We live in an Ad saturated world. An average person comes across scores of advertisements on a daily basis in this consumer obsessed and oriented society resulting in a sort of numbness to the excessive branding all around.
How does one then promote their message that cuts through the mental barriers of the consumers and gives out a loud and clear message of their products and services and speaks up against the white noise that is enveloping the market.
Do you remember a television or a radio ad when you were young? If it has stayed with you and you love humming it frequently then it is nothing but the simple power of music that has been crafted into a jingle.
Music brings positive memories, emotions and nostalgia to life, making it a very effective marketing tool. A study revealed that 89% of the consumers interviewed, agree to this.
They said that well written and composed jingles were the ones that got stored for years down the line in their minds, while the ones that were poorly created, impacted the consumers in a negative way and switched them off.
So let’s look into what type of jingles work best on the radio.
1)Simple jingles-jingles are meant to be easily remembered just like nursery rhymes. The shorter the better, the more repetitive the better and the more rhyming the better.
The jingles that are recited and understood by a child are on the right track. Clear and crisp sentences work better than the philosophical or ambiguous poetical verses.
How familiar and easy does this sound every single time and pops up whenever you are hungry? ‘bah-da-bah-bah-bah..i’m lovin’it!’ This campaign launched in 2003 with Justin Timberlake’s voice has been the longest running campaign in Macdonald’s history and has taken the advertising blitz by surprise.
Or the LIC ‘s jeevan anand policy ad that says, ‘Zindagi ke saath bhi zindagi ke baad bhi’ and can we ever forget the ‘utterly butterly delicious’?
2)Catchy jingles -catchy is synonymous to memorable and positive. The more pleasant the jingle sounds the more it will be strongly and positively associated with the brand. Although this is more like a slogan, but the coca cola ad by Prasoon Joshi which has the sound of a bottle opening and the fizzy cola oozing out.
‘’Plop, plop fizzzzz!’’ followed by a AAAAHHH! thanda matlab coca cola’’ conveys a social message of optimism and makes you want to reach out for it every time you are looking for something to drink. The ad got India a Cannes gold in 2003 and has led to increased sales for the company.
Association with pleasant and meaningful voices make jingles popular too. Hence celebrities are often roped in to associate with the brand. ‘Re Re Re Raftaar’ jingle by A.R Rehman brought a lot of ‘Raftaar’ to the Renault car ad by its mellifluous mix that celebrates life.
So did his catchy Airtel tune that instantly takes us a decade back where we were excited about cell phones and the connectivity they brought. Shahrukh khan made ‘Navratna’ talc a household name with the jingle, ‘thanda thanda cool cool’ and brightened up the houses with ‘’ Jab ghar ki raunak badhani ho,deewaro ko jab sajano ho..Nerolac Nerolac!’’
But research also shows that it is all about the consumer being left with the memory of a brand. That is why sometimes the obnoxious and the offbeat jingles tend to work well too.
The T20 world cup ad that annoyingly keeps repeating ‘dabba hai dabba…uncle ka tv hai dabba’ has crappy logic but is still remembered and so is ‘’Dettol Dettol Dettol ho!’ which is a 40 second jingle that only has one word.
3)Jingles with effective copy-although the message is best kept simple it has to give a clear and fair depiction of what the brand is all about. Great copy is not about words but making an emotional connection.
It talks more about the consumer than the seller.’ ‘Vajradanti Vajradanti Vicco Vajradanti’, ‘washing powder Nirma’ and ‘lifebuoy’ ads did this. Reetesh Vadodaria who is a sales professional says these ads convey their speciality and message effectively through their copies as well as their music and will never be forgotten.
Humorous and amusing copies let the audience immediately relate to the situation and the service promoted and also reinforce cheerfulness in seemingly serious situations like the Godrej DVD player ad that shows everyone with an increased volume in their daily lives.
The jingles used in commercials have always been the soul and life of every Indian advertisement on radio. The most effective, simple and catchy ones are like the ‘ear bugs’ that stay forever and there is no limit to what an advertiser can say through these little songs to lock their brand into the consumers’ heads.
Author- Alefiya Kapasi
Statistical source- https://info.zimmercommunications.com/blog/why-radio-jingles-work
Disclaimer- images have been used from images.google.com for illustrative purposes only.
