Power of the Jingle

Ever had a jingle stuck in your head and you just can’t stop humming it over and over again? Yes it can be annoying, but it’s also one of the most powerful branding devices we have, and has been since the earliest days of advertising. In fact jingles date back to the beginning of commercial radio in the 1920’s.

Traffic have just created a very catchy new jingle as part of the “From Thomas” campaign for Thomas Jewellers which features a very 70’s R&B sound and lyrics based around love and romance.

But why are many jingles so successful? Well in the main they use lyrical repetition and rhymes along with a catchy melody in the same way a good pop song does to get inside your head. They’re always simple tunes, almost to the point of a nursery rhyme formula, so you can easily sing or hum along to them before you know it, no matter what sort of voice you have.

Of course there are examples of jingles that are creatively brilliant. None more so than the recent “Dumb ways to die” which used a modern folky style of music and clever lyrics laced with black humour to engage the younger listener with a low interest subject. The jingle was combined with a masterful and humorous animation style, in much the same way as “Louie the Fly” did so memorably back in the seventies. And anyone around in that time could probably sing those lyrics today. How many other branding devices could achieve that amount of recall?

So where is the jingle in today’s advertising? Well up against well known music tracks which have instant recognition and emotional connection, the jingle is perhaps not as popular as in its hey day, but certainly it still has its place as a powerful marketing tool as Thomas Jewellers are discovering in 2015.

So for those who can remember, here’s a dozen of the best Aussie jingles over the years. Don’t be surprised if you start humming one or two ….. over and over again.

1. “Happy Little Vegemites” – Kraft Vegemite
2. “C’mon Aussie, C’mon. C’mon” – World Series Cricket
3. “Louie The Fly” – Mortein
4. “I Still Call Australia Home” – Qantas
5. “D’d’d’decore” – Decore Shampoo
6. “You Oughta Be Congratulated” – Meadow Lea
7. “How D’ya Feel?” – Tooheys
8. “Life. Be In It” – Federal Government
9. “Up There Cazaly” – AFL
10. “Hard Yakka” – Yakka
11. “I Love Aeroplane Jelly” – Aeroplane Jelly
12. 12. “I Can Feel A XXXX Coming On” – XXXX Beer