Whether or not you truly believe “Nationwide is on your side,” you’re craving some “baby back ribs,” you’re willing to “give me a break,” or you remember telling your mother “I’m a big kid now,” let’s face it—jingles can be a memorable form of advertising.

How many of those jingles did you hear in your mind when you read them just now? Unless you live under a rock or eschew consuming any form of media, chances are you knew the tune of at least one. Once considered dated and skipped by major consumer brands in favor of higher-tier conceptual or recurring characters, the jingle seems to be making its way back onto the scene. But what goes into creating a jingle, and when should you use one?

What is a jingle? What makes a jingle effective?

Let’s start with the core characteristics of a jingle. Put simply, a jingle is a short, memorable sequence of words put to a simple tune. If the sequence of words is too long, it can’t be a jingle. If the tune is too complicated, it can’t be a jingle.*

*J.G. Wentworth’s operatic “877-Cash-Now” commercial is an exception to this rule and comes close to making a long, Wagner-esque musical sequence function as a giant jingle. Do yourself a favor and look it up. You’ll be singing the baritone asking whether someone has an annuity and needs cash now if you watch it a few times—guaranteed.

Going by “short” plus “catchy” rule, it’s easy to see why, “Ba-da-ba-ba-ba, I’m lovin’ it” works so well as the McDonald’s jingle. By one count it’s eight words, although I tend to think the ba-da-ba-ba-ba sequence counts as one. That brings it down to four words. Just four words are easy to remember. You don’t need a mnemonic device to recall the words, because songs are natural mnemonics. They force you to recall them after only hearing them a few times, with no effort of your own needed.

Note that a simple tune doesn’t have to mean an elegant tune. The best jingles are earworms—they keep popping up in your mind even if you want to keep them out, and they’re distinct enough that you won’t mix them up with something else. Trying to make a jingle too pleasing can work against your goals, because the most effective jingle isn’t necessarily the most pleasing. It’s the most inescapable.

Interestingly, memorable and effective jingle taglines don’t have to have the name of the product or company in them. They can – and many do – but they don’t have to. The McDonald’s example above and the Huggies example in the opening paragraph (“I’m a big kid now”) don’t contain the brand name. In fact, if you were completely unfamiliar with the advertising itself, you wouldn’t know what those two jingles were about at all. That’s because the jingle is NOT a standalone form of advertising.

If you were to say jingles are an embellishment to advertising, you wouldn’t be far off. Think of them as a sort of sonic logo. Logos use minimal design and colors to affix a brand’s identity in the mind. In the absence of any advertising or other materials, a logo would tell you…next to nothing. Jingles are often similar. They use music and a sequence of easy-to-recall words to form a strong association with the content of a commercial and contribute to the coherence of a brand. The McDonald’s commercial preceding the jingle might contain pictures of the food, descriptions of menu items, or promotion of a special offer, then the jingle wraps everything up.

A jingle can be associated with the brand itself (“Nationwide is on your side”), with the experience attached to the brand (“I’m lovin’ it”), or with a product synonymous with the brand (“I want my baby rack ribs”). It can also be related to core brand messaging, but it doesn’t have to be.

When do I use a jingle?

Jingles are typically used for consumer-facing advertising in low-stakes, crowded verticals where the inherent cheerfulness of a tune won’t run counter to the message you’re trying to convey. While pharmaceutical jingles used to be a thing, for example, you hardly ever encounter them now. You’re probably not going to see many jingles for funeral services (although that would be a feat in dark humor).

Consider incorporating a jingle into video and audio advertising campaigns for that extra bit of coherence between channels. For radio or other forms of audio-only advertising, a jingle creates continuity between ads and solidifies the brand in the mind of the listener. For video advertising (whether it’s OTT, cable, etc.) a jingle can still reach people who look down at their phones or tune out when they see advertising appear on the screen between the content they were trying to watch.

Be aware: if you want to use a jingle, you have to commit. Jingles work by hacking into the brain’s natural tendency to remember songs with repeat exposure. If you create a jingle and only use it in your ten second radio spots on one local channel and never put it anywhere else, that jingle will eventually age and die without ever leaving an impression. It will be a waste of money, at best. If you create a jingle, use it everywhere. Append it to everything you can (where it’s possible) and even use pieces of the jingle’s words in visual messaging.

Thinking about creating a jingle for your brand? bfw advertising can help you integrate a jingle into a multichannel advertising campaign that a) makes the most of your spend, and b) makes sense for your unique business case. We’ll even tell you if you’re one of those companies that absolutely should not use a jingle (nicely) and suggest something that may work better.

Ready to ensure that your next campaign can “be all that [it] can be?” (Do you know which jingle we’re alluding to, there?) Give us a shout.