[Sound Economy] Noise War of Silent Home Appliances?

Samsung and LG Electronics Focus on Sound Design
Directly Linked to Company Identity
Differentiation from Overseas Home Appliance Companies

Just as each person has a unique voice, home appliances also have their own signature sounds depending on their characteristics. Ovens convey warmth and coziness, air conditioners evoke a refreshing coolness, and the sound of robot vacuum cleaners gives a sense of cleanliness.

The domestic home appliance industry is putting great effort into creating these fleeting sounds that last less than a second. The goal is to make it possible to identify the brand of the product and its status just by the sound. This is directly linked to the company's identity. Sound has become an important factor that can determine how a company and its products establish themselves in consumers' daily lives.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are strengthening their 'sound design,' which constitutes the Auditory User Interface (AUI).

Samsung 'Bespoke Washing Machine'.
Photo by Samsung Electronics

Because home appliances are always present in the home, reducing noise is the most important factor. Therefore, the sounds produced by home appliances are designed to be unobtrusive to users while harmonizing with visual and tactile user interfaces (UI) to intuitively convey the situation. This aims for a kind of synesthetic effect. Examples of AUI include the shutter sound when taking a photo with a smartphone camera or the startup sound of an electric vehicle.

This seemingly minor difference is one of the distinguishing factors that have given domestic companies an edge over overseas home appliance manufacturers. For example, washing machines made by foreign manufacturers typically produce simple beeping sounds or rigid voice messages like "The laundry is complete," whereas domestic products such as those from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics play cheerful tunes, providing consumers with a unique experience.

Samsung Electronics expresses the emotions of various products centered around the brand sound of Samsung home appliances called 'Beyond the Horizon.' It is a sibling to 'Over the Horizon,' the brand sound used as the ringtone for Galaxy smartphones. Samsung Electronics has created new variations and arrangements of the basic melody of Beyond the Horizon tailored to the characteristics of each appliance, such as ovens, induction cookers, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines. These sounds are similar but slightly different across the various products.

The image that Beyond the Horizon aims to convey is 'comfort.' The integrated sensory experience of the sound users feel while using the product is designed to be intuitive and to provide a 'comfortable emotion' suitable for the home environment. Samsung Electronics views the melody as a 'message' and ultimately aims to create 'conversational appliances.'

LG Electronics oven. [Photo by LG Electronics]

LG Electronics handles sound design within its 'Strategic UX Governance Team.' Not only employees dedicated to sound but also various other team members work organically within the team. The famous washing machine sound from LG Electronics was created by this department. At one point, videos on YouTube featuring people researching instruments or dancing to the washing machine's end sound, which goes "Dding ddiliririri ddiliririririri, ddingddiliririri ddiliririririri," gained popularity.

An LG Electronics official said, "Sound is one of the elements that give identity to a product," adding, "It also plays a role in conveying the company's image through melodies."

LG Electronics focuses on differentiated experiences by allowing sounds to be changed according to customer preferences or specific seasons. Recently, reflecting customer feedback that it was difficult to distinguish which product had finished because the end sounds of washing machines, dryers, and stylers were all the same, they increased the number of end and start sounds from two to twelve. Customers can choose from familiar basic end sounds to various melodies such as classical and old pop according to their tastes.

The reason the home appliance industry invests in sound design is ultimately to positively influence consumers' perception of their brand image. If the sounds produced when operating a product contain aesthetic, usability, and functional value, it positively improves the emotions users feel toward the product and brand.

A Samsung Electronics official said, "Sound branding is a business strategy that consistently implements auditory elements in a unique format to evoke emotions, memories, and behaviors related to the corporate brand," adding, "We plan to continue expanding the identity sounds unique to Samsung home appliances."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.