![]() One of advertising’s most powerful tools has fallen by the wayside Jingles have fallen out of favor lately. You don’t hear them very much any more. This is wrong. It’s more than wrong. It’s egregious. In this article, we’re going to show you why jingles are one of the most powerful tools in the advertiser’s kit—and how you can take advantage, to grow your business. Even in today’s “non-jingle” world. One-hit wonders What is a jingle? It’s a short tune, usually with lyrics, employed to make a brand or campaign memorable. Ideally, it’s catchy: an “ear worm” that you can’t get out of your head. We’re not composers, but we’ve worked with lots of talented jingle artists over the years. And we mean talented. In many ways, jingles are even harder to write than hit songs. Since they’re inherently short, there’s no time to build. You need to launch in fast, establish the hook, dig in, repeat if possible, and leave your audience breathless and moved. That’s a tall order for something that may only run, say, ten seconds, and get produced on a less-than-lavish budget. Jingles used to be everywhere. See if you’re old enough to recall some of these classics, based on the hints below:
Admit it. You’re already singing some of those tunes in your head right now. Aren’t you? As we’d mentioned above, writing jingles takes real musical chops. It’s little surprise, then, that some of the most storied songwriters have cut their teeth in the jingle world. Barry Manilow, for example, penned “I’m stuck on Band-Aid” and the “Like a Good Neighbor” jingle for State Farm. Rumor has it that he was paid a flat fee of $500 for that composition. If Mozart were alive today, he’d have gotten his start writing jingles. Guaranteed. Why they work It’s simply astonishing to us that jingles have fallen by the wayside. The so-called creatives helming major agencies these days are anything but. What, after all, is more creative than music? More importantly, from a business standpoint, what can possibly make a more visceral connection to your audience? Telling you that jingles don’t work is like telling a baker that her shop’s aroma doesn’t bring in passers-by. Music is hard-wired within us. It’s with us before we’re born: we each carry our own internal metronome—our heartbeat—all our lives. And a tune with a hook? It’s irresistible. There’s an old truism from the ad world which needs more attention these days: “No one hums the announcer.” Make jingles work for you It’s been said that jingles are “less relevant” these days, because we live in a world of small-screen instant gratification. That’s a lame excuse. If anything, we’re even more open to jingles and their magic, given their minimal bandwidth requirements, and the ubiquity of Facebook videos, websites, satellite radio, and more. AM and FM “terrestrial” radio are still with us, but they’re no longer the only games in down. And while the need for talented composers and singers can never be replaced by computer, the digital tools available to composers these days have truly leveled the playing field for the budget-constrained. So how do you make a jingle work for you? First, you’ve got to have a good foundation upon which to build: a solid grasp of your target audience (do they prefer classical or rap?) and a strategy to reach them. Then reach out—search online, get suggestions from professional groups and web forums—to actual jingle artists, and get the ball rolling. Not all jingles are “jingles.” Think of it: There are jingle elements you can leverage in other applications. A good tagline has a rhythm—and even rhyme—to it (“Amazon: And you’re done.”) A rhyming phone number is easier for your prospects to remember. Incidentally, we’ve produced, on the ad agency side, dozens of jingles over the years, working with ingenious composers, musicians from chart-topping rock groups who sometimes moonlight for their producer friends, and gifted singers who have breathed life into our lyrics. We’re grateful for the experience. Need help getting your mind around that jingle project? Need lyrics written? Have a new jingle you’d like to share with us? Contact us today. This is a topic we’re—excuse the pun—well-versed in.
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