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When to use a jingle in your marketing.

Jingles were the rage in the heydays of radio and TV advertising. Once sound was introduced into moving pictures and TV, the jingle was creative as a way to trigger a quick response in the mind of the consumer.

The Psychology of Jingles – the “Earworm”

Psychologists and neurologists who study the effects of music on the brain explain studies have shown music effects the brain on an emotional level – thus, music with a strong emotional connection to the listener is harder to forget.

It is for this reason that professional marketers often use popular music in advertising as a type of jingle. Just like original jingles, pop music often contain earworms– the easy to remember melody or tone that people will associate with a brand for years to come – similar to your average jingle. Earworms are those tiny, 15- to 30-second pieces of music that you can’t get out of your head no matter how hard you try.

The truth is that psychologists and neurologists don’t know the exact cause of earworms, but suspect it is the melody’s repetition that is at work on neural circuits within the human brain. Research found that shorter, simpler melodies were most easily stuck in human minds, creating earworms. Research has also shown earworms are more prevalent in women, as well as musicians. (source: The Barnes Firm)

Jingles are effective in advertising for many reasons

According to Score a Score, jingles still remain relevant even though Media consumption patterns have changed significantly. Fewer people now rely on radio and TV as their primary sources of information. More people rely on various platforms on the internet to get information. Also, there is a significant increase in on-demand media consumption.

According to a Quality Logo survey, 63.1% of people watch jingles on TV, streaming platforms such as YouTube and Hulu being the second most popular media for jingles while Radio jingles are now third on the list.

People also watch jingles as pop-up ads on websites and browsers, music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Pandora, on gaming apps, as well as in-app ads.

One of the top benefits of jingle marketing is that it can be used across the board on various electronic media. If your jingle is interesting enough, it can be shared and viewed by millions, which broadens your brand reach and awareness.

You can even send your jingle in a sound chip via direct mail!

Is creating and using a Jingle the right approach for your brand?

It all depends on three things:

1. The story you are telling.
2. How uniquely you can position yourself using your jingle.
3. Does your media choice and budget allow you to spend enough to build the type of recall and awareness using your jingle?

It all starts with the right “slogan”

This looks like a fun site where you can create your own slogans: https://www.shopify.com/tools/slogan-maker

Using Design as a Strategic Advantage

So many of the marketing decisions these days have become formulaic. With our reliance on data driven decisions and click through activities I wonder sometimes if we have lost our overall sense of creativity?

Has creative design become a process that we just “go through the motions?” Or do we give the creative development our full attention and best work?

Some Historical Context of Creative Design

Years ago, when print and broadcast marketing ruled the industry, the creative process was painstaking and thorough. Check out an episode from MadMen for a look inside the Ad Agency business as it was in the 60’s.

It might take weeks or months of going back and forth with multiple comp ideas and then refining again and again until the concept was perfect. Only then would the project move ahead.

Why was it so seemingly painfully slow? I believe two reasons: 1) They worked hard to get it right the first time and 2) Once created, you can’t “fix” bad creative. You can’t “unprint” a magazine ad or revise a broadcast spot without large expense and a huge loss of time.

Does Technology Inadvertently Encourage Mediocre Advertising?

Today’s digital tools make it much easier to modify creative in almost real time. An ad that isn’t pulling can be redesigned and uploaded potentially within hours. And that’s where my concern rests. The ease of “fixing” bad advertising might inadvertently lead to the creation of mediocre advertising in the first place.

We should always start with the goal of creating the very best concept we can, given the resources we have (budget, people and time usually being the biggest challenges).

A Helpful Checklist for Great Creative

I googled “Creative Advertising Checklist” and receive over 10 million hits. Everybody has their favorite list. Here’s mine:

1. Relevance to the Target Market – Does it “speak” to the right people?

2. Celebrate the product – The product or service should be the hero

3. Make it memorable – Appeal to those emotions that encourage your buyers to interact or see themselves using your product

4. Make it easy to take action

5. Support the overall brand and company positioning

Make sure to allow yourself time to brainstorm multiple options as well as adequate time for refining the concept and exploring multiple ways of delivering the product benefits.

Design as a Strategic Advantage

As impressions of your work grow, your brand and product will be elevated in the marketplace. Consistency in delivering high quality work becomes a hallmark of the company and is part of your overall brand promise.

Don’t short cut the process as it may create inadvertent mistakes or miscues that backfire.

How could any Marketing Manager resist the temptation of the promise of AI? Like any new technology, we are quickly beginning to understand the power inherent with this new tool.

Much has been discussed about the societal opportunities and threats but what about those that could impact YOU, the communicator bent on leveraging AI to make your job easier, more efficient, or more effective?

Legal and Moral Implications

Yesterday I read a full page advertisement from a local law firm that may be establishing themselves as a resource for AI related issues. Falcon, Rappaport & Berkman have offices throughout the US in major metro areas.

Their advertisement provides some good perspective of the potential issues that can develop through inappropriate, careless, and/or malicious use of information. As their ad says, “the ability to construct a commanding brand presence and thought leadership by instantly generating on-point articles as needed,” is alluring to everyone in a fast-paced, competitive environment.

AI may serve up information to you. However, you will own the action and activity associated with the usage and may have to vouch for its credibility.

Potential AI Landmines

The premise from the law firm is sound and serves as a basic foundation for evaluating all information that is going to be distributed to the masses. Some of these you may (should) already be doing. Others should be worthy of your attention:

• Industry Data Confidentiality – Some of the data that comes back may have been sourced from confidential areas. Be mindful of any state or federal regulations that may impact the data you are acquiring. Something may be legal in one state and not another for instance.

• Intellectual Property Protection – You may unknowingly use copyright material which may potentially be subject to litigation. You can still be held liable if you didn’t know you were using copyright material. Published materials, photos, lyrics, stories and other intellectual property may inadvertently be scooped up in an AI data dump.

According to the US Copyright Office, AI generated content cannot be copyrighted. You can’t assign a copyright to the materials you have created from AI.

• Personal and Private Information – As AI scours all corners of the internet to capture data on individuals, be sure to eliminate any of the information that may fall into a protected category. The list of protections is increasing, and the scope of these protections vary by state and country.

How to Protect Yourself

Be mindful of the data you are pulling and be careful to review and synthesize everything that you personally use. Avoid wading into controversial areas with third party data you have secured from broad sources.

Talk to your company about whether a policy should be created around the use of this data. This is important to establish any ground rules that are created in light of your business parameters or sensitivities.

This technology is moving very fast and mistakes are bound to happen. Hopefully, you won’t become a victim.

We are just coming off a Memorial Day weekend. With this holiday comes the ever-present tie in to the patriotism that we naturally feel around these days. Advertisers hope that we will feel an affinity towards the brands that use patriotic messaging to invoke stronger sentiment towards their products.

Certain products have always been part of a Memorial Day advertising campaign – Picnic items, beverages, home improvement, barbeques and those activities associated with the advent of Summer.

How Effective is Patriotic Advertising?

With Memorial Day in the rearview mirror and the Fourth of July ahead, now is a good time to assess whether you should consider using patriotic themes in your future advertising or messaging.

According to Thunderfoot, advertising using a patriotism theme can be a powerful strategy.

“Great advertising relies upon effective design and language to forge bonds between a brand and its customers. By integrating patriotic imagery into their ads, American brands create a connection for consumers between their product and all the commonly cited virtues of the good old US of A — freedom, determination, and originality among them. Referencing American iconography typically suggests a brand’s honor and integrity, and helps stoke consumers’ loyalty to that brand by touting qualities that consumers can feel good about supporting.”

When not to use Patriotic Advertising

Generally speaking, patriotic advertising works for many brands or situations. However, there might be times when it doesn’t fit and can actually damage your brand. Here are a few examples of poorly executed patriotic advertising:

1. When the advertisement is promoting an inappropriate patriotic connection to the brand.
“Nothing says Memorial Day like Fresh Baked Bread”
Probably nobody ever has said this and therefore it shouldn’t be said. The brand comes off as out of touch.

2. When the usage of patriotism seems gratuitous.
An example of this might be a swimsuit commercial where there are flags all around the pool trying to make a connection to patriotism that would rarely exist in real life.

3. When you create an emotional patriotic event that inadvertently works against your product.
An example might be showing fallen soldiers or families as a backdrop to your product. This is very risky as you could end up with consumers associating your product with a strong negative feeling.

Should you, or shouldn’t you?

The July 4th holiday is about a month away. As you plan for Summer promotions remember these tips. Importantly, make sure to maintain the respect and reverence we should always practice around this topic.

Is there anything more pleasant to one’s ear than to hear their own name? That’s why for years marketers have worked hard to integrate technology into their communication to make the consumer conversation more relevant.

At the most basic level, we want to feel like we are talking directly to the person. And they are listening to us. A true one-to-one dialogue.

How Much Personalization is Too Much?

With the growth of so much data warehousing and a seemingly endless source of “personal” information, the possibilities to customize messaging are many. But just because we can, should we?

According to Psychology Today (5/5/2021), surveys show that many consumers have reservations about targeted advertising that actually cause them to avoid such ads and resist their influence. Their review is published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

The research shows that personalized marketing may be effective, but can also backfire if not done correctly.

According to the study, the following issues were identified as causing consumer concerns.

1. Invasion of privacy. The most obvious way things backfire is when consumers believe marketers acquired or are using personal data they thought was or should be private.

2. Attempt at manipulation. It can backfire if consumers believe marketers are attempting to control or manipulate them in some way.

3. Unfair or stereotypic judgment. Rejection occurs when consumers view an ad as targeting them based on an unfair or stereotypic judgment about them, such as about their gender identity, age, race, or weight. Invasiveness, manipulation, and stereotyping should be avoided for obvious ethical reasons.

4. Already known content. This can make consumers tune out the message by signaling that they already know what marketers want to tell them (e.g., targeting superfans of a musician with well-publicized information about the musician’s upcoming album).

5. Weak arguments. Sometimes we believe that the consumer is interested in a product or topic and that is enough for them to engage. It backfires when the ad or message makes an unconvincing case to an interested user. This can probably be blamed on poor creative.

The key is to stay in your lane with respect to your product and its benefits. Respect the recipient and their desire for relevant, appropriate and helpful messaging. Use data that you are confident about.

Avoid politics, religion, and social topics as they can create a wedge between you and your customer.

Personalization Can Be Fun Too!

Don’t be afraid to have some fun and be playful too. Sometimes just knowing someone’s name is enough to solicit a smile.

Below are some examples of a campaign we are launching in conjunction with our trade show presence in Nashville at the MAC Conference this week. With our access to the attendee list, we were able to pre-print some great personalized concert poster souvenirs for each attendee.

And for those whose names we didn’t have, we created some “tongue in cheek” names to pick from.

Maybe one of these will end up in a real Nashville act!