A picture is worth a thousand words, but music says what words can’t. In the world of branding, where visuals and messages are engineered to jump out and grab your attention, it’s the one thing that (if done right) goes unnoticed—at least at a conscious level. Then, how important is music to a brand if it goes by without recognition? It can make the difference between simply looking at a picture and actually feeling emotionally connected to what that image evokes in your mind and heart. And isn’t that what brands ultimately want to do? They want to share memorable stories that move, motivate, persuade or inspire. To do so effectively, brands need to engage their audiences at an emotional level. And to make this connection, brands can utilize a powerful tool—one that has crossed every divide since human existence: music.

Music, though, is a delicate animal. Mishandled, it can very easily turn what had the potential to be a great message into an emetic. A good strategy for composing music for a brand is subtlety. Music enhances and enriches the brand voice and message, rather than drowns them out. When composing music for a brand, you need the right instrumentation to express its personality and spirit and to advance the narrative. The composition needs to have an underlying theme of which the various groups of instruments can play off in ways that draw in and captivate your audience. Think of how John Williams varied the theme throughout Jurassic Park to fit the mood on screen.

The most important thing about creating music for a brand is that you think about how you use it to bring your brand to life. If you do, you can make a real and lasting emotional connection that wins your audiences’ hearts and minds. If you have any doubts, take it from Conan.