Kempegowda International Airport hits the play button on sonic branding

The only kind of music Ricky Kej composes, he says, is an extension of himself. It is always rooted in something he feels personally connected to. The three-time Grammy Award winner and Padma Shri recipient found that connection when he wrote the BLR Airport Anthem, The World is Waiting for You, a piece that would later evolve into a wider experiment in sound.

“Emotionally, the music is about homecoming, welcoming you whether you’re a Bengalurean returning after a long trip or a visitor experiencing the city for the first time,” Kej told Campaign.

In August 2025, Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (BLR Airport) launched its first-ever sonic identity, Rhythm of BLR. Developed by sonic branding consultancy BrandMusiq, and derived from Kej’s anthem, it reflects an attempt to bring airports—transient, crowded, and often anonymous spaces—into the realm of sensory branding. With this move, BLR Airport follows in the footsteps of its peers like Dubai Airports that has the Heartbeat of Unity sonic identity and Geneva Aéroport that has an elegant audio branding.

Why an airport needed a sonic identity

The project has its roots in the success of the BLR Airport Anthem. “When we launched this anthem, it struck a deep chord with both travellers and the city itself,” Bangalore International Airport Ltd’s (BIAL) chief marketing officer, Shalini Rao, told Campaign.

This response inspired the airport’s authorities to go further—to create a sonic identity that would reflect its soul and the emotions it evokes every day. Rhythm of BLR was developed in collaboration with sonic branding experts BrandMusiq as part of the airport’s larger Feels Like BLR campaign, which reimagines the airport as a truly sensory experience—a magical destination.

For BIAL, the sonic identity is not just a brand exercise but an effort to recalibrate the way people experience the airport. BLR Airport handles around 115,000 passengers daily and more than 41.88 million annually. In such a high-traffic environment, a sonic identity can function as an emotional cue, a marker of comfort and recognition amid the noise and flux.

Rao described the new initiative as “a unifying thought that ties together all these elements of our brand together. In today’s multi-sensory world, a sonic identity is no longer a ‘nice to have’ element — it’s a ‘must have’.”

Building from anthem to identity

The process began as Terminal 2 was still under construction. Kej recalls walking through its shell and feeling compelled to translate the physical scale and energy into sound.

“Towards the end of 2022, I composed an initial piece for the airport, but I held back from presenting it because it felt incomplete,” he said. “Instead, I created a shorter version for the T2 launch event, but I knew the composition wasn’t complete. So, I returned to it, and what we now have is the finished anthem, presented bilingually in English and Kannada, staying true to the city’s personality.”

Grammy award winning music composer, Ricky Kej.

The final composition blends traditional Indian motifs with global instrumentation. Kej drew from multiple musical directions, folk and earthy tones to honour Karnataka’s cultural richness, orchestral and cinematic layers to bring scale and grandeur, and contemporary textures to reflect the airport’s global spirit.

That duality—rooted yet global—was central to BrandMusiq’s brief. The consultancy applied its ‘MUSE’ methodology: discovery, sonic mapping, and identity creation. Starting with Kej’s anthem, they developed what Rajeev Raja, founder and ‘Soundsmith’ of BrandMusiq, calls the “Mogoscape”—a complete sonic brandprint—and a shorter “Mogo,” or musical logo.

“In Brand Discovery, we immersed ourselves in the brand’s essence of transforming airports into magical destinations. In Sonic Mapping, we analysed the anthem’s core motifs, rhythms, and instrumentation. Finally, in the Sonic Identity phase, we developed the Mogoscape, the sonic brandprint, and the Mogo, a three-second musical logo that instantly evokes the BLR Airport feeling,” Raja said.

Navarasas as framework

To ground the sound in India’s cultural fabric, the team drew on the Navarasas, the nine traditional emotional states in classical Indian art forms. For Rhythm of BLR, three were chosen—Shringara (warmth and belonging), which was represented through acoustic guitars and rich, layered harmonies, Hasya (delight), which was captured in a hummable, optimistic melody and Veera (inspiration), which expressed in bold, driving rhythms.

“Together, they evoke the emotional journey BLR Airport aims to leave with every traveller: connection, joy, and an uplift in spirit,” Raja explained.

Rajeev Raja, founder and ‘Soundsmith’ of BrandMusiq.

The composition is anchored in Raag Shankarabharanam, closely aligned with the Western major scale, making it both accessible to global ears and recognisably Indian. Instruments such as the mridangam, Carnatic-style guitar and mandolin sit alongside piano, electric guitar, and synths, creating what Rao called “a harmonious jugalbandi of heritage and modernity.”

Designing for transience

Airports are not silent concert halls but are noisy spaces often fraught with emotional moments. The challenge is embedding music in a way that enhances the experience without becoming intrusive.

For BIAL, this meant deploying sound strategically across ‘earpoints’—specific touchpoints such as Digi Yatra gates, Wi-Fi kiosks, boarding pass machines, and e-gates. The objective, Rao said, was to make the sonic identity a “comforting cue, a subtle reminder embodying BLR Airport — evoking calm, warmth, and a sense of place.”

BrandMusiq tailored layers of the composition for different environments, from bustling check-in zones to quieter lounges. Raja said, “Working closely with the airport team, we’re embedding these sonic cues throughout the passenger journey to create an immersive experience that remains engaging without becoming intrusive.”

Sound as strategy

Kej argues that music resonates in ways that visual branding cannot, particularly in transient environments like airports. “It allows a brand to leave an imprint not through volume, but through resonance. In transient environments, it can ground people, offer a sense of familiarity, and even become tied to how they remember a place or a moment,” he said.

For him, sonic branding goes beyond being a marketing tool. “It humanises a space, adds emotional depth, and transforms branding into part of the journey itself — not just an external layer of identity,” he added.

This perspective aligns with a wider trend. As airports evolve into multi-brand ecosystems—featuring retail, dining, entertainment, and digital media—sound becomes another layer of adtech.

Raja pointed out that alignment is critical. “The key is ensuring a brand’s sound is heard in the right context, enhancing the environment rather than disrupting it,” he noted, while putting on the brand marketer’s hat.

From branding to ecosystem

BIAL sees the sonic identity as a long-term asset, not a one-off campaign. Rao explained that while Rhythm of BLR has been rolled out across airport touchpoints, it is also being extended into advertising.

“We’ve already played spots on radio; the sonic identity is also activated on our BLR Airport IVRS and on all our official numbers. We will also be extending the sonic identity across our upcoming campaigns that cover our different services,” she said.

Shalini Rao, chief marketing officer, Bangalore International Airport Ltd’s (BIAL).

This extension underscores a shift from brand-centric messaging to what BIAL describes as passenger-centric communication. Rather than emphasising the airport’s features, the sonic identity attempts to centre the emotions travellers take with them—comfort, delight, calmness.

From a marketing standpoint, it also offers continuity across physical and digital spaces. As sound integrates into programmatic audio, DOOH, in-flight media and digital campaigns, a sonic identity becomes a consistent thread binding the brand’s ecosystem.

An experiment in scale

For Kej, the project has been about evolution. What began as an anthem for a launch event has become an airport-wide soundscape, rooted in both local culture and global accessibility.

The practical question, however, is impact. Can sound tangibly influence how passengers perceive an airport?

For BIAL, the expectation is yes—that sonic branding can translate into stronger emotional connection and repeat preference. The airport is betting that music will not just accompany travel but become part of how travellers recall their time in Bengaluru.

The experiment also raises broader questions for marketers: where does sound sit in the hierarchy of branding assets? In an era when digital content is fragmented and fleeting, sonic identities offer the promise of quick recognition and emotional resonance in a matter of seconds.

Sonic branding at BLR Airport illustrates a shift in how spaces—particularly transient ones—are branded. Rather than pushing a logo or tagline, the airport is betting on resonance: an aural identity that seeks to mirror Bengaluru itself, “deeply rooted yet open to the world,” as Kej put it.

Whether Rhythm of BLR becomes a familiar cue for millions of travellers remains to be seen. But the experiment underscores a wider reality for brands: in environments where attention is fleeting, sound may be one of the few mediums that cuts through—subtly, consistently, and memorably.