“Jingles are a form of sound branding in which lyrics are modified to appropriately advertise the product or service. Advertisement buyers use jingles in radio and television commercials,” – AwesomeQuotes
The art and science of marketing has evolved considerably and now includes a range of devices that can be deployed through various advertising platforms. Television commercials, radio jingles, pop up and banner advertisements, print ads, short promotional videos, and vehicle wraps, among others help advertisers and marketing men to broadcast commercial messages through print, display, and electronic platforms. Radio jingles represent one of the earliest forms of broadcast advertising that predates many modern modes of advertisement. We must bear in mind that radio was the first mass advertising medium that utilised the ether to bring commercial messages into consumers’ homes and vehicles. The advent of television, cinema, the global Internet, and smartphones has depressed the uptake of radio advertisements but radio jingles continue to present a distinct value proposition for modern marketing campaigns.
Sound and music can be combined to create radio jingles that help to create a distinct connection with customers and the general public. While radio has undergone a distinct loss of audiences in the modern world, the medium is making a comeback through Internet platforms that are promoting radio as mass media. Digital radio tuners are enabling masses of Internet audiences to tune into hundreds of radio stations worldwide. This presents a worldwide opportunity for jingles to promote and market commercial products and services. The dipping costs of streaming music and content through Internet channels is also encouraging the use of online radio to reach mass markets. In light of the above, we may note that radio jingles should comprise a significant plank in every advertiser’s marketing mix.
A surfeit of educational and entertainment programmes is being broadcast through Internet channels every day. This is in tune with the age of mass markets and the pervasive influence of mass broadcast technologies. Developing markets are using Internet radio technologies to educate, entertain, and inform significant segments of audiences in such markets. These audiences represent prime recipients of marketing messages that can be packaged and broadcast as radio jingles. We must note that the use of radio jingles through internet channels in such markets helps marketing departments to access large swathes of populations through cost efficient channels. In addition, radio content can be accessed by multiple connected devices and this amplifies the market scope for radio jingles.
Market surveys have revealed that radio broadcasts form a significant portion of broadcast media consumption in multiple markets. As opposed to television and the Internet, radio is an exclusively aural medium and hence, can be consumed by multiple members that are spatially distributed in the household. This fact should help to multiply the audiences for radio jingles thereby ensuring a sound commercial proposition for advertisers and marketing men. Interesting jingles tend to attract a lot of consumer attention that focus on the attractive musical component of the jingle. We must note that certain classic jingles are still broadcast using public radio channels, thereby widening the reach of radio-borne publicity campaigns. This is significant when we consider the fact that modern audiences tend to be fragmented purely in terms of media consumption.
Brands, businesses, and enterprises can choose to play public radio channels in their business premises in order to boost customer awareness. For instance, a brick-and-mortar business can welcome customers to its premises by playing radio jingles that promote products offered for sale by said business. This represents an interesting ploy to secure consumer attention because the jingles prepare the consumer for certain brand experiences offered by the business. Jingles can also be engineered to play in loops so as to direct customers’ attention to a narrow range of products that remain on display. The cost of broadcasting these advertisements remains insignificant for the business, while the tangible returns can boost business bottom lines.
Interesting radio jingles can be engineered by professionals to attract customer attention and to inform people about the benefits of a product or service. Sound-based special effects continue to be a major feature of modern entertainment vehicles such as movies; this principle can be harnessed to create distinct marketing messages that drive consumption. For instance, radio jingles that seek to market incense products can use classical music to focus customer attention on the purity of the said product and its efficacy in the everyday life of the consumer. This approach clearly hinges on certain associations that operate in the minds of modern consumers and therefore, can help to boost the sales of said product or product lines. In a similar vein, baby hygiene products can use a brief sound clip of a bawling baby in an attempt to introduce the customer to said product. In light of the above, we may state that radio jingles need to be engineered contextually and must match a certain product with the experiences of common customers.
Marketing campaigns can choose to combine radio jingles with video and animation in an attempt to reach wider audiences. This strategy is spurred by the fact that the massive consumption of broadcast and online videos can help jingles to access masses of modern online customers. These advertisements can be pitched to companies and corporates that direct significant advertising budgets to buy time on online video platforms. Brief online advertisements do not disturb the viewing experience of the online consumer but have the potential for huge outreach. We may note that vintage products can find a new life and significant traction with modern audiences through the use of said strategy. This leads us to infer radio jingles continue to offer an emphatic value proposition to modern media planners and consumers.
FM radio channels are often used in public transport services and this affords radio jingles an opportunity to boost its reach and frequency to captive audiences. Jingles are essentially native to broadcast radio and the creative use of such campaigns can be directly inserted into the public consciousness through the above strategy. The payoff emerges when customers enter shopping establishments and connect the jingle to products on display. Advertisers and marketers can define the time slots to coincide with maximum footfalls in public transport services in a bid to amplify the commercial message. In a similar vein, radio jingles can be played on public address systems in public spaces such as shopping malls and cinema houses. These techniques can be deployed to boost market traction for products and services.
In the preceding paragraphs, we have surveyed some of the methods that can re-introduce radio jingles in the modern world. We must bear in mind that a jingle is essentially an aural experience and therefore does not distract consumers from their daily chores. This fact can be leveraged to boost the marketing of radio jingles to media planners and media buyers. There is sufficient scope for innovation in the creation and distribution of jingles in the modern world and suitable means should be devised to expand the use of such devices in the service of modern commerce. Further, the emotive connect of customers to a certain product can be established through the use of a creative jingle; this unique fact remains a constant in modern times and should be leveraged to the maximum extent.
