Jingles: Why You Should Be Using Them for Your Brand
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When was the last time you had a song pop into your head seemingly randomly? For me, it was this morning when I woke up. And, then again in the shower. Oh, and last night when I was preparing today’s lunch. Songs that just pop into your head like this are called earworms. They get their name from the thought that they wiggle their way into your ear, live there for a while, and then move on. And, sometimes, you may not have even heard the song in weeks, or months, or even years.
While there are a lot of catchy songs in today’s pop-culture music that you may find yourself humming, they are nothing compared to advertising jingles. Jingles are the powerlifters of earworms. Not only do you hear the tune, but you also remember the information transmitted. By combining information and music, you are much more likely to remember the information. Think about trying to memorize state capitals and countries in school, many successful students do this by putting them to song. (See Nations of the World by the Animaniacs).
In the marketing world, brands want to achieve “Top of Mind” status among consumers so that their brand will be the first thing a consumer thinks about when they are in the research phase of the Consumer Decision Making Process. This is the second phase out of five, after a consumer recognizes a problem/need.
But what does this mean for jingles? Just like a song popping into your head during a shower, a jingle can do the same thing without being instigated by a problem or need. That means a consumer can skip directly to have “top-of-mind” awareness, and 90 percent of all consumer purchase intent is due to top-of-mind awareness.
Plus, a consumer can recall detailed information that is conveyed within a jingle: phone numbers, product names, what a product does, almost anything.
Let’s test it. We can list several brands and the lyrics to their jingle, and most likely you will know the tune. Here are a few:
“Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There” - State Farm
“Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.” - Liberty Mutual
“The best part of waking up,” - Folgers
Not only did you probably know the tune, but you could also hear it. Now let’s try something a bit different. Let’s see how much information you recall from some jingles.
“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, _______________” - Alka Seltzer
“Five dollar. Five dollar, foot long. Any. Any. Any.” - _________________
“Call Empire Today. 800-_ _ _-_ _ _ _ Empire” - Empire Carpet
Depending on your generation you may not have encountered some of these. But for the ones you did, how easy was it to recite Alka Seltzer’s unique selling point, identify what brand sells five dollar foot longs, or instantly remember what number to dial to order new carpet.
While these are fairly well known nationally, think about the local personal injury law offices near you. What are their names? Do you know their slogan? Or even their phone number? Maybe you have never needed their services, but how do you feel that you still know as much information about them as you do? It’s easy to see that jingles are a great tool to help boost your brand awareness and even the smallest companies can position themselves to improve top-of-mind awareness in their target audience.
Boost your marketing approach with a jingle for your brand, reach out and let’s create something catchy.
Reserve your consultation with Kelley & Associates today.
