Making Of: Cinnamon Toast Crunch™’s Fun and Flavorful Sonic Identity
After several successful sonic branding collaborations with our longtime clients at General Mills, they had the boldest and most flavor-filled challenge for us yet: create a world of sound for Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ and their delightful Cinnamojis. To grab Gen Z’s attention fast, we created the “Cinnadust!” shout, a sonic logo complete with an airhorn and namedrop of their signature cinnamon flavor.
Read on to find out which musical ingredients went into creating the sonic world of Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ and cue the mayhem of “CINNADUUUUUST!”
the setup
Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ is instantly recognizable because of distinct brand assets like their iconic wordmark, cinnamon swirl, Cinnamoji characters and the delicious blast of Cinnadust flavor. In 2023 they recognized the need for equally impactful sonic branding assets, to help dimensionalize their brand world. Their new musical brand expression needed to be disruptive, irreverent, and ear-poppingly funny.
“We create brand worlds that fire across as many senses as possible. There’s something powerful about sonic in terms of memory structures that linger with consumers.”
reaching gen z
The target audience was multicultural, digital native teens. 75% of Gen Z consumers say music helps them feel more connected to a brand, and they crave multi-sensory experiences as a way to escape. The sonic identity had to capture their attention fast.
General Mills turned to global sonic branding agency and Gen Z experts Made Music Studio once again, after collaborating on successful sonic identities for brands including Totino’s Pizza Rolls, Nature Valley, and the Fruit Snacks portfolio (Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Fruit by the Foot).
“For Cinnamon Toast Crunch™, we needed to ensure the sonic assets would complement the iconic visual branding. The musical expression needed to feel Exhilarating, Authentic and Playfully Absurd,” said Made Music Studio’s Danielle Venne (ECD, Music Production).
Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ - Sonic Logo
the creative
Sonic Logo: The “Cinnaduuuuust” sonic logo has such a strong personality that it’s already an instant classic — once you hear it, you’ll swear it’s been in pop culture for years. The punchy combination of airhorn, “Cinnadust!” shout and the ultramodern beat cuts through the clutter every time.
“We crafted the sonic logo to disrupt the culture and capture attention. It’s an ownable audio meme that satisfies no matter when or where you hear it,” said Made Music’s Danielle Venne (ECD, Music Production). “Just like their signature blast of flavor: you can sprinkle ‘Cinnadust!’ on almost anything. It also happens to be the only sonic logo with an airhorn!”
Brand Theme: The Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ brand theme takes you on a journey through three exhilarating worlds to capture the essence, character, and flavor of CTC. The complete “Cinnajourney” includes; the reggaeton flavored "Fuego De Leche", the faster tempo "Crunchy Beat" and the slower feel of "Cinna-Chill". At the core of each you’ll hear ear worm melodies created with saxophone and flute that are simple, hummable, and memorable. The juxtaposition of organic instruments and minimalist hip-hop beats create a unique Latinx style that stands out from the crowd of cereal competitors. The overall effect is a fun-filled explosion of musical flavor.
the results
Launched in September 2023, Cinnamon Toast Crunch™’s bold sonic branding is strategically designed to create brand recognition, disrupt culture, and inspire teens to be their weird, awesome selves.
The full sonic branding toolkit is also packed full of supporting audio elements including cereal sounds, slurps, and Cinnamoji effects and freestyles. The result is a cohesive and expansive sonic system that delivers at every consumer touchpoint — from digital advertising to TikTok remixes, influencer content to brand partnerships. The sonic identity has the power to enhance CTC’s visual brand world or deliver stand-alone impact in sound-only environments. And as a modular system, it can be remixed, reused, and reshared for years to come.
Research by Sentient Decision Science shows that only 5 months after launch, 41% of listeners already recognized the “Cinnadust!” sonic logo as the Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ brand. By comparison, the same study showed that the famous McDonald’s sonic logo is recognized by 43% of listeners after 21 years.
Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ - Reel
creative team
Danielle Venne – Executive Creative Director
Alexis Cuadrado – Senior Music Producer
Mickey Alexander – Composer + Music Co-Producer
Eric Hall – Composer + Music Co-Producer
Broox Carmona – Mix Engineer
Dennis Wall – Mastering Engineer
Stephanie Hunt – Group Account Director
Chandler Lane – Senior Account Executive
Joel Beckerman – Founder + Music Producer
