Are jingles still relevant or have we tuned out?

Do you remember "Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma" tune? How about the Badshah Masala song? The "Aaya naya Ujala" and "Vicks ki Goli" jingles? Once a part of our sweet memories, these ad jingles have faded in time. Without these sweet tunes, it feels like a big part of our ad-appreciating experience has been denied to us. 

Earlier, TVCs had hummable jingles, and oftentimes, the ads revolved around them. What value did these tunes add to TV spots? Piyush Pandey, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide and Executive Chairman India of Ogilvy, says, “The good old jingle is something where the brand name is repeated several times. Jingle came from the era of radio. The term jingle was used as a synonym for a radio spot. When television came in, in the 80s, for a very long time, people couldn’t get out of the habit of jingles.”

Prasoon Joshi, CEO of McCann World Group India and APAC Chairman, believes that the origin of jingles lies in India's ancient oral traditions where stories and folklore were passed down through songs. "Even when writing was not invented, we knew the art of remembering things in a poetic meter, rhyme or rhythm so that it stays in your consciousness. So jingle or music as a device to get brands into the minds of people is an age-old technique."

Keigan Pinto, Chief Creative Officer at FCB Ulka, adds, “Jingle is a hyperconscious, brand hype, stand out, brave, upfronted, unabashed hook and words around that hook. The idea is the jingle, the jingle is the idea.”

Why no jingles anymore?

As we evolved as an audience -- from seeing 40-second ads to getting habituated to 15-second reels -- with brands vying for our attention, jingles have become scarce. Brands are steering clear of experimenting much with jingles despite them helping with brand recall and evoking nostalgia within the audience.

Adman Pandey said, “Brand recall is a very small part of the brand journey. The brand has a personality. There used to be a time when the market had 10 products and you wanted people to remember your product’s name. The pattern was changing from the start of the 90s. Audio-visual has given an opportunity to a lot more than just singing a brand name. There is an opportunity to tell a story, that stays with you giving the brand a personality.”

There's also the risk of annoying your audience, says Pandey: “You can meet me for the first time and give me your visiting card. But I'll get bored of you if you give me your visiting card, every time we meet. If I get to know you, the next time I see you, I get to know more about you. It isn’t good enough just to know about your name.”

Pinto points out, “It is a little ironic because India is a music-loving country. The music is a sticky marketing element. I think it is tough in today's age of 15-seconders. My theory is that the punch of an idea, the surprise of the twist element in a story, and music is a sticky human engagement stimuli, but is it disruptive enough in a tight time segment?”

He notes, “What plays out in advertising is what is being liked. Being cinematic, slice-of-life, candid illustration. There is a change of trend where advertising is bound to be cinematic, and it need not be simplistic. My perception is that music is secondary to the cinematic piece.” 

Rajdeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett, on the other hand, refuses to believe that we've heard the last of the jingles. "There's Airtel's 'Har ek friend zaroori hota hain' and Amazon's 'Aur dikhao, aur dikhao," he notes "They will never stop. Our country loves to hum jingles.”

So why is it that can't we recall any from recent memory? Das believes that ads today are not competing with other ads, but with other forms of distractions that consumers are exposed to. "In the 90s, the industry was churning out 50 films a year approximately, but now we are churning out 50 films every single day. TVCs are not competing with TVCs; they are competing with a teenager’s best friend who is on Instagram. The advertising jingle is competing with memorability, as the consumers are exposed to many things. Jingles have not stopped. It is because of the noise that one cannot notice them.”

Jingles may have also evolved into or paved the way for brand songs, which have been featured widely in festive ad campaigns these days. There has been also been an increase in the use of folk music in ads.

These songs have become a part of the brand’s identity like Ummeedo wali Dhoop for Coca-Cola, Asli Swad Zindagi ka by Cadbury, Hamara Bajaj for Bajaj Auto, and many more. Experts said that format of music integration will keep on evolving but music will be an important part of brand communication through advertising.

Whether it's a vestige of old-school advertising slowly fading away from memory or struggling to stay relevant in the time of Instagram reels, we can all agree on the fact that music made ad viewing more enjoyable.