How music and memorable tunes amplify brand impact

New Delhi: The legendary “David Ogilvy “once said that when you have nothing to say about your product you sing. But that was not completely true as many successful brands lived on well composed jingle tunes. 

We are a country of diverse cultures so music and jingle get noticed and connect with the end audience. In the 1970’s ,80’s and the 90’s, many brands, especially consumer facing, created brand communication using memorable tunes and jingles. Jingles formed an integral part of the brand communication. 

We can name many brands who stole the limelight with their memorable tunes and jingles. Brands like Nirma, Lifebuoy, Horlicks, Rasna, Campa Orange, Thums UP and Vicco Vajradanti were some of the brands that leveraged the jingles or song to catch the audience’s attention. 

Later on, Britannia, Airtel, Vodafone and Titan also created some memorable tunes which are still running and connect well with the brand. 

You need to have a good lyric that can be hummed well and should touch the chord of the end audience. 

While tunes play a significant role in enhancing the brand or product the effectiveness of the same will happen only when it blends with the overall communication on what the brand wants to communicate. 

You should not force a song or a jingle in any piece of communication as it may not fit at times. Normally jingles and songs go well with mass products especially in the FMCG segment where you need to touch the masses. 

Try and infuse freshness in your tunes to help differentiate the brand. Be original and ensure that the product offering and the core values attached to the brand is communicated. 

One can differentiate your tune to beat the clutter by experimenting with different kinds of musical instruments so that it is unique and sticky. Good example for this was the Airtel ringtone which became an all-time hit. By bringing in A.R. Rahman to compose the tune, they got the best out of him and even today it is an integral part of the overall brand communication. 

The downloading of that ringtone just hit the roof that it became a strong brand property for the brand. Vodafone also became popular with their jingle and song which really embellished the entire pug film. 

Some time back, Louis Banks had created a four-note jingle for Britannia and ‘Ting ting ti-ting’ became an inimitable part of the food major’s brand identity. The power of music really helps brands to be noticed in a cluttered television world where brands fight for their mind space. 

Most brands today collaborate with music to bring in the right connection to engage with their audience. Today, Sonic Branding is the new buzz word that is sweeping the hallways of the world’s most enlightened brand and marketing corporations.

While jingles have been a crucial component of advertising, today brands are looking beyond jingles. The game changing scenario has already entered and brands are now focussing on creating audio assets to create long lasting emotional connection among consumers.  

Sonic Branding is the strategic development of a brand’s unique audio assets, leveraged consistently across diverse online and offline media.

 Simply put, Sonic Branding is the audio equivalent of Visual Branding. While visual branding is consistent across ‘touchpoints’, sonic branding is consistent across ‘ear points. 

Much thought and thinking are given when developing a sonic identity by understanding the brand values and ethos and the culture that it operates. Therefore, a good sonic identity should touch the emotional chord and evoke an emotional response. 

In recent times, the audiences are evolving and are more glued to their small screen and want to engage on the go without much interruptions. They do not have the patience to lengthy messages in the form of jingles and messages have to be delivered in just 5 to 10 seconds and therefore the challenge of creating jingles does not fit in the scheme of things. 

Good jingles will be very effective if it is of longer duration to get their message across. But that does not mean that brands are refraining from creating jingles. If it resonates well with the brand and makes it relevant, brands are open to jingles and songs but they are very careful and choosy before diving into making one. If tunes are melodious and catchy we can expect a lot of them to be downloaded and kept as a ringtone. Airtel and Vodafone are one brand that people loved and had it as their ringtone. 

The other highpoint in jingles today is they do not form the central part of a TVC and in many cases they exist by supporting the overall theme and the brand idea of the film.