Maestro and film music legend Ennio Morricone, here with Michel, founder of SoundAdvice - who had the honour of
meeting him in his home for a joint project (the maestro wanted "a proper brief"). A truly unforgettable moment.
Who we are.
SoundAdvice is a partnership between two people with top notch expertise in music, marketing, and both – combined.
Company founder Michel "MJ" Jouveaux
has 20 years of experience as a “slasher.”
Not in the serial killer sense of the phrase : for 20 years he has been
a successful marketer / (“slash”) musician , and creating SoundAdvice
is the logical crossing of both of these paths.
On the marketing front, MJ has 18 years of highly successful experience in Procter & Gamble. As a business leader, then a member of the company’s select group of senior in-house advertising experts,
he has helped brief, inspire, optimize and qualify literally hundreds of commercials across a dozen categories, from fragrances to detergents, from Always to Gillette - and built a reputation as one of P&G’s very best communications experts and trainers. He has also provided effective music consulting for dozens of ads, way beyond the scope of his job.
On the music front, MJ is a self-taught “scholar”. He composes, performs and produces original soundtracks for the stage plays of his friend and creative partner cult writer and director Lilian Lloyd - a dream come true for a lifelong movie-music fan. As a "late-blooming" lead singer, he has established his local cover band as a mainstay live attraction in Geneva, and fronted them all the way to winning the 2008 edition of Fortune Magazine's "Battle of the Bands" in the legendary Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame (the only time a non-US band has ever won the competition). He now fronts an indie rock band whose first 6-tracker a hit video have just seen the light of day, and whose first album will come out in 2017.
MJ's partner is a highly reputed Geneva-based engineer
with vast experience of both the “live” and studio realms, and recording / mixing credits which include name artists from the french and swiss rock and pop scene - and who insists on keeping a
low profile . MJ’s partner puts his extensive technical mastery , unique talents, and self-owned recording and mixing studio, to deliver impeccably produced, mixed and mastered products for SoundAdvice. Thanks to his skills, SoundAdvice can deliver your branded music project from A (the brief) to Z (the finished product, in all the shapes & lengths you need).
What we believe.
SoundAdvice provides its services with 3 beliefs in mind, which inspire and guide every single piece of work.
Being in tune with your brand equity.
"Know thyself.” (Plato)
We believe that, in today’s non-stop background noise of brands and offers, being heard is not about being louder. It’s about finding and leveraging a brand’s unique voice.
That is why SoundAdvice creates your communication's soundtrack
from the ground up, based not on subjective views, but on clear,
thorough understanding of your brand's equity and campaign - as opposed to focusing on creating music that every team member on the project will "like" (if everyone "likes" or "loves" it, it's a plus - but not more).
Being in tune with your consumers.
“Music is the shorthand of emotion.” (Tolstoy)
We believe that music is one of the most powerful & underused expressions of a brand’s voice. Long term, it can drive brand recognition; short term, it can lift the persuasion and recall score of your ads, by amplifying their clarity and their emotional impact. Net, it can drive ROI.
That is why each soundtrack we make is not meant to be "liked" : it is first and foremost tailored to help your project reach its objective with your target consumers.
Making clear strategic choices to empower creativity.
“It’s not what you play, it’s what you don’t play.” (Miles Davis)
We believe that creativity is best empowered by discipline – and in particular, tough choices. Said differently, everything starts with a clear brief which articulates, in strategic language, how music will contribute to a project, in ways that both the brand team and agency can instantly "get" and agree to.
That is why the first thing we will do is write the music brief together , leveraging our marketing expertise to translate strategic language into creative choices in a way that everyone on the project team, client or agency, can easily understand - and buy into.