Opportunity Awaits U.S. Grocers Who Bolster Sonic Branding.

U.S. grocery brands are falling behind international competitors in using sound to build distinctive brand identities, despite the country’s long history of advertising jingles, according to a new global study from sound-branding specialist amp, whose findings were reported by creative industries-focused news site Roastbrief.

The amp study analyzes the sonic strategies of 100 grocery brands worldwide, assessing how effectively they use sound to build brand identity across five dimensions: Experience, Trust, Belonging, Recognition and Engagement.

The report finds that Kroger is the only U.S. grocery brand to rank among the global top 10. It placed sixth overall, while Stop & Shop ranked 24th, Target 38th, Publix 47th and H-E-B 50th.

Walmart ranked 52nd, Safeway 55th, Whole Foods 62nd, 7-Eleven 63rd and Albertsons 65th, rounding out the 10 highest-ranked U.S. brands in the study.

The findings suggest that many American grocers have yet to make sound a consistent and recognizable component of their brand identities, even as competitors in other regions increasingly invest in proprietary audio assets.

Across all 100 brands studied, 63% of content uses stock music, and 77 brands rely on stock music for at least half of their content. Only 31 brands have a sonic logo, while just 15 use music they own.

The results differ significantly among the highest-ranked brands. Every grocery brand in the global top 10 has a sonic logo, and nine use owned music.

The regional gap is particularly evident in the adoption of sonic logos. Approximately 20% to 25% of North American brands have one vs. roughly 40% to 45% of brands in Asia and South America.

North American brands also have relatively new sonic logos, averaging about one year old. That suggests many companies in the region have only recently begun treating sound as a systematic branding tool.

“North America has a rich history of brands using music to become part of popular culture, but the opportunity today goes far beyond the jingle,” says Michele Arnese, founder and Global CEO of amp. “Brands now have to be recognizable across stores, apps, social platforms, creator content and AI-enabled experiences. Sound is one of the few assets that can travel across all of those spaces, yet grocery brands are still largely relying on music that anyone else can use.”

The research also finds that establishing a sonic identity does not necessarily mean a brand is using it consistently across its marketing and customer experiences.

Kroger leads North America on key audio-strategy measures, with its “Doin’ It Fresh” sonic logo appearing in 34% of its content and owned music accounting for 30%. However, 37% of the retailer’s content still relies on stock music.

Whole Foods illustrates the other end of the spectrum, relying on stock music for 94% of its content.

The disconnect also extends to digital platforms. Across the global study, 29 grocery brands have apps featuring user-experience or user-interface sounds, but only 11 of those brands also have a sonic logo.

The study identifies another difference in audio strategy between discount supermarkets and premium grocery brands. Globally, discount grocers are more likely to invest in music and audio assets they own, and their sonic logos tend to have been established for longer periods.

Discount brands use owned music in approximately 4.5% of their content vs. 1% for premium brands. Nearly three times as many discount supermarkets have a sonic logo.

The difference also appears in the longevity of those assets. Sonic logos used by discount supermarkets are about 15 years old on average vs. 4.5 years for premium brands.

The findings indicate that successful sonic branding involves more than creating a recognizable sound. Consistent use across advertising, digital platforms and other customer interactions can help establish an audio identity that consumers associate with a particular retailer.

“Our research shows the gap isn’t about adding more sound,” says Björn Thorleifsson, Director of Research and Insights at amp. “It’s about ownership and consistency. North American grocery brands have an enormous number of sonic touchpoints already, but relatively few are connecting them into a distinctive system. That is where the opportunity lies.”