Arby’s named most recognisable sonic logo in the US

The fast-food sandwich restaurant came out on top against 173 audio brands in the SoundOut Index 2025.

SoundOut’s latest biennial index was conducted with the help of over 70,000 consumer respondents. The strategic sonic branding testing company believes it to be the most comprehensive consumer-based global ranking and tracking of sonic logos ever conducted.

Two years on from finishing third in the previous SoundOut Index, Arby’s finished on top with an impressive 86% recognition score – five percentage points higher than second-place Autozone. The report concludes that sonic logos which use the brand’s name – like Arby’s – are “nine times more effective at driving actual attribution than pure musical cues.” Just three of the top 25 sonic logos did not include the brand name.

Worryingly, the report uncovered a common ‘recognition-recall gap,’ where many consumers would claim they recognised a brand’s sonic logo but then failed to correctly identify the brand. ‘Actual attribution’ was, on average, over 20 percentage points lower than ‘claim attribution.’ For instance, 30% of respondents said they recognised Nissan’s sonic logo, but none (0%) actually could.

A crucial insight in this year’s report was the reintroduction of legacy sonic identities. Both Maybelline (Sixième Son) and Pillsbury (Made Music Studio) updated their old audio brands to break into the top 20 and 50 respectively.

David Courtier-Dutton, CEO at SoundOut, says, “The SoundOut Index 2025 provides a reality check for marketers. Attribution is everything. You can win awards for sonic creativity, but if consumers can’t link your sound to your brand, it’s wasted investment. The data is unequivocal: start by including your brand name until attribution is secured, then evolve to a pure musical identity. The winners of tomorrow are those who embed their brand into memory with sound today.”

Despite all sectors increasing their average attribution scores over the past two years, the technology, energy and automotive sectors were found to be the fastest growing for sonic logo adoption.

The full report can be read here.