PayPal
The Sound of Modern Payment
We worked with Gretel and PayPal to develop a holistic sonic identity that PayPal can use across customer touch points. We were tasked with creating a singular consumer-facing sound that would signify PayPal as a global community of different people and businesses brought together by one shared spirit. It was important to create one cohesive tone of voice that people instantly recognize as PayPal, whenever and where they hear it.
The foundation of our strategy was that PayPal is the optimistic, committed champion of financial possibilities for everybody. We made sure our sonic brand encompassed PayPals attributes of Optimistic, Inclusive, Committed, and Human.
We created a hero mnemonic that combined melodic and sound design elements to balance the primary brand pillars of optimistic and inclusive. The sonic conveyed the brand pillars of human and committed by emphasizing openness and connection over transactions. The catchy hero mnemonic breaks down into three parts signifying the brand, the action of “pay” and the action of “get paid,” which PayPal can use as bookends in advertising and expand into a toolkit as confirmation and notification sounds in the PayPal app.
