Earworm: a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person’s mind after it is no longer playing.
Lately, everybody is face and eyes into the latest and greatest marketing techniques. Content marketing, social media, pay-per-click campaigns, the list goes on. And we love that stuff. A lot.
But it seems like no one talks about the humble jingle much anymore. If you’re looking for some serious brand awareness, you could do much worse than having a catchy tune crafted for your company.
A Good Jingle Has Staying Power
Good jingles stick with us. Some become part of pop-culture. Quick! With just these four words do you know who I’m talking about? “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.” Or how about “My baloney has a first name it’s…..” You filled in the blank didn’t you?
Back in my elementary school days, our choir once sang a medley of commercial jingles. We. Sang. Advertising. And we thought it was the coolest thing. How brilliant is that? Jingles can give us the warm and fuzzies about a brand. To this day, the Saint John Transit song makes Melissa nostalgic for her hometown.
Like Madonna, You Too Can Re-Invent
Once you have that catchy tune entrenched in people’s minds, you can keep workin’ it forever. Some of the greats have been around for decades. The key is re-invention. Collision Clinic recently asked the public to re-invent their classic jingle and put their own spin on it. The results ranged from cute to hilarious to impressive and everything in between.
You don’t even need a full 30-second song to be effective. Just the other day I found myself humming the 4-second Farmer’s Insurance tune. So simple. 4 seconds. That was all it took and now their brand is stuck with me. Nationwide only needed 7 syllables to have Peyton Manning on their side. Like a good neighbour, State Farm had Barry Manilow (yes, that Barry Manilow) write their ditty back in 1971 and they’re still using it today. He also penned the catchy tune for Band-Aid. Busy guy.
No Need for a Barry Manilow Budget
You don’t need to be a big national company with a Barry Manilow budget to invest in a jingle. They work great locally and we all know St. John’s is steeped in musical talent. Have you ever forgotten the phone number to have piping hot Peter’s Pizza delivered to your door? I don’t think so, because you know their tune. Do you ‘swing on in’ to Jungle Jim’s on the weekends?
Great jingle examples are endless: Kit Kat, Meow Mix, MetroBus, Juicy Fruit, Toys R Us, Auto Parts Network, Jungle Jim’s, and so many, many more.
