to the designing and implementation of tax and related planning strategies.

Pacheco’s background includes years of legal practice and multiple degrees, including an LLM* Taxation from University of Houston, a JD from Southern Methodist University, and both an MBA and BS in Economics from University of Texas at Arlington.

He is also board certified in Estate Planning and Probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Meet the Speakers

Lucas Murray is a Supervising Music Producer at Made Music Studio. He grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas where he studied, performed, composed, and taught music for over a decade. He moved to NYC in 2016, completed a Masters in Music at NYU, and continued teaching, performing, and composing.

He joined Made Music Studio in 2018 and has since produced sonic identities for brands including Wondery, Nature Valley, Polaris, Yoplait, SmileDirectClub, Panera Bread, and Tostitos in addition to writing articles and speaking about the principles of sonic branding.

When he isn’t producing music for delicious foods and off-road vehicles, he also writes and records his own music, and released his debut EP Dinosaur Days in 2021.

As Group Account Director at Made Music Studio, Stephanie Hunt has led strategic sonic brand identity development for dozens of industry-leading clients including General Mills, Wells Fargo, Hulu, CBS and Cadence Bank. Stephanie got her start in the music business working on album and tour development with Grammy Award-winning artists and producers including Kanye West, Jay-Z, 88-Keys and Mike Dean. She is consistently inspired by the process of bringing her clients’ stories to life with sound, and the challenge of making lives richer and simpler via sonic humanism.

Jackie Hooper is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cadence Bank, a leading regional banking franchise with approximately $50 billion in assets and nearly 400 branch locations across the South and Texas. She has served at Cadence and its predecessors since October 2018 and is responsible for all marketing initiatives and functions for the company. From 2021 - 2022, she led the company-wide initiative to develop and launch the new Cadence brand.

Ms. Hooper has more than 20 years of marketing experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Cadence, she worked at Regions Bank, First Horizon Bank and Mountain Commerce Bank, where she held several leadership positions, including director of marketing, marketing strategist, regional marketing manager, senior advertising manager and media strategist. She has a proven track record of success leading company-wide consumer, business and commercial marketing initiatives.

Ms. Hooper earned a Master of Business Administration from East Tennessee State University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is actively involved in her local community as an advocate and supporter of organizations and individuals with special needs.

This podcast is provided as a free service to you and is for general informational purposes only. Cadence Bank and its affiliates make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the content in the podcast. The podcast is not intended to provide legal, accounting or tax advice and should not be relied upon for such purposes.

To the extent that this podcast includes predictions about the economy, these predictions are subject to a number of variables and you should confer with your legal, accounting and tax advisors for their input regarding the possible outcomes of any economic subject matter discussed herein. Predictions are forward-looking statements that reflect current views with respect to, among other things, future events. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond the control of any person or entity. Accordingly, please be aware that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict.

The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests in this podcast are solely their own current opinions regarding the subject matter discussed in the podcast and are based on their own perspectives. Such views, perspectives and opinions do not reflect those of Cadence Bank or any of its affiliates, or the companies with which any guest is, or may be, affiliated. The production and presentation of this podcast by Cadence Bank does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of Cadence Bank or any of its affiliates.