Choosing the right music to accompany party political campaigns could play a key role in improving the electoral chances in this year’s general election, according to new research.
The study, conducted by DLMDD and SoundOut, comes following an Ipsos study which revealed that sonic branding cues (which includes music, jingles and theme tunes) are eight and a half times more powerful than visual logos.
The audio branding specialists used specialist brand-matching technology to reveal the twelve attributes voters look for in their political leaders, and explored how Starmer and Sunak measure up against these attributes.
The results found that the attributes Starmer could most use a lift in were ‘approachable’ (37%) and ‘dependable’ (37%), revealing that ‘Changes’ by David Bowie was most likely to boost Starmer’s scores in these areas.
For Rishi Sunak, the attributes he most needed a lift in were ‘compassionate’ (30%), ‘inspiring’ (26%), ‘reliable’ (27%) and ‘warm’ – and that McFadden & Whitehead’s ‘Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now’ and The Beatles ‘Here Comes the Sun’ were most likely to provide the Conservative prime minister with a boost ahead of the election.
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The results also revealed that the soundtracks that most correspond with perceptions of Keir Starmer include ‘You Get What You Give’ by New Radicals, followed closely by ‘Don’t Stop’ by Fleetwood Mac.
Meanwhile, the tracks that most closely capture perceptions of Rishi Sunak include the stadium anthem ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor and ‘I Won’t Back Down’ by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“Music and sound have an unrivalled ability to shape our emotions, shift our perceptions of a person or a brand and influence how we think, feel, behave – even vote,” said DLMDD co-founder Max De Lucia.
“We wanted to have some fun with this research, using music to illustrate how people feel about our political leaders – as well as how they could tap into the power of sound to boost their chances in the general election,” he continued.
SoundOut co-founder Grace Hammond added: “SoundOut’s brand-matching technology helps us understand how people feel about a brand, and then matches their perceived and desired attributes with music to transform a brand’s appeal.”
“It’s intriguing to get this insight into public perceptions of Starmer and Sunak, as well as the music tracks most likely to help them win over the public this year.”
