Music plays a significant role in advertising when it comes to getting the consumer’s attention. Music is used for television, radio, and Internet advertisements. Music can enhance the expression, mood, situation, or character of the ad. It’s especially effective for TV commercials and radio advertisements. They can go from creative jingles to popular music from world famous artists today. Based on the timeline of music and advertising, entertainment was first used in advertising during the late 19th century.
Businesses wanted to use a source of entertainment to advertise their company so they reached out to movie theaters and amusement parks to advertise to people. Department stores would hire acrobats and circus clowns to entertain people. These were the beginning of entertainment used with advertisement. The De Long Hook and Eye Co. Created the first Jingle in 1891. The Jingle was called “See that hump” and it was a very catchy rhyme that made people sing it over and over. Jingles then became a fad during the first few years of the sass. In 1908, the Oldsmobile Car Company created their own Jingle called “In My Merry Oldsmobile. Johnny Marks wrote the Jingle and it significantly helped advertise and promote Oldsmobile cars. McAllen and Porringer) The idea for Jingles was a great creative advertising technique because the rhyme and repetition of the Jingle stuck to consumer’s head. According to Brooke and Whitley, who researched music and radio advertising, music has the capability of affecting consumers’ behavior and their feelings about the advertisement. Music doesn’t always have a positive affect on consumers because the music can distract the consumer from paying attention to the advertisement.
It’s important for businesses to know how to choose the right song or Jingle that will blend well with the advertisement. That way the consumer will be drawn to the ad and know the significance of the product with the help of the music. (Brooke and Whitley) The sass was a time when they wanted to bring the radio to all American consumers. However, a magazine company called Printer’s Ink was against radio taking over entertainment for consumers. There was competition between magazines, newspapers, and radios during that time. Advertisers came up with an idea of naming bands and shows after products.
For instance: ” A&P Gypsies, Lucky Strike Orchestra, Vicki Pap-o-rub Quartet, and Palmolive Soap” (McAllen and Porringer). The first radio Jingle took place in Minnesota during Christmas Eve, 1926. It was a General Mills cereal advertisement and the Jingle was called “Have You Tried Whites? ” An chapel group called “The Whites Quartet” performed this Jingle. Before the Jingle played on the local radio, the company of General Mills was going to stop selling the cereal and go out of business. What was supposed to be their last advertisement, they created a Jingle about the cereal for the holidays.
They played the Jingle on the radio and within days they noticed that their brand was becoming popular throughout Minnesota. Then, they released this Jingle nationally and the sales sky rocketed up. As a result, Whites is sold all throughout the U. S. Today after 80 years with the great help of their Jingle. (Faulkner) During the sass, advertisers found country music to be a popular genre that would get people’s attention. Many The History of Music in Advertising By masterstroke jingles made for products are: “Alkali-Seltzer, Black Draught (laxative), Wine of Card (for “women’s complaints”)” (McAllen and Porringer).
Great opportunities were open for country musicians because radio stations were looking for them to play on the audio. Many companies hired musicians and their role was to create and play Jingles about their products. Some musicians that were hired during the sass were Bob Willis and his fiddle trio. Their Job was to create Jingles to advertise Light Crust Flour on JEFF radio in Fort Worth, Texas. Radio Jingles soon became so popular that radio stations started deceiving people by saying these popular artists were playing live on the radio when they only pretended and played the recording.
It was a scam that the FCC had to stop. “The FCC required the station to identify recorded redcoats” (McAllen and Porringer). Therefore, it will stop radio stations to make false statements of artists playing live in their station. (McAllen and Porringer) Many artists started becoming popular and building a reputation for themselves playing for advertisements on radios. A record label called IBM wanted to have these musicians Join their label. In the sass, when CAPS turned down any musician, IBM would take them and help present their music to the public.
The first Jingle that was played on network radio was “Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot. ” Although that was a popular iris Jingle on network radio, the most popular Jingle during that time was the Aquatic Banana Jingle. This Jingle was played at an unbelievable amount of 376 times a day. There were even a few different versions of the Jingle since it was so popular. (McAllen and Porringer). A few decades later, The Beetles played a huge role for advertising companies. They were the biggest rock band in the United States during the sass and many companies wanted to harness their popularity for advertising.
These were some of the most important artists that created music/Jingles in advertisement. Music can do six important things to a consumer and according to David Huron, it can be used for “1) entertainment, 2) structure/continuity, 3) memorabilia, 4) lyrical language, 5) targeting, and 6) authority establishment” (Huron). Music that was used as entertainment has an objective to create interest to the targeted consumers. There needs to be structure with the music in the advertisement. This goes especially for TV and Internet advertisements because the music has to be in sync with the visual image of the ad.
The advertiser must decide how to display the ad whether the USIA is the most important part of the ad or Just the background. These things will determine the strength of the ad and the consumers decide what they make of it. Reflecting back on how Jingles causes consumers to sing over the tune, music can have an impact that can make the ad memorable. Some examples of memorable ads that occurred this century were: the Coca-Cola ad of “I’d like to Buy a World a Coke,” McDonald’s “Sausage McMullen” Jingle, and Peasants Toothpaste Jingle. These are classic ads with memorable Jingles that consumers may remember to this day.
The yards of a song or a Jingle are very important in an ad because it can have an impacting message that will have the consumers’ attention. This can have the consumer repeating that message to others without even having the ad visibly in front of you. In the article, Huron states “national brand advertisers tend to favor poetic appeals over logical appeals” (Huron). The reason for this is that music fits the product, most of the time, is weaker than a message that it poetic. The music can help amplify these lyrics with emotion or setting.
The targeting aspect of music in advertisements is that advertisers have to find a Jingle that fits with the targeted consumer. This is based on what type of music different age groups like and what is appropriate to play in the ad. This requires research that the advertising team must consider very seriously. For instance, there is music that kids like in a toy commercial and music that must properly fit in a commercial about a retirement home. Music is indeed very important for ads on television and radio. It’s a great way to draw consumer’s attention and feelings on an ad.
