Dear Friends and Contributors,
Happy New Year! As we step into 2026, I'm thrilled to share that Bing Bong: The Ultimate Guide to Leveraging Music for Effective Brand Marketing is on the cusp of becoming reality. This is the definitive playbook reframing sound as a core strategic asset in branding, blending psychology, real-world execution, and measurable impact.
We've already built an incredible foundation:
Insights from dozens of interviews with leaders at Adidas, Bayer, Google, Meta, Yoto, Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, Interbrand, Wolff Olins, and more.
A foreword by Alexandre Perrin from Berklee Valencia.
Contemporary case studies from Apple, GSK, LEGO, Mastercard, and forward-looking 2025 trends.
The book spans 25 chapters across six parts:
PART 1: The Human Origin of Bing Bong
PART 2: Music ā The Foundation
PART 3: Brand ā Building Identity
PART 4: Marketing & Advertising ā Music Meets Strategy
PART 5: Sonic Experience ā The Core Discipline
PART 6: Future ā AI, Voice-First, and Beyond
In tone and ambition, it echoes the energy of Tribe of Mentors (Tim Ferriss), How Brands Grow (Byron Sharp), and Alchemy (Rory Sutherland) but with a structured, end-to-end framework that's uniquely practitioner-led for this fast-growing discipline.
We're now at ~50% complete and ready to pitch proposals to publishers (including Kogan Page, Palgrave Macmillan, Wiley, Routledge, Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury, and others who've published landmark books in music, branding and marketing).
Where I need your help:
A few more interviews
We're aiming for 50 total with advertising, music, and marketing leaders. If you know someone whose perspective would elevate the book, please connect me!Chapter co-authors
We have 9 chapters open for collaboration (co-authoring ~4,000 words with me ā flexible timeline of weeks/months) if youād be, or know someone whoād be willing.Spotlight: One standout in progress ā PART 2, Chapter 3: What is Music? Tempo, Keys, Emotion, and the Science of Sound ā co-authored with world-renowned composer Samuel Karl Bohn, diving into tempo, melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics, frequency/rhythm impacts, major vs. minor triggers, cross-cultural universals, and more.
Completed interviews so far (huge thanks!):
CEO, Record Makers
CEO, Spitfire Audio
Professor, Berklee College of Music
Founder, EmotiSphere Insights
Managing Director, Talent & Brands
Founder, Sonic Boom
Head of Music, RASCAL
Co-Founder, DixonBaxi
Executive Creative Director, Interbrand
Founder, Uncommon Studio
Agency & Marketing Partnerships Director, Bayer Consumer Health Brand
Partnerships Director, Highsnobiety
Managing Director - Google Advertising
Creative Director, Wolff Olins
Head of Music and Sound, Yoto
SVP Global Sync, WMG
A special shoutout to the sonic branding and music agencies who've generously shared insights, competitors collaborating to raise the tide for everyone. Iām going to dedicate a section and exclusive event highlighting these founders and CEOs.
A Massive Thank You
Your support, time, stories, and energy are literally making it real.
Thank you for being part of something properly groundbreaking.
Bing Bong.
Charles