Guest post by Selena Narayanasamy

Writing a catchy jingle can be fun, but it’s not easy. Knowing how to make that one 30 second song that engages an audience to commit it to memory is more science than art form.

The most popular jingles have tricks that make their song one that gets hummed around the office. Let’s examine 6 iconic jingles, and the secrets of their success.

1. Fanta “Wanta Fanta?”

Lesson: Repetition

Those lovely Fantana ladies have the right idea. A good jingle makes sure the audience knows the name of the product. The Fanta commercial mentions the product name constantly. If the audience doesn’t know the name, something is wrong.

2. McDonalds “Big Mac Song”

Lesson: Knowing Your Product

Never has a commercial been so straightforward and effective. The Big Mac Song simply lists the ingredients. A good jingle can just be about the benefits of a product. Of course McDonalds won’t mention the high cholesterol, or high risk for obesity with the commercial. Special sauce sells burgers, not heart attacks.

3. Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum “Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun”

Lesson: Stick to the Slogan

Sometimes the best place to get a jingle from is the slogan itself. If it’s good enough to plaster on billboards and print ads all over the world, it’s good enough to set to music. The Doublemint commercial took what already worked and expanded on it. It didn’t hurt to have a set of attractive twins to use as pitch women. That’s always a secret to success.

4. Kars4Kids “1-8-77-Kars-4-Kids”

Lesson: Use your Phone Number

We’ve seen other companies successfully do this as well. Using your phone number in your jingle is probably the catchiest and easiest way to instill a call to action into your viewers. Empire did the same thing (800-588-2300-EMPIRE)… or at least, I think that’s the jingle off hand.

They also allowed users to enter their own Kars4Kids jingle in a recent contest as a fun exercise in engagement.

5. Chili’s “Baby Back Ribs”

Lesson: Be Melodic

While this little ditty explores a number of lessons, what it excels at is being melodic. People all over the country tried (and failed miserably) to recreate this melodic tune with their co-workers, friends, family, or slightly drunk softball teams at the local bar. While they failed, everyone knew where to go for baby back ribs.

They also had a jingle contest. – thought I’m not sure if any of these will ever replace the original!

6. McDonalds “I’m loving it.”

Lesson: Keep It Brief

No one can tell you how long the original ad was that contained McDonalds now famous “I’m lovin’ it” slogan. All they remember is they walked away humming a little hip-hop melody and dreaming of quarter pounders. A good jingle should be to the point. If the point is the slogan, then make the slogan memorable by keeping it brief enough to commit to memory.

7. Coke “I’d Like to Buy The World A Coke”

Lesson: Be Memorable

There is no commercial more iconic than Coke’s “I’d Like To Buy The World a Coke.” Maybe it’s the commercial, set in the sun, filled with a bunch lovey dovey hippies in a field, conjuring up thoughts like “why are they singing in a field?” Or maybe the song was that good.

At the end of the day you don’t need catchy gimmicks or tricks, if the song is brilliant. Many couldn’t recite the whole song, but it was so memorable that the New Seekers re-recorded the song into a full length version.

Be great. That’s all a jingle really needs to work.

About the author

Selena Narayanasamy loves everything having to do with technology, social media, internet marketing and blogging. You can find her quirky ramblings on Twitter, or her personal site Esvienne.

I remember dancing around the room at my 10th birthday party on “Will you be there”. Vynil of course! It made me forget my dad didn’t call that day. It helped me enjoy the party my mom worked so hard to organize.

I remember the concert in Bucharest, my friends crying because we were too young to go. I remember watching it on TV and enjoying every second of it.

I remember wearing a glove and trying to dance like him. Some moves I got right and I was in the center of attention for it!

I remember reading the first song lyrics in a book of a girl who was the president of the Michael Jackson Fan Club in Romania. I remember it was the first time I read every line in “Will you be there”. And although I love Billie Jean, Black or White, Bad, Dirty Diana, and almost every song he ever released, although I listen to Thriller twice a day driving to and from Bucharest, “Will you be there” is my absolute favorite Michael Jackson song.

As I was blipping and tweeting earlier, thank you Jacko, thank you for the music, for the lyrics and the wonderful, wonderful dancing!

Hold Me
Like The River Jordan
And I Will Then Say To Thee
You Are My Friend

Carry Me
Like You Are My Brother
Love Me Like A Mother
Will You Be There?

Weary
Tell Me Will You Hold Me
When Wrong, Will You Skold Me
When Lost Will You Find Me?

But They Told Me
A Man Should Be Faithful
And Walk When Not Able
And Fight Till The End
But I’m Only Human

Everyone’s Taking Control Of Me
Seems That The World’s
Got A Role For Me
I’m So Confused
Will You Show To Me
You’ll Be There For Me
And Care Enough To Bear Me

(Hold Me)
(Lay Your Head Lowly)
(Softly Then Boldly)
(Carry Me There)

(Lead Me)
(Love Me And Feed Me)
(Kiss Me And Free Me)
(I Will Feel Blessed)

(Carry)
(Carry Me Boldly)
(Lift Me Up Slowly)
(Carry Me There)

(Save Me)
(Heal Me And Bathe Me)
(Softly You Say To Me)
(I Will Be There)

(Lift Me)
(Lift Me Up Slowly)
(Carry Me Boldly)
(Show Me You Care)

(Hold Me)
(Lay Your Head Lowly)
(Softly Then Boldly)
(Carry Me There)

(Need Me)
(Love Me And Feed Me)
(Kiss Me And Free Me)
(I Will Feel Blessed)

[Spoken]
In Our Darkest Hour
In My Deepest Despair
Will You Still Care?
Will You Be There?
In My Trials
And My Tripulations
Through Our Doubts
And Frustrations
In My Violence
In My Turbulence
Through My Fear
And My Confessions
In My Anguish And My Pain
Through My Joy And My Sorrow
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
I’ll Never Let You Part
For You’re Always In My Heart.

Rest in peace, Michael, rest in peace!

Daniel Secareanu has tagged me with a wonderful meme that definitely suits a Sunday evening. A random artist is created using random creativity, and here’s what band I’d be in and the name of our very first album!

Do you want to play? Here’s how to decide on your band name, your album name and the artwork to be used on the cover. If you like it too much, well, you can actually use it and start writing songs

1. Go to Wikipedia. Use the “random” search option or click here. The name of the first article you find will be your band’s name.
2. Next, go to “Random quotations” or click this link. The last three-four words of the last quote on the page will be your album’s name.
3. Then, go to Flicker and access the photos posted in the last seven days, or click here. The third photo displayed, no matter what it is, will be your album’s cover. As my friend Loredana noticed, you should also check if there’s any copyright or creative commons for that photo and make sure you can a. use it and b. modify it. You should keep going from one photo to the next till you reach you can use. In my case, it took checking out the entire first page, reloading and then checking a few more. Original photo here.
4. Lastly, use your preferred photo editing software or online tool to put everything together.

If you read this and you’re inspired to see what your first album would look and sound like, consider yourself tagged!