I have been thinking about this since I first saw it on afaqs – Do signature tunes for brands work? – (okay, maybe not thinking as in all the time, but I thought about it when I clicked on this forgotten link to see what it was I had book-marked!). I still don’t know what the article says, in fact, I don’t even understand what the question means… but among the many clever things David Ogilvy said, this hits the nail on ts head – when you have nothing to say, sing it.
From the article –Jingles were prevalent when media was not as cluttered as it is today. Now merely singing the virtues of the product will fail to engage consumers – I agree.
Looking great and feeling good with Lakme…
As crazy as we are about – Gold Spot – the zing thing…
Trrrriiiinng – washing powder Nirma…
Even in this cluttered market today, I think the key is to memorability is the signature tune – it is the single identity that people associate with the brand, even as it goes through several (sometimes pointless) avtaars of variants and pack changes and relaunches. For instance, think of Nokia, and the first thing I think of is the signature tune. Or Thums Up – taste the thunder!
There are also brands which have used their music as almost the single point of their advertising – The best example for me would be Titan and the way the basic tune gets modified and repackaged with each new product – Fast-track for instance has a peppy, younger version of the tune, while Titan Raga carried the tune in a soulful rendition by Shubha Mudgal. I only have to hear it from anywhere and I know the ad is for Titan – and it is great fun for me to guess what kind of watch the ad is for, and for which target segment – based just on the way the tune is rendered.
SO why do brands who spend several hours and bottles of antacid, not to mention lakhs of rupees before changing any other aspect of their identity give no thought to this vital element – the music. I would contend it is one of strongest elements related to a brand – sit down today with a bunch of people your age (my age!) and recall ads from the past – and I can assure you the ads remembered are those that can be sng.
Vajradanti Vajradanti Vicco Vajradanti…
well said charu.
Jingles -which formed such an intrinstic part of
any ad- are being underestimated today.
The last good tune which did the trick was by
hutch – you and i and now the vodafone version
– everyday i want to fly.
Both of them were brilliant.
I had written a post on my blog related to jingles
and i was amazed to see people remember all
those ads from the bygone era.
I complete agree with your points of view there. Most of the old ads, I probably don’t remember the visuals or the actual storyboard itself, but then just play the music and lo and behold, I would probably be able to sing out the rest of the jingle myself.
Some memorable ones for me –
Amul – Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul
Bajaj – Jab main chota bachcha tha, badi shararat karta tha
Torino – Ah Torino !!!
Vodafone – You and I !!!
Levis – Mistah Lovah Lovah
Cheers………Jai
It is strange to see how some of the best ads and tunes go with some of the best products. But great tunes alone don’t end up selling products. In spite of the Hutch – You and I tune, not everyone were with the connection. The companies could gain more money by making the best of the tunes as albums with full fledged songs. That way atleast the songs will sell! Some times, have a feeling that commercials are more interesting than the programs!
Destination Infinity.
I totally agree with you when it comes to sounds of brands. I feel the most powerful thing that Nokia has as a brand is it’s ring tone, advertised for free by millions of buzzing phones everyday.
Similarly for Windows the startup tune which is played across all desktops when they are started. I haven’t seen MS really using that startup tune to much use.
The best tune that I remember from Indian advertising is the Nirma song. Washing powder Nirma, Nirma! Said everything about the product and yet was a sing-along song.