Discover Benelux | Creating Brand Experiences | Top Belgian Creative & Digital Agencies
Cedric Engels, founder of Roundhouse.
The unique sound of a brand TEXT: THESSA LAGEMAN | PHOTOS: ROUNDHOUSE
Companies often focus on their visual identity when creating a marketing strategy. The other senses, like hearing and smell, are usually overlooked. “Strange, isn’t it?” says Cedric Engels, who founded sound agency Roundhouse to change that. “We look at a brand as a person and help companies find out what they sound like.”
these kind of melodies, right?” he says. “Music is so powerful.” Roundhouse started creating music for radio and TV commercials, but soon Engels and his team decided to develop complete auditory branding for brands. “We construct a unique sound DNA. The right emotion gives a company a recognisable, consistent and relevant identity.”
Cedric Engels, 29, first hums the melody that Nokia uses and then the famous McDonald’s tune. “Everyone knows
The name Roundhouse refers to the circular building at the end of the train line where trains used to change their direction and
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return, the founder explains. “It symbolises our 360-degree approach of how a brand story should be written in sound.”
DJ duo Before establishing Roundhouse at the beginning of 2013, Engels performed for years together with his brother as the DJ duo Hermanos Inglesos all around Europe. He always loved music, but his father insisted he had a back-up plan so he also went to law school. Afterwards he studied at the Audio Engineering School