Question 4

Communication is a process that allows organisations to send/receive messages within their own boundaries but also to interact with outside entities (customers, suppliers, the media, etc.). Messages are send/received not only through oral and written statements, there are many channels and ways that need to be considered when discussing effective organisational communication. In that sense, the use of sounds has become increasingly important.

Based on the article “If Intercontinental were a sound…what would it be?”*, Please discuss the implications (potential advantages, disadvantages, challenges, etc.) of using sounds to send strategic messages. You need to integrate the use of key concepts relating to the topic of communication to support your answer.


In an organization, the way one person can communicate with another can be very varied, you can speak with the other person, thru a phone, thru text message or e-mail, thru office memo, but, there is also the new idea of using sound as a way to send a message, but think about it. Can you send a message thru sound? Can you send thru musical notes an idea or an action?
Yes you can, a sound can transmit a felling to the listener, and according to the article “If Intercontinental were a sound… what would it be?” sound can affect an environment, a sound can change the feeling of a person, if in a negotiation you have the right kind of sound the other party will be more open to listen you ideas and strategies with a more open mind, and if you put another kind of sound the other party can be less inclined to be more open minded to your ideas, if you are in a bar, the type of music that you hear can turn the evening romantic or more friendly, but it also can turn the environment a little tense, that why when you watch a movie, depending on the scene there is a music that gives the right feeling to the environment.

In the Article “If Intercontinental were a sound…what would it be?”, different hotels had the challenge to create a sound that represented their hotel, the star wars opening is a good example, every one knows what that sound represents. It’s not easy to create a sound, you have to take into account the tempo and time, depending on the sound, you can send the message of a vending machine or a chocolatier making chocolate, after a lot of tries, they reached the sound that they wanted and represented their hotels chains.

An inconvenience of this type of communication is that there is a very fine line when you are making a sound, you want a sound that represents elegance, but the sound you get is relaxed, and another difficulty of this type of communications is that is not composed of letters and document that you can load to an e-mail, depending of the number of instruments that are needed to make the sound, you have to take into account how are you going to make them blend perfectly and how much of each instrument you have to incorporate.

The video is a commercial for the Marriot Hotel Chain, listen to the music in the back ground and you will hear how different types of cultures and blending and you will imagine different countries, this is one of the examples that show how a sound can represents a hotel, there is another commercial for Frontera concha y toro, the music they have show an image of their wine.







Michael Spencer, "If InterContinental were a sound … what would it be?", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 31 Iss: 4, pp.39 - 46