What Makes a Good Jingle?

Sound branding is market branding that involves using background music to reinforce brand identity. This avenue of marketing is becoming increasingly common in producing video advertisements, informational films or amateur feature films. Using sound and music along with video content can create a memorable message to targeted consumers. A viewer’s sense of sound is very impressionable and so “jingles” (little slogans set to an attractive melody) can be easily remembered long after the video ends.

What makes a good jingle? Jingles are usually catchy and cheerful little tunes that fit the product or service advertised. The jingle must be very catchy so as to associate a positive image with the company. In order to create a catchy jingle a composer must understand the product, mention and repeat the name of the product or company, and be in a major upbeat key. The tempo should be fast-paced and with a cool or funny rhythm.

Composers tend to stick to two concepts called “assonance” and “alliteration” when composing music and lyrics. Assonance involves the repetition of vowels while alliteration involves the repetition of consonants. Strong action words are preferred as well as verbs, nouns and adjectives of power. Dull words and long-syllable words are usually left out.

What are some other techniques that lead to good jingles? Onomatopoeia, which is the practice of using words that mimic sounds, helps to drive home a point. Exaggeration also works, especially when used in a comical way. Similes and metaphors work well in music writing, just as they do in poetry. A product or service can also be marketed by using negative imagery, as in suggesting a product can help consumers avoid negative effects or an unpopular stigma. Therefore, jingles can make use negative, provided they offer a happy solution in the product.

Jingles should be simple and any words that slow down the song or produce an awkward verse should be jettisoned. Lastly, jingles should suggest some sort of relationship between product and person—whether that person is one individual or an entire group of people. Sometimes consumers pass on a product because they don’t quite understand the relationship between product and consumer. An advertisement with a jingle makes this relationship clear: remember the old jingle, “Choosy Mothers Choose Jif?”

For more assistance on finding the perfect jingle, look up sound and music branding online. Remember that jingles are an important part of advertising, whether your campaign is on TV, radio or even through the Internet.