About Signature Tones and the Partners
Signature Tones is the sonic branding studio created by
David Meerman Scott and Juanito Pascual.
We create sonic logos and original music that organizations use for marketing and in their products and services.
David Meerman Scott
The intersection of marketing and music first came together for me a decade ago when I began researching what eventually became my book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History which I wrote with HubSpot co-founder and CEO Brian Halligan (and NBA basketball hall of famer and massive Deadhead Bill Walton who did the foreword). Brian and I are thrilled that the ideas resonated with entrepreneurs, marketers, and musicians alike and the book became an international bestseller. In the years since the book launched, I’ve presented the ideas at hundreds of events in dozens of countries.
As I shared the ideas about how the Grateful Dead influenced marketing, I began to realize how music is an essential component of marketing. Juanito and I partnered to offer organizations a unique sonic signature to brand them as a player in their industry.
Our always-on, Web-driven world has new rules for competing and growing business. I’m convinced that music is an essential component of generating attention, but so few organizations are aware of its power to influence. Those who embrace new ways of reaching buyers will be far more successful than those who stay who stay stuck and afraid to change.
In my early career, I worked in the corporate world for global information companies including Thomson Reuters, where I was a division vice president of marketing; and Knight-Ridder, where I served as Asia marketing director based in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
In 2002, I left big company life and began writing books, speaking at conferences and events, and serving on advisory boards of organizations including HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS), where I also serve as Marketer in Residence. I began working with HubSpot in 2007 when the company had a handful of customers and fewer than 10 employees. Since helping the Hubspot team with rapid sales and marketing strategies the company has grown to over 20,000 customers in 90 countries. My current portfolio of advisory clients also includes Mynd, Expertfile, YayPay, RISEcx, Set The Set, VisibleGains, SlapFive, and GutCheck as well as non-profits including the Grateful Dead Archive at University of California Santa Cruz and HeadCount.
I am author or co-author of ten books - three are international bestsellers. I am best known for The New Rules of Marketing & PR, Rules of Marketing & PR, now in its 5th edition, which has been translated into 26 languages from Albanian to Vietnamese, with over 375,000 copies sold so far. I also authored Real-Time Marketing & PR, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, and my newest, The New Rules of Sales & Service.
Juanito Pascual
My love of music goes back as early as I can remember, asking my mom for a guitar at the age of 3. I went through piano lessons and then cornet in the school band before my first guitar lessons at age 11. I liked it all, but from that first moment with a guitar in my hand, I experienced a deep sense of knowing that I would always play guitar. Music became the natural focus for me.
I was absolutely in love with Jimi Hendrix, but had a fantastic teacher who gave me classical instruction mixed with the blues and rock stuff I was really excited about. I loved it all. I became a sponge absorbing elements of every style I came across, from rock, folk, and pop to jazz, classical, and flamenco. I just loved playing music and learning any style I could was a very natural part of my passion.
I discovered early on that I could create my own music. That was a real thrill and became a constant presence in my musical life. Almost as soon as I had a guitar I was putting bands together, playing some original songs, as well as writing, performing, and recording songs for school projects.
While at college at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, it became clear that composition was a central part of my musical expression. I was aware that not everyone felt they could write music, yet for me it always felt completely natural, almost essential.
When David and I started talking about combining our backgrounds to form what became Signature Tones, it felt like such a natural step for me. I have always approached musical composition as though I’m creating musical or sonic portraits. A very large number of my compositions are inspired by people, places, or experiences, with the compositional process being all about translating the essence of the subject into sound.
Likewise, I’ve also had the opportunity to write for and perform with dancers, and in that setting it is the same, you are observing the dancer and striving to channel the essence of their expression through sound. Similarly in more recent composing for film and TV, once again, it is all about capturing the essence of the scene, character, or plot in music. My music has been heard widely in film, TV and radio. I appeared in "Pink Panther 2" with Steve Martin, and most recently performed on the score of "Call Me Francesco" (Netflix) and on the Viceland program of "State of Undress."
This is what I’ve been doing for my entire career in my 3 albums, commissioned works, and music for TV and film. I am truly excited to apply this background to the dynamic world of business and the translation of brand essence into memorable sounds!
Giving Back to our Environment
Our work requires each of us to fly well more than 100,000 air miles per year as well as use taxis and hotels around the world.
We offset our carbon footprints by donating our time and a percentage of our profits from Signature Tones to Geoversity and Earth Train to help fund efforts at the more than 10,000 acre Mamoní Valley Preserve in Panama.
The preserve, bordering Guna Yala, the semi autonomous territory of the indigenous Guna, is located in one of the top 20 ecological hotspots on Earth. Geoversity is a newly formed alliance of entities that share a commitment to “learning from and partnering with nature”.
