Everyone and every business has been impacted by the pandemic. Restaurants across the country were forced to limit their service to delivery and drive thru or cease operations entirely. Many independent operators have made the decision to close their doors for good. While larger national and regional chains have found ways to adapt and survive.

Now, as all states begin to ease restrictions and reopen their economies, restaurant brands are struggling to determine when and how to welcome guests back into their dining rooms. Mandates, regulations and guidelines differ from state to state, making it extremely difficult to plan systemwide practices. Then there’s the issue of hiring new employees and retraining furloughed employees on new procedures to meet state requirements for safety and cleanliness. No small task.

As difficult as those challenges may be, at least they are things the restaurant can control. The greater challenge is the change in consumer attitudes and habits. Studies suggest that most consumers continue to have strong reservations about making reservations at any restaurant. As many as 52% say it will be 3-6 months before they are comfortable returning for dine-in service. And some say they may never return.

Restaurants must find a way to regain consumer trust and make them feel safe inside their restaurants again. Most are making physical changes to raise confidence. Spacing out tables, adding hand sanitizer stations, expanding outdoor dining, limiting condiments and point of sale on tables, plastic barriers between stations and at check out, just to name a few. McDonald’s is taking things a step further by adding foot pulls to their doors to minimize hand contact.

According to a recent Sense 360 study, these are the top 5 things consumers want their restaurants to do:

1. Sanitize tables and chairs between guests
2. Post health policies visibly in the front of the restaurant
3. Conduct temperature and wellness checks for employees
4. Add curbside pickup (if not previously available)
5. Add delivery (if not previously available)

Even more intrusive measures like checking customer temperatures before allowing them to enter the restaurant received a surprising 41% positive response in the May 15, 2020 study. This demonstrates the severity of the challenge to win back consumer loyalty. Don’t do enough and consumers will be nervous. Do too much and they may be annoyed. Striking the right balance for your customer will be essential.

While restaurants must make changes to address the changing concerns of consumers, they must also remember what attracted customers to their brand in the first place. They must stay true to their brand and demonstrate authentic care for their customers. It must be genuine, not robotic. Remember that dining out is more than just sustenance. At its heart, dining out is a social event that nourishes the soul as well as the body. People crave human interaction. Now more than ever.

Many restaurant brands will try a value play to attract customers. Deals, discounts and promotions have their place, but restaurants that make their guests most comfortable will be the ones that succeed. Keeping a close eye on consumer attitudes and changing sentiment will also be more important than ever.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that consumer habits don’t just change over time, they can change overnight. The current situation is still very fluid. Even our hard-earned progress could be upended by a resurgence of the virus. Being nimble and proactive are traits that will serve the industry well in the coming months.

If you aren’t thinking about your audio brand, you may be missing a great opportunity to make your brand more memorable and meaningful.

My last blog was about the recent resurgence and growing importance of audio branding. If you missed it, check it out here. In the blog, I mentioned an audio branding initiative we recently completed for the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI).

Audio branding for an organization that serves the blind. Sounds like a no brainer, right? But they had never done it before. And the time was right, as the agency prepared to introduce a new logo and visual identity.

First a little history on the CABVI and its brand.

The organization is a private, not-for-profit agency offering a broad range of vision rehabilitation services for people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired. It began in 1911 as the Cincinnati Association for the Welfare of the Blind.

The name has changed several times through the decades. In 2004, it became Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. But the name was found to be long and it created branding challenges. So in 2019, the board agreed to abbreviate to the acronym CABVI.

This latest change to the visual brand identity presented a perfect opportunity to introduce an audio brand element that would be linked to the new logo and make it more memorable. So we set out to create an audio mnemonic that will act as a musical memory peg with an emotional connection to the CABVI brand.

We worked with a composer to explore several options. Each consisted of five notes to represent the five characters in the acronym. But we weren’t just looking for a catchy hook. It needed to support CABVI’s brand character and core values. The creative process was driven by inspiration from words in their vision: “Empowering people who are blind or visually impaired with opportunities to seek independence.” Along with their values of compassion, hope, integrity and collaboration. As well as the sense of optimism captured in the new tagline “Building Brighter Futures for People with Vision Loss.”

Early in the process, we determined the brand would benefit greatly by including a vocal representation in the audio mnemonic. It’s especially helpful for those with vision loss to hear a verbalization of the agency name. We chose a chorus of male and female singers to sing the CABVI melody to symbolize inclusivity, collaboration and compassion. Verbalization of the logo aids memorability and brand association, while the instrumental elements provide an emotional connection.

While we experimented with a variety of different orchestrations, the final mnemonic features a solo piano to communicate simplicity, clarity and focus. A strong chord progression leads with a pair of eighth notes for a burst of energy. From there, the shape moves down and then ends with a surprising leap up to deliver a feeling of optimism and hope for a brighter future. The final note is accented with a glockenspiel, adding a touch of brightness which ties into the yellow dot on the “i” in the CABVI logo.

We provided the audio element fully mixed, instrumental only, and a capella vocal for different applications

This new audio brand was launched along with the new visual logo and is currently being used at the end of TV and radio advertising, as well as internal and external videos. There are plans to incorporate it on their website and “on-hold” phone service, too. And we continue to explore more ways to connect the visual and audio brand elements.

Over time, CABVI’s audio brand will become as much a part of their brand identity as the visual logo. They will become linked in the public’s mind, strengthening the emotional bond between CABVI, its clients and donors. It’s too soon to measure success, but the early reviews have been strong. And the value of the audio brand will only continue to grow through repetition and familiarity.

Play the :05 video clip below to hear the CABVI brand mnemonic paired with new logo animation.