With 1 in 5 Americans now listening to podcasts regularly, the medium has become a lucrative business. Serial, the true crime podcast with over 100 million downloads, made us fall in love with binge podcasting and created record audiences for podcasts. It was podcasting’s first “big break” and paved the way for other mega-hits to emerge.

The Diversity of Podcast Content

The landscape of podcast content today is more varied than ever before, with Spotify and Apple Podcasts leading the charge in the podcasting world. As of January 2023, Spotify boasts an impressive library of 4.7 million podcasts, while Apple Podcasts hosts 2.5 million, showcasing the vast array of choices available to listeners. According to Podcast Index, 2024, there are an estimated 4,101,163 podcast episodes available globally. This explosion in content has shifted the conversation from “Do you listen to podcasts?” to “What podcasts do you listen to?”—a remarkable change considering that just a decade ago, the concept of a podcast was met with puzzled looks. The sheer volume and diversity of podcasts now mean that listeners can find content tailored to virtually any interest, hobby, or professional need, marking a significant evolution in how we consume media.

Push Button Productions: Leading the Way in Podcast Innovation

At Push Button Productions, we’ve embraced this shift, offering a range of services from In-Studio Production for those who can visit our podcast studio in Orlando, to Managed Virtual Podcasts that allow us to produce exceptional audio content for brands all over the nation. Our expertise even extends to Video Podcasts, providing options for those looking to add a visual element to their podcasting endeavors.

Quality Meets Quantity in Podcasting

For once, quantity hasn’t come in the way of quality: podcasting has increased its talent pool as it’s multiplied its size as a medium. The amount of fantastic programming from big names is staggering: everyone from YouTube stars to comedy’s biggest names is in on the podcast-creation craze. It’s become a space where entertainment geniuses go to unwind and find true creative freedom in their content.

The Effectiveness of Podcast Advertising

Advertising via podcasts is also wildly effective; for example, when Chipotle ran a campaign with WTF by Marc Maron, 90% of the podcast’s listeners could recall their ads. Many podcasts are hosted by and created around dialogue maintained by a single individual or small group, which promotes listener attachment in the host. Part of podcast advertising’s success comes from listeners’ trust in their chosen host. This kind of opportunity isn’t as prevalent as it was half a century ago when we had roughly four newscasters to watch, but it’s insanely valuable and reachable via podcasting.

The Unstoppable Growth of Podcasting

Here’s the clear truth: podcasting is going uphill, fast, and you should hop on for the ride. The proportion of the American population that listens to podcasts monthly is the same size as the proportion of us who use X (Twitter.) Nothing that huge can be ignored any longer. It’s about time this massive media format got its time in the spotlight.

Join the Podcast Revolution with Push Button Productions

With Push Button Productions, whether you’re looking to hit the podcast button on your creative ideas in our Orlando studio or through our managed virtual services, we’re here to make your podcasting journey as seamless and successful as possible.

The post Why Everyone is Listening to Podcasts (and You Should, Too) appeared first on Push Button Productions.

Music and Culture

While some people believe that all music stems from the same place (Hollywood record labels), there are actually cultural influences in many different types of music in the United States alone. Here are a few examples:

• The Blues – It’s believed the blues evolved out of the Mississippi delta and other parts of the American South in the early 20th century. This music has its roots in African musical traditions, with the inclusion of religious hymns, gospel, and the songs played and sung at medicine shows. The blues went on to influence country music, rock ‘n roll, and more.
• Roots Music – Although roots music is often categorized as country, it remains a genre unto itself. This type of music emerged in the early 20th century and uses traditional instruments like guitars, banjos, and percussive sounds. Like the blues, it has some origins in traditional African music, as well as traditional European tunes, blending the two and adding a rural American feel.
• Punk Rock – Punk has its roots in early 1960s garage bands in the United States, although the movement, which is characterized by songs that sound chaotic, instruments that are sometimes played badly on purpose, and driving beats, also spread quickly to Europe, where additional elements were added on. This type of music has a culture and multiple subcultures all of its own, making it very identifiable.

The Influences of World Music

Music has become an interconnected global phenomenon, as every country seemingly has its own instrumentation, tone, and elements that make it unique. Many of them have influenced American music, as shown above, which proves just how interconnected it’s become. Music is indeed a universal language. With that said, there are some examples of world music in audio branding that make commercials and products very memorable, such as:

• Beaches Resorts – Beaches Resorts are known for their expensive, luxurious vacation locations. Their recent commercials use African music, from the Afrobeat genre rapper Divine Ikubor, who is based in Nigeria, in order to call attention to the inclusivity of the resorts.
• Samsung Galaxy – In order to highlight the features of the newest Samsung Galaxy devices, the company reached out to another musical phenomenon, BlackPink. This group is indicative of the Korean girl group genre, complete with skilled dancing, perfect vocals, and catchy tunes. 

Using Music from Other Genres in Your Branding

It’s entirely possible to use a variety of musical genres in your audio branding. Whether you need a catchy chorus or tune for a commercial or an entire themed song that becomes the hallmark of your business, you need to carefully choose the song. There are a few things to keep in mind, including:

• Stick to Cultural Appreciation – There’s one thing to be careful about when choosing a song: cultural appropriation. The ideal is to stick with cultural appreciation, which takes things primarily from your culture, including the branding of your company, and pick a song from a different genre that fits while keeping it authentic. The other, cultural appropriation takes parts of the culture that created the tune, only to turn them into a commodity of sorts within your branding. Steer clear of this pitfall as much as possible, as it can create controversies that lead to people not thinking very highly of your brand. 
• Choose Songs That Fit the Products – The next tip involves picking songs that fit your products. By now, you should have a good idea of your product’s demographics and target markets. You want something that appeals to them, without being overly simplistic and phony. For example, if your target market is high school students, find out what teens of those ages are listening to. From there, you need to listen to the music, find similarities between it and music from other cultures, and choose a song that fits. This is just one example, of course.

Using Music From Around the World in Your Audio Branding

Everyone likes a catchy tune, regardless of where it originated or what genre the music falls into. This makes using genres from around the world a unique element to add to your audio branding. As long as you pay close attention to the music to ensure that it fits your products, this practice will help you finalize and showcase your brand in new and exciting ways.

The post The World in Sounds: Cultural Influences in Audio Branding appeared first on Push Button Productions.

So, what goes into a jingle? What makes those two examples so timeless? As it turns out, there are several characteristics that the best, most unforgettable jingles have in common. What are they? Both music and words, of course, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Let’s explore the ingredients of the perfect catchy tune together. 

Creating a Catchy Tune

Obviously, a jingle needs to have music or some sort of tune (humming, clapping, something to keep the time) in order to be complete. When it comes to putting together the music, there are a few elements that make jingles memorable, including:

• Repetition in the Notes – There is sweetness is simplicity. The best jingles aren’t complex. They don’t use every note available, but instead, they stick to between two and four notes that are commonly used throughout music in general. This simplicity makes them easy to hum and sing, as well as remember.
• Time Signatures – A time signature is the count that the music moves to. Without it, the sounds would seem chaotic, and there would be no way to tell how many notes should be played in each bar. Basically, the time signature tells the musicians when to play and how fast to do so. The most common time signatures are 2/2, 2/4, and 4/4, which are highlighted in some of the best jingles.
• Tone and Type of Music – Have you ever noticed that memorable jingles tend to be a bit upbeat, while at the same time, they reflect the products? You’d never hear a jaunty tune selling health insurance to elders or a happy song advertising a nursing home. Instead, those products need to have jingles that match what they’re selling. The catchiest songs, which are remembered for years, tend to be cheerful or upbeat and sell products that make people happy.

Putting Words to the Music

Jingles require more than just music; they also need words. In fact, the words, in most cases, tend to be more memorable than the tune itself. This is due to a number of tricks that jingle writers use in order to produce words that not only express what the product does, but also are designed to be catchy. Here are some of the techniques that they use:

• Use Rhymes – We are trained to love rhymes from an early age. So, it makes sense that rhyming words appear in many full-length songs, not just jingles. Lyrics that rhyme are simple to put together and easy to remember because the words tend to mimic each other on the ends of each line. With that said, simplistic rhymes are the best because they don’t require the listener to do a lot of work when singing it back.
• Consider Alliteration – Alliteration is not just fun to say, it also refers to strings of words that are fun to say. This term refers to words written in a row that all start with the same letter. “Peter piper picks a peck of pickled peppers” is an example of alliteration at its finest. When you choose to use it in your jingle, you’re creating some fun wordplay that makes the song that much easier to remember.
• Don’t Forget About Onomatopoeia – Even if you aren’t familiar with the term, you’ve no doubt heard jingles that use onomatopoeia. This is a grammatical term for words that mimic a sound, like “buzz,” “bang,” “swoosh,” and “vroom.” You’ll see them used in comic books, written down so that you know that the hero and the villain are fighting. However, these words can also be used in jingles, and when done so correctly, they add a big bang of life to the tune, exciting the listener and keeping them engaged.
• Simple and Memorable – In addition to everything above, although the use of rhyming, alliteration, and onomatopoeia may sound otherwise, the perfect jingle has words that are simple, relatable, and memorable. You can use all of these literary tricks, while at the same time, putting together a string of words that describes the product and what it does in a manner that isn’t overly complicated. How? Most jingle writers stick to words that have only one or two syllables – simple, short, and sweet is the key!

Creating a Jingle

Putting all of these elements together can help you create a catchy jingle for your own brand, or in this case, a famous one. For example, DSW shoe stores, which sell discounted footwear, don’t currently have a jingle of their own. Coupled with the right tune, here’s a simple and catchy jingle that could possible work for this already well-known brand:

“I love discounts. Don’t you too? Buy shoes on sale at DSW.”

The Perfect Jingle

One thing to keep in mind while trying to write a good jingle is to, well, not focus too hard on writing something memorable. You don’t want to ramp up the pressure or you may begin to second-guess yourself and find yourself with a bout of writer’s block. Plus, if you do manage to crank out a jingle under stressful circumstances, it simply won’t feel right. Instead, just relax and let the creativity flow, while keeping in mind all of the things that make the product great and a jingle memorable.

The post Decoding the Perfect Jingle: Ingredients of a Catchy Tune appeared first on Push Button Productions.

Have you ever listened to a song that was so hauntingly beautiful it made you cry? Do you wonder why the upbeat songs that you listen to in the car make you hit the gas pedal a little harder than more mellow options? As it turns out, music can make the parts of your brain responsible for emotions feel things. It isn’t unusual for a song to stir up emotions of all kinds, ranging from nostalgia to sadness to happiness.

How does it all work? Here’s what you need to know about using audio branding to tug at the heartstrings of your target consumers.

Music and Memory

Some emotions stem purely from the memories of a song. For example, if you spent a good part of your childhood listening to music from the 1950s, due to your parents’ preference for doo wop, then hearing one of those songs randomly on the radio or internet will give you a feeling of nostalgia.

How does this translate into audio branding? If you want to sell a product that has vintage overtones or is a newer version of something that people loved as children, then evoking those memories via music is the key to making a sale. This is often why vintage stores play background music from decades past, as well as why a newer version of a toy, for example, a Care Bear from the 1980s, is sold using music from that time period.

By making people think of the past in a pleasant, nostalgic way, they’re more likely to make that purchase. This is all due to the power of music and the memories that it can stir up.

Creating a Dopamine Hit

Dopamine is your brain’s feel-good chemical. Anyone who enjoys something, like coffee, on a regular basis realizes just how good they feel when they take that first sip of the day. (While dopamine is also one of the chemicals behind addictions to drugs and other substances, let’s keep this positive, okay?) When you do something or even hear a song that makes you happy, it’s because the dopamine sensors in your brain become active, making you feel pleasure. This is why songs from your favorite band make you feel happier than similar songs from bands of the same genre.

Utilizing this brain chemical and its applications to music can be a good way to make your product’s branding appeal to certain consumers. If you’ve done your research and realized that your target market prefers a specific style of music, then it’s time to use that knowledge to your advantage. For example, if you sell skateboards and know that the people who tend to buy them love punk or ska-style music, then you should utilize that type of music in your commercials, as well as in your stores. By making your customers get that rush of dopamine, they’re more likely to make a purchase.

Spurring You into Action

Dance, dance, dance! Sometimes, music makes you want to dance. Those happy drumbeats lead to soulful toe-tapping, or the moody guitar riffs inspire some air guitar movements. A cheerful, swift, and bouncy beat makes you want to dance, and when possible, you get up and do so. All of this is normal. Other things that are normal? Your body is responding to the music by slowing down or speeding your heart rate and the number of breaths you take per minute. You basically become one with the music as it makes you get up and move around.

This is why you find some stores playing specific tunes. They want to keep you up and moving so that you buy more. It’s also why jingles tend to have catchy tunes that stick in your brain for long periods of time. The better that you remember the music, the more likely you are to buy the products. In fact, 65% of listeners have purchased a product or service from a brand they heard advertised on podcasts, according to Edison Research’s Super Listeners report. If you use danceable tunes as part of your company’s branding, then those songs will forever remind your target market of the items that you make or sell, and when they hear them, they may seek out your products for purchase.

Music and Shopping

It’s no surprise that studies show that music matters to shoppers. One good example of this takes place in the wine section of a grocery store. When French music was played, people purchased more French wines. However, when the music switched to a German tune, they reached for the German wine instead. The only difference was the music, showing just how powerful it can be when trying to influence shoppers to buy certain products.

Ideally, the music played should fade into the background just enough to be noticeable but easily forgotten. If it’s too obvious, then it may have the opposite effect and make people less likely to shop. After all, no one wants to listen to jingles while in a department store or the grocery store. However, songs that are a part of those jingles, without the wording, can be enough to influence consumers to buy.

There’s another component here as well: how well the shoppers know the songs. When esoteric tunes are played, people will actually focus more on the music than their shopping. This leads to fewer purchases. On the other hand, when they know the songs well enough to have them fade into the background shoppers tend to stick around and buy more, not even realizing that they’re being subtly targeted and having their emotions manipulated by the music.

The Role of Music in Branding

They’re the perfect pair! Emotions and music go hand in hand. This is why those jingles and popular songs used to promote products work as well as they do. Without the emotional connection, people wouldn’t connect a feeling of happiness with a new sweater or a pair of shoes. By finding genres that appeal to certain audiences, you can control who buys your goods. As the examples here have shown, music plays a crucial role in branding and shopping, ensuring that your items are the star of the show, rather than lost in the crowd.

The post The Sound of Emotions: How Audio Branding Tugs at Your Heartstrings appeared first on Push Button Productions.

It happens before you even realize what’s going on: one second, you’re casually strolling through the mall and the next you’re humming the latest jingle for the product standing in front of you. How did that happen? These earworms, as they’re called, are designed to be catchy and memorable. And that’s exactly what they are!

Jingles take cues from popular music in order to fit into the time period which makes it easier for you to remember them. How far back does this little trick go? Believe it or not, you can trace this all the way back…

Have You Eaten Your Wheaties?

By the 1920s, radios were popping up everywhere. Many homes had them, and the more than 600 available radio stations nationwide by 1929 made it clear that people enjoyed listening to music that wasn’t necessarily live. Commercial jingles, used to sell products to those listening to the millions of radios across the country, became the best method of advertising.

Prior to this, products were advertised in newspapers and magazines, often via catchy poems that accompanied hand drawings of the items. There were also entire songs that advertised products that played over the very early radio airwaves, but those weren’t actually jingles. Those poems and songs quickly evolved into shorter jingles, with the very first one airing in 1922. It advertised a New York City-based real estate development company.

So, what does this have to do with Wheaties? We’re glad you asked! While the first jingle aired in 1922, it was only for a local audience and didn’t make it onto the air around the country. However, in 1926, a jingle for Wheaties did make it nationwide, and by 1929, General Mills was sold on this new idea of advertising. The Wheaties jingle, sung by a barbershop quartet located in St. Paul, Minnesota, took advantage of popular musical styles at the time and helped save the cereal, which was close to being pulled from the market due to plummeting sales. The jingle truly saved the day.

Enhancing a Radio Station’s Personality

By the 1950s and 60s, radio stations began using jingles in an entirely new way. Not only were these short, catchy advertisements played in between blocks of songs, but the stations themselves developed them to call attention to their DJs and on-air personalities.

If you listened to just about any local station during this select time period, then you can probably sing the jingle that they developed using their call letters. Others used their station numbers to remind you where to stop on the dial, and some DJs made up their own using their names, along with puns and rhymes. Of course, the music or overall tunes used for the jingles reflected the type of music that the station played, helping enhance the overall personality of the channel itself.

Back to National Product Advertisements

While radio stations were working on developing their personas, advertising companies were having a blast coming up with jingles for products sold around the country, if not the world. Some of the biggest, most memorable jingles were created in the 1960s, and they were played on television, not just the radio.

Which jingles come to mind 60-plus years later? There’s the “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” tune developed for Coca-Cola, and “I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Wiener” that made those delectable hot dogs famous, as well as the 1970s “Plop Plop Fizz Fizz” jingle that helped sell Alka Seltzer by the droves. And these hard-to-forget jingles had major star power behind them. By this time, these jingles weren’t sung by barbershop quartets. No, instead, big stars, like Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, and more had jumped on the jingle bandwagon and gave these little ditties some memorable personalities.

The 1990s: A New Chapter for Jingles

Change is the only constant, and by the 1990s, the advertising landscape was evolving. While jingles were taking a step back, they paved the way for a new era of commercials that leveraged popular songs, dynamic dance sequences, and innovative techniques to captivate audiences. The diversification of television channels and the advent of satellite radio introduced a broader range of content, and audiences were eager for fresh and diverse approaches.

Yet, the essence of jingles remained alive. Iconic tunes like “Nationwide is on Your Side” and “Like a Good Neighbor… State Farm is There” continued to resonate, making brief but impactful appearances at the end of commercials. These modern jingles, while concise, carried the spirit and charm of their predecessors, drawing inspiration from the memorable ads of the 1960s. They serve as a testament to the enduring power of a catchy tune, leaving listeners with a melody that lingers long after.

Modern Jingles: A Beautiful Blend of Old and New

As baby boomers began to age, they started looking back at their pasts and glorifying the decades when they were young, namely the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, you see these older advertisements popping up now and again, most notably at the Super Bowl, which is known for its commercial superpower.

A good example of this is the Coca-Cola “Teach the World to Sing” tune that appeared several years ago accompanied by computer-animated polar bears. The commercial was that ideal blend of the past and the present, and it appealed to people of all generations, but most notably those who remembered the jingle when it first came out.

It’s clear that this mingling of old and new is sticking around, due to the catchy commercialized power of nostalgic jingles. Although plenty of commercials designed for both radio and television use modern music, usually from the pop and R&B genres (some songs even created solely for commercials, making them reminiscent of the days of yore), there’s still room for those “feel good,” old school earworms that everyone remembers, no matter how long ago they were first recorded. Because in the end, when it comes to advertising, nostalgia always wins!

The post The Evolution of Jingles: From First Sound to Modern Nostalgia appeared first on Push Button Productions.

So, you’re thinking of using a radio jingle in your newest ad campaign. Here’s some concrete evidence that a radio jingle is exactly what you need to get your brand out there and stuck in consumers’ heads. Music and advertising are a historic power duo. Merchants in the crowded marketplaces of London in the 1500s would sing to cut through the noise of the space and attract customers. Their songs may not have been as catchy as our modern-day radio jingles, but the concept of them is that long-standing. Today, we know a lot more about exactly why radio jingles work than our friends did back then. That earworm of a radio jingle that’s been running through your head since you got to work this morning is doing exactly what it’s meant to, and it’s all thanks to a little thing called “involuntary musical imagery” (INMI). There’s a lot of neuroscience that goes into this, and while I could tell you about how INMI is related to the default mode network in the brain, which is a function of the prefrontal, posterior cingulate, and parahippocampal cortices, I’ll condense what you need to know in layman’s terms: when you hear a familiar piece of music, your brain floods itself with memories related to that tune. This is perfect for advertising your brand.

Radio jingles are the only advertising method that will get you hours of free airtime in your listeners’ own brains. They’ll get stuck in their heads, and when they hear bits of them again, they’ll instantly remember your ad and what you were telling them in it. It’s no surprise that a great radio jingle will get stuck in your head, but what does that fact mean for your brand? A study published in 2018 by Neurosight, which analyzed over 150 ads, determined which ones were most strongly correlated with long-term memory encoding. “This study reinforced the idea that music in TV ads becomes more memorable when it drives the action of the ad, such as when the lyrics or tempo matches what is happening on screen​​.” In other, more radio-centric words, the radio jingles that you feature in your ads create a brand in the brain of your customers. Radio jingles are highly effective tools to give your advertisement a perfect sense of your brand. Want to seem cool and modern? Choose a modern pop-rock style for your ad. Get a great, jazzy, big-band tune for a “classic” feel for your brand. Don’t just take it from us: radio jingles work. If you’re looking to build your brand and be heard (again and again and again), they’re just what you need.

Why You Need A Radio Jingle for Your Brand

Brand Awareness

Radio jingles have a simplistic way of creating brand awareness. When people hear it, they associate it with your brand. Once a consumer has heard your radio jingle and they see an ad for your business or product, they’ll have the song to associate it with. No matter if listeners hate or love your radio jingle, they will remember it. Then, the consumer builds trust with your brand and is more likely to choose it over a competitor.

Memory

The number one reason companies create a radio jingle is because consumers will remember it. Creating a special and entertaining song will help your brand stand out against competitors. The most successful radio jingles are the ones where companies understand their singularity and translate it into a catchy rhythm. Keep it simple. Use your companies’ number or name as part of the jingle. The simpler it is, the easier it is to remember. Also, keep repeating it. Put your radio jingle on repeat throughout your campaign and consumers will be sure to remember it. Give listeners an uncomplicated song to sing and every time they see an ad from your brand, they’ll already feel associated with it.

Radio Jingles – Political Benefits

Let’s make political jingles great again! No one wants to talk about politics anymore. Well, unless it’s in the form of a Facebook hate comment. It’s become a chore to vote, and it’s become a huge dividing buzzkill in our country. The political ads on TV today rarely sing the praises of the candidate in question – opting to smear the opposing side with a slew of accusations instead. Whatever happened to the light-hearted jingles in political ads, akin to the Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, and Kennedy campaigns?

Bring Back Political Ads

It has been argued that no one buys the “innocent and naïve” style of jingles anymore. But they were huge in the postwar era when there was growth in the economy and major consumption. It was common to see a candidate use a jingle for their political ads. So what happened? The new generation of consumers and voters thought jingles were “uncool” and “old-fashioned.” So they fizzled out.

Campaign. Jingle. Vote. Repeat.

Okay, so jingles aren’t “cool.” (Actually, they are, we’ll get to that in a minute) but they are effective. No one can deny their power. They always have been and always will be effective, because our brains are wired to remember melodies and repetition. Memory recall is extremely important for political ads – why else would candidates place signs with their names down every road and on every neighbor’s lawn? Those signs say nothing about their platform. Nothing is there to persuade you to vote for them. But it does say their name. And the more that name gets engrained in a voter’s brain, the more likely they are to fill in the bubble next to it. That is the power of political ads.

Jingles for Marketing

People today still remember the “Like Ike” and “Kennedy, Kennedy” jingles among many others. They were hugely successful and a major instrument in helping both candidates secure their presidencies. We think jingles should make a comeback in political ads – and Forbes agrees that jingles are going to be back on the rise. 30 under 30 CEO Jordan Passman states, “Though the jingle has proved to be such a strong marketing tool, it’s much more scarce in today’s market than it was in the past. Despite the drastic drop in jingles in today’s market, I predict that we’ll see a powerful resurgence in the near future. The brands that continue to harness the art of the jingle, such as McDonald’s, are thriving.”

Jingles in political ads don’t have to sound cheesy or outdated. They can be cool. They can be revamped with a modern style, similar to what you would hear on the radio today. Wouldn’t it be a lot more fun to see politicians singing instead of slandering? If done correctly and tastefully, incorporating a jingle into your political ads can be a smart move. Get the whole town singing your name, and you might just win the game.

Choosing the Right Music Genre for Your Radio Jingle

The thought of radio jingles may conjure up a very specific sound in your brain – a dated, peppy, “I’d like to give the world a Coke” sound from yesteryear. If that’s the case, I have some great news for you: your radio jingles don’t have to sound anything like that in 2023. You’ve got a million options, so what should your modern jingle sound like? Picking the best music genre for your radio jingles is an important process, and here’s what you need to know to get the best end product.

The Production Process

Producers of television commercials know that hours of thought and research go into deciding each visual detail, from the social connotations tied to the outfits of the actors to the color psychology of the background imagery. The same scientific decision-making can be applied to radio jingles.

Identifying Your Target Market

The first step? It’s the first thing to decide when planning any part of an ad: Who is this for? Who will be listening? Who needs to be listening? Running into the production process without pinpointing your target demographic could leave you with a final product that gets you the wrong kind of business (or, no business at all).

Utilize Data & Metrics

Before you start compiling the instruments and voice talent that make up your future radio jingles, you have to decide what elements your customers want to hear. Powerhouse music companies like Live Nation have started to step into the advertising game, offering advertisers data on whose concert tickets their target customers are buying. Advertisers take this data, analyze what their target demos’ preferred music tastes are, and employ that genre of music in their TV spots and radio jingles. Even if your advertising budget doesn’t quite allow room for one-on-one communications with Live Nation, similar data can be found for free online. Spotify’s Newsroom provides detailed insights into how they create playlists, focusing on the latest music of 2023. This is a great tool for understanding what music is popular now, as it shows both global and local music trends. Through Spotify’s playlists, you can easily see what music is currently popular in different communities worldwide.

Design Your Music

Selecting the right music genre for your radio jingles can make or break the ad. No other medium of advertising is so dependent on music choice–it’s a radio jingle. You’re writing music to go alongside today’s hits and compete with them for listeners’ attention. There’s a lot of work that goes into picking the right genre for your radio jingles, but it’s worth the energy.

What Separates a Commercial Jingle and a Pop Song?

The process of making a club hit and the perfect commercial jingle aren’t that different. Both require knowledge about timing and having an ear for catchiness. Both are made by professional composers and songwriters. Both are very likely to get stuck in your head for years to come. And guess what else? Barry Manilow made commercial jingles before he ever made popular music.

The difference is this: commercial jingles are selling a brand and product or service directly to the listener–Kit Kat bars, insurance, a phone number to call after spilling something on your carpet. Popular music sells the artist’s brand and an identifier for the listener. A pop song can be incorporated into the listeners’ identity, even though that identifier is shared by millions of others.

This theory is backed up by the recent trend of popular songs becoming theme songs for commercials. Applause by Lady Gaga being used to back up Kia’s hamsters, Sia’s Move Your Body plays throughout a Lexus commercial, and much more than you may have noticed. Companies are using popular music the same way they would use a commercial jingle, but that’s where the similarities end.

A commercial jingle is incredibly useful when you need someone to remember something as they would remember a song. Stanley Steamer’s jingle gets you to remember their name, number, and service—meanwhile, all Applause may have you remember is hamsters or possibly just Lady Gaga herself. And if you don’t like the song…then what? You’ll have a negative connotation with the ad and the brand. A commercial jingle focuses the consumers’ memory on the company’s brand alone, rather than splitting it with the artist’s brand.

M&M’s are blurring the line even further by commissioning Aloe Blacc and Zedd to update the M&M’s jingle Candyman, which is both a popular commercial jingle and a popular song played on the radio.

Commercial jingles and popular music are very similar in the way they are made, but very different in the way they perform in the advertising landscape.

A Look in a Jingle Writer’s Day

As jingle writers, we have a detailed process for every client. Each jingle starts with a brief. A creative brief is the research put in your company so that each jingle is guaranteed to be unique and on point with your brand and goals. History, brand voice, competitor research—it’s important the brief covers it all, so your jingle is as true to your company as possible.

When the first jingle writers scripted the lyrics for the “Wheaties Quartet,” they had no idea just how successful it would be. They sang their praises to the General Mills cereal on Christmas Eve, 1926, creating the first modern “jingle.” The song was such a hit, that it sparked the sale of Wheaties country-wide and prevented them from being discontinued!

How do jingle writers make a tune so catchy? Rhyme, repetition, and simple language is the key. The goal is to inspire brand recognition and recall. All good jingle writers know that a catchy tune comes down to science and your brain. The phonological loop consists of your inner ear remembering sounds and your articulatory rehearsal system repeating back loops in your brain. In layman’s terms—the easier it is to remember, the more successful it will be.

Our jingle writers comb over every word meticulously to create the perfect rhythm and rhyme that showcases your brand’s personality. Since jingles are short, it’s important to get it right in such few words. But that doesn’t mean we get it right the first time—jingle writers put in work to write, edit, rewrite, and perfect a quality tune. The time put into each jingle shows. Once everything has been scripted, approved, and produced, it’s ready to rock on the radio and you have a jingle your brand can be proud of.

Behind the Scenes of Radio Jingle Production

We know, we know. Our jobs seem super glamorous. Jet-setting from one side of Orlando to the other, masterfully bringing together words and music in the name of top-tier radio jingle production. Yes, it’s as incredible as it sounds. You’re too kind.

Today, we’re here to demystify radio jingle production. It can be a lot of hard work across teams, offices, and even state lines, but the end product is so awesome, that it’s always worth it. So, where does radio jingle production take off?

First, production teams meet with the client to learn about their vision. It’s their jingle, anyway – we’re just singing in it. An initial creative brief meeting can last for five minutes or fifty. It all depends on the client. Do they have a crystal-clear image (or, we suppose, a soundbite) or their dream jingle? Or do we need to get the creative thoughts flowing as a team?

Once everyone’s on the same page, pre-production begins. Copywriters get to work happily writing the phrase you won’t be able to get out of your head for the next year. In radio jingle production, a copy is more than just words on a page – writers have to consider genre, rhyming patterns, and more in their work.

The project then goes into the hands of some awesome, wizard-level musicians. Their melodies and hooks turn words into a memorable jingle. This step is what puts great radio jingle production over the top.

Finally, the project is mixed, mastered, and tied up with a bow, and sent off to the client. Does radio jingle production sound like a lot of work? That’s because it is. Thankfully, awesome production teams, like the one at Push Button Productions (but we’re biased), have easy Jingle Packages that make radio jingle production stress-free for you. Shoot us an email or a call – we’ll guide you every step of the way.

The “Jingle Strategy”

What you don’t see behind the creation of every advertisement is the strategy. Good or bad, a well thought out strategy will define the success of an ad.

But we don’t create just any kind of ad; we create audio. And we’re good at it, too. So we can say with certainty that our favorite type of advertisement is the classic radio jingle. Despite changing technology, culture and the momentous switch to social media, a classic radio jingle has proved successful in this fast-paced informational world. So to share a piece or success, we’re here to describe a near-perfect “jingle strategy” and how you can use it in your audio.

Find Your Brand, Find Your Voice

This one is pretty obvious but more overlooked than you might think. If you did step one correctly, you know through and through what you’re writing about and why it needs to sound a certain way. Answering these questions will explain why a surf shop should remind you of a Bill and Ted movie, or why a slow ballad will sell the idea of a romantic getaway cruise a lot better than quick-beating Caribbean drums. But don’t trash all of your island-themed audio just yet, we meant that the Caribbean drums are best used for family cruises, more adventurous, less rose petals on a bed sort of thing.

Write the Damn Song

Lyrics are essential, they’re what get stuck in your head as you go to bed. The music is the base, it’s what you hum carrying your groceries to your car. Don’t rely on one or the other, keep them balanced. Decide on a length, write your music first using your research and your brand’s voice. Then create an actual voice by writing effective and clear language. We’re talking about a radio ad or the 5 to 30 seconds before a YouTube video starts, you aren’t in the business of being visually appealing and something they’re going to want to go back to time and time again (unless you can make something super funny in that case go for it). You’re creating memorable audio, something they’ll recognize when they hear it again, so it hopefully gets caught in their head and will create brand recognition for your product when the time comes that they need a quick lunch or want to try the new Korean BBQ joint.

6 Fun (Research Proven) Facts About Radio Jingles

1. Jingles work, flat out. 89% of respondents claimed radio jingles are an effective tool for advertising. 63% stated it was because radio jingles have a strong memory-creating effect. 23% responded they believe radio jingles are effective because they attract more attention than other kinds of ads. And 15% believed jingles create a “nice” and “pleasant” atmosphere regarding the brand.
2. Slogans and jingles are a match made in radio heaven. Combining your slogan with a jingle leads to a higher probability of memory recall among consumers.
3. Radio jingles define your brand and clear up any confusion among the competition. Brand confusion occurred nearly twice as often with slogans alone than with radio jingles (for example, participants confused Volvo with BMW).
4. Radio jingles make them remember you when they’re deciding who to call. 74% of the respondents reported that jingles helped them remember the name of a product or brand.
5. Women remember radio jingles that are targeted toward women better than men, and men remember radio jingles that are targeted toward men better than women. Duh, that’s obvious. But here’s the interesting part – there was an outlier. Only 9% of women recognized a jingle by Garnier (a female shampoo brand) whereas 20% of men could recall hearing it. This is most likely because Garnier chose a riff by a young rock band with a predominantly male fan base. The study suggests Garnier should have selected a different song if they wanted to appeal to women. Always take your audience into consideration when picking the tune for your jingle!
6. The Coca-Cola jingle was the most widely recognized radio jingle in the study.

Ask for Help

Hopefully, our advice has brought you some clarity into creating the perfect “jingle strategy” and brings you one step closer to creating the perfect jingle.

We understand that not everyone is a jingle-writing pro. It takes a lot of research, talent, and experience to turn an otherwise generic-sounding tune into a fine-crafted piece of audio that will be associated with your brand forever.

However, we are jingle-writing pros. So if you’re interested in a jingle, don’t hesitate to call us at 888-494-7874 (PUSH) you want to see the difference between a good jingle and a bad one, download our special report 8 Reasons Why Most Jingles Suck.

Sources:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/what-killed-the-jingle/497291/

https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/3955/ten-of-the-best-presidential-campaign-commercials-of-all-time

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jordanpassman/2017/05/30/why-advertising-jingles-will-make-a-comeback/#33b9534f1b2e  

The post Radio Jingles 101: Why They Work, How They Are Produced, & More! appeared first on Push Button Productions.

Before you dive into the world of using popular music in your radio ads, it’s essential to understand the ins and outs of licensing for commercial use. Here’s a concise guide:

Copyright

Popular music—everyone knows it, and everyone loves to sing along. But is it worth paying out the ass for in your radio ads? Tons of people ask us if they can use a popular song or theme from a TV show/movie in their radio ad. The answer is no—well unless you have a huge budget. Then the answer is sometimes. All popular (and unpopular) music is copyrighted—that includes the original track and recorded performances of the track. This means you aren’t allowed to use the music in your radio ads legally unless you want to pay to license it, which can be costly.

Boo. There has to be an easier way, right? Then we receive the following follow-up questions: “Well, can we do a remake? Can we use the instrumental and rewrite the lyrics? Can we use the lyrics but have a different instrumental? Can we do a cheap rip off of the song?” The answer again is no.

Licensing for Commercial Use

If you want to obtain a license for commercial use of the song, you will need to find the record label that produced it and contact them directly. You’ll have to ask them permission to use the song in your radio ads, and see what the price will be—costs can greatly differ for different songs. Most likely, you’ll need both a master use license and a synchronization/transcription license.

How much does it cost?

Okay, so what’s the cost of all this? Well, you can expect to pay a hefty price between $75,000 and $200,000 to license a popular song for national commercial use for one year. However, costs can get as high as a million dollars for a major pop hit in a national campaign. Licensing fees for local campaigns usually start around $10,000 to $25,000. You can license the song for your radio ads for 1 to 3 years, but you will never own the rights to the song—and if you want to continue running the radio ads after that, you’ll have to renew your license.

Sigh. We know, we know. That isn’t the best news ever. But artists take pride in their work—and if you’re using it for commercial use and making money off of it…well, they rightfully want a cut of that profit too. So, what’s the worst that can happen if you use it anyway? At best, a fine—and at worst, a lawsuit.

Is it worth it?

So…is it really worth it for your radio ads? In our expert opinion—no. Why use someone else’s track when you can create your own? Get customers to sing along to a jingle about your brand rather than some celebrity singer’s brand. When the consumer walks away from the radio ad, are they gonna remember your product…or just the pop song that you spent butt tons of money on to be able to license? Get them singing your lyrics instead—it’s cheaper, you can use it forever, and you own it.

Think Outside the Box: Get Creative With Your Radio Ads

If you want a killer radio ad that grabs attention, you don’t need an expensive pop song—you need creativity.

At Push Button Productions, we specialize in crafting custom radio ads, jingles, and audio branding that make your brand stick in customers’ minds—without burning through your entire marketing budget.

Here’s What a Custom Jingle or Audio Logo Can Do for You:

• Memorability – A custom jingle makes your brand instantly recognizable. Unlike a pop song, which listeners already associate with a celebrity, a jingle is uniquely yours.
• Brand Ownership – You own your jingle. No licensing fees. No restrictions. You can use it forever, across all marketing platforms.
•  Cost-Effectiveness – Even a high-quality custom jingle costs significantly less than licensing a popular song. And once it’s yours, it’s yours for good.
• Stronger Call-to-Action – A catchy jingle isn’t just background noise—it can directly drive action, making it more effective for conversion.

Why Custom Music Works Better Than a Licensed Song

A licensed song:

• Is expensive and only yours temporarily.
• Can be distracting—listeners focus on the song, not your brand.
• Needs constant re-licensing fees to keep running.
• Is tied to an artist, not your company.

A custom jingle or audio brand:

• Is uniquely yours—listeners associate it with your brand, not a celebrity.
• Can be used in all your ads, across all platforms (radio, TV, social media, podcasts, etc.).
• Builds long-term brand recognition—just like McDonald’s, Intel, or State Farm.
• Costs way less in the long run and gives you total creative control.

Still think a pop song is your best bet? Let’s be honest—no one is going to hear your ad and suddenly think your business is as cool as Beyoncé or Taylor Swift. So why spend your budget promoting their music instead of your brand?

Let’s Make Your Brand’s Sound Unforgettable

At Push Button Productions, we know how to make your brand stand out with sound. Whether it’s a custom jingle, an audio logo, or a radio ad that’s impossible to ignore, we’ve got you covered.

You don’t need to license a million-dollar song to make an impact—you just need the right audio branding strategy.

Want to create an ad that people will remember (for the right reasons)?

Call us at 888-981-7904 (PUSH) or contact us today. Let’s make something original, catchy, and completely yours.

The post Can I Use Popular Music in my Radio Ad? appeared first on Push Button Productions.

Luckily, we enjoy a good holiday jingle. There’s a million to choose from, but we narrowed our list down to our 9 favorite holiday jingles. Because we’re feeling extra generous, we threw in holiday songs and other top commercials at the bottom that get us feelin’ festive.

Happy holidays!

1) Pampers – Silent Night

It’s a simple but impactful concept– show a bunch of babies sleeping peacefully with a well-sung version of Silent Night that plays for 30 seconds.

Every parent watching this is having flashbacks to all those sleepless, grey hair inducing nights.
Side note: This doubles a lullaby to help your restless baby fall sleep.

2) Hershey’s Chocolate Christmas – I Melt with You

In just 18 seconds, Hershey’s transformed Modern English’s “I Melt With You” into a Christmas carol sung by a family of chocolate people. Very creative, but kinda dark (I picture them melting like a snowman in the sun).

3) SING – Holiday Trailer

We’re really excited to see this animated movie and we don’t even know the plot. All we know is there’s a pig in sparkly pants (check) and 90s’ dance song covers (check, check, check).

4) Amazon Holiday Commercial – The Toy Song

Honestly, we just discovered this gem on YouTube. It’s so cheesy (in a good way), we just had to share.

5) NBA Superstars – Jingle Hoops

Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, James Harden and Steve Nash use their 3 point skills to create a baller version of Jingle Bells.

6) Spike TV – Star Wars Holiday Marathon

This just seemed appropriate given the recent release of Rogue One. Absolutely hilarious.

7) Hershey’s – Holiday Kisses Commercial

This is the second time Hershey’s enters our list! This is arguably one of the best holiday ads of all time. It brings us back to our middle school days when we forced to play the handbells in music class.

8) Kmart Christmas Commercial – Show Your Joe Boxer

Well, this takes playing the handbells to a whole new level. You might not know whether or not Kmart still exists, but you’ll definitely remember this modern holiday classic. It was last year’s most talked about holiday ad, especially among women. You’ll see why.

9) Coca-Cola Christmas – Classic 50s’ TV Commercial

You can’t make a list about holiday jingles without throwing in at least one 1950’s black-and-white ad. Skip to the middle for a wholesome sounding jingle you’re probably expecting.

10) BONUS: Bing Crosby – Mele Kalikimaka (Hawaiian Christmas Song)

I bought a ukulele because of this song. It’s a hit at family get togethers.

11) BONUS: José Feliciano – Feliz Navidad

Many have tried to cover this song, but few have matched the original Feliz Navidad by José.

12) BONUS: The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick

The Beach Boys weren’t the best lyricists, but they definitely knew how to string together a catchy tune. Their holiday track “Little Saint Nick” is a refreshing addition to your Christmas playlist.

13) BONUS: Best Holiday Commercials of 2014

Anytime you turn on the TV this time of year you are bound to see and hear a holiday advertisement. Some of these ads are so thought out well written there is no wonder they are constantly stuck in our heads! What were some of the most memorable ads from 2014’s holiday season? Check them out.

14) BONUS: Best Holiday Commercials of 2019

These holiday ads included music that we could not stop singing! Check out the best holiday commercials of 2019!

What are YOUR favorite holiday jingles?

While all of these great jingles are shown with a video, they all have one thing in common – great, catchy tunes! While customers may not remember what happened in the video, they’ll surely be singing that memorable tune for the rest of the year. Each of these jingles works perfectly for radio and television—a double threat! Give us a call or contact us today to start your very own catchy radio jingle.

The post Best Holiday Jingles of All-Time appeared first on Push Button Productions.

In the advertisement-drenched world of today, it is increasingly difficult to influence buyers. If people sense they are being sold something, they shut down. So how can brands advertise effectively, without really ‘advertising’? One way to burrow into a consumer’s subconscious is to employ the powerful use of music to affect their mood.

A few years ago, a study was conducted involving different styles of music being played in a supermarket. The results were freaking awesome! When French music was played in the store, 77% of the wine purchased was French. When German music filled the air, 73% of wine purchased was German. Decision-making was drastically altered simply by the music being played. What’s even more amazing is that customers didn’t notice or believe that music was influencing them. Only 1 out of 44 customers spontaneously mentioned music as a reason for their purchase. When asked specifically about the music influencing them, 83% of customers said that music had no effect on their decision.

Music Is the Back Door Into Consumers’ Minds

As music is being heard, it evokes emotions and memories that seemingly materialize in the buyer’s head. It is these emotions and memories that inform their decision. Using subtle advertising in music, consumers never see the ad coming and can’t shut it out. Simply put, music is the ninja assassin of advertisements.

And who doesn’t love a ninja. Nobody. That’s who.

You might be wondering, “how can my company employ these ninja assassin secrets!?”

This is not a simple task. Everyone can’t just play German oompah music and expect sales to skyrocket. More realistically, companies need to find music that echoes their brand message; a song that conjures the “feel of the brand.” Again, not an easy task, but there are professionals whose job it is to craft the perfect song for your brand. By creating custom music you can tweak musical elements until it evokes the set of emotions that your brand represents. As we learned from our wine buyers, the right emotional response often times means a sale.

What is Audio Branding?

Audio branding is the strategic use of sound, music, and audio elements to build a brand identity. This could be through:

• Custom brand music (theme music tailored to your brand)
• Audio logos (short, distinctive sound bites like Intel’s iconic chime)
• Sonic signatures (branded sounds that play before or after content)
• Consistent voiceovers (recognizable narrators across ads and media)

A well-crafted audio brand creates consistency, builds trust, and makes your business instantly recognizable—even when your logo isn’t visible.

Interested in building a brand that customers can trust, but don’t want to share too much? Here are a few tips on how to strike the right balance:

• Emotional connection: don’t focus only on giving away information to your potential customers. Also give some thought to creating an emotional connection via storytelling, or perhaps sharing your own personal reasons for getting into the business.
• Don’t fear giving away too much: you should not sit around worrying all day about how much information you are giving away. Give info naturally so that potential customers can begin to trust you and the sales will flood in shortly afterwards. Some customers might make a purchase as a way of saying “thanks” for giving away so much useful information.
• Give only part of the story: when giving away information you can talk about the why and the where, but not the how. This will work in your favor, because they’ll only have a piece of the puzzle and understand that they need to opt for your services to get the whole picture.
• Share supplemental info: focus on sharing the kind of information that you might not package up in your services and products, yet is useful to know for the average customer. This could be a set of myths related to your industry, or an article on how to spot useful products.

The Sound Heard Around the World

The Nokia ringtone. Otherwise known as the most identifiable audio brand tune on planet Earth. How did it gain so much awareness?

Audrey Arbeeny, founder of New York’s audio branding firm Audiobrain, states that she has never had anyone unable to identify the Nokia ringtone. At the peak of Nokia’s popularity in the ‘90s, the tune was heard nearly 1.8 billion times a day—and it’s still heard 20,000 times every second today.

Where did the tune come from? It is actually a snippet of a waltz piece, “Gran Vals” by Francisco Tarrega. It was used as a backtrack for a television spot for Nokia in 1992, and then part of it was chosen to become the ringtone. It was slightly modified to sound more electronic.

Today’s Apple Ringtone Is Yesterday’s Nokia Ringtone

Nokia is the pioneer. The tune was unique to the brand and became identifiable not only for Nokia, but for cellular phones in general. Similar to the generic trademark of all tissues often being called “Kleenex,” all phones were synonymous with the Nokia ringtone. With the burst of cellphone technology becoming widely used in a short period of time, this really boosted the Nokia tune’s awareness worldwide. The tune was used in media to represent all phones, such as its use in movie theatre messages to turn off cellphones before a film began. This contributed to making Nokia stand out as the dominating cellphone audio brand.

During the ‘90s, cellphones were seen as a status symbol. The Nokia tune was melodic, friendly and engaging. It made consumers connect with the brand. When that ringtone went off in your pocket, everyone in the room knew you had a Nokia phone.

Sound designer Henry Daw, who helped build Nokia’s audio brand, states, “During my time at Nokia, consistency was especially important for the core brand sounds…it’s important to understand that consistency doesn’t mean that everything needs to sound the same. Rather the aim is to sing from the same hymn sheet—your overall brand sound needs to follow similar guidelines and design principles.”

The Technology of Cellular Phones is Constantly Changing

Your sound needs to match your product while staying brand consistent. Nokia is a great example of audio brand flexibility.

The first 90’s tune was a tonal, electronic buzzing sound. The early 2000’s ringtone stayed similar, but had a softer tone. The tune then became more classical sounding with piano, morphed to feature acoustic Spanish guitar, and with smartphones, became more modern, similar to Apple’s xylophone sound.

Sound Is Language, Learn To Speak It!

The tune of the ice cream truck. The sound of church bells. The Apple iPhone ringtone. We hear certain sounds and associate them with brands, memories and feelings.

Your brand may have a visual presence with a logo and color scheme, but does it have an equally strong audio presence? In today’s saturated market, brands need to differentiate–audio branding is a tool you can use to strengthen your brand identity and awareness among consumers.

Humans are highly visual, but sound is much more powerful. A visual doesn’t ring in the mind of the consumer, stuck in his head for days, like a well composed jingle can.

The consumer can shut his eyes, but he can’t shut his ears. Many Americans now look at their smartphones during television commercial breaks. The consumer may never see your commercial or your logo–but they’ll hear the sound of an audio logo or brand music and know it’s you.

Think about your target audience. Are you selling a pick up truck? What kind of music do you think people buying pick up trucks listen to? You can cater to your demographic by utilizing the music they like, and by using sounds that will spark their interest.

By utilizing brand music in your radio commercial, you essentially keep the flow. You aren’t interrupting the music consumers are listening to–you’re joining in on it. Ever heard those Bluebell radio commercials? They sound like actual songs. I let them play all the way through. (Psst…we can help you create your own original brand music.)

So, what does your brand sound like? Is it perky and upbeat? Slow and luxurious? Is it instrumental or techno? Sound is a language all of it’s own. Use it to communicate your brand’s feel.

Why Your Brand Needs an Audio Identity Today

Consumers tune out visual ads more than ever—whether skipping YouTube commercials, scrolling past banner ads, or looking at their phones during TV breaks.

But they still hear audio.

People may not watch your ad, but they’ll hear the music, the sound effects, and the branding cues. Even in a noisy digital world, sound cuts through the clutter.

A strong audio identity gives your brand a competitive edge, helping it stick in the minds (and ears) of your audience.

Get Your Own Custom Audio Brand

So, what does your brand sound like?

Is it bold and fast-paced? Calm and soothing? High-energy and exciting? Whatever it is, your audio branding should reflect your identity.

At Push Button Productions, we specialize in creating custom brand music, audio logos, and sonic branding strategies that help businesses stand out and stay memorable.

If you’re ready to give your brand a signature sound, call us at 888-981-7904 (PUSH) or contact us today.

Because if your brand isn’t using audio branding, you’re only telling half the story.

Sources:

• http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-nokia-s-original-ringtone-became-most-played-tune-planet-169615
• http://www.asoundeffect.com/audio-branding-success/
• http://audio-branding-academy.org/aba/congress/award-2013/case-submissions/nokia-core-sounds-2013/

The post Audio Branding 101: How to Make Your Brand Unforgettable appeared first on Push Button Productions.

“Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He’s not breathing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. ‘My friend is dead! What should I do?’ The operator replies, “Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he’s dead.” There’s a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, ‘Ok, now what?’”

According to Scott Weems, Author of Ha!

The Science of When We Laugh and Why, through many studies, that joke ranks as the funniest among all study participants. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone cried tears of laughter. It might be funny told among friends, but probably wouldn’t go over so well at a murder trial. Successful humor consists of the right person saying the right thing at the right time. It’s risky, and there’s always the chance that it could fall flat. But when humor is used effectively, it can be an extremely powerful and memorable marketing tool.

A notably funny ad can garner millions upon millions of views and word of mouth buzz. If you’re looking to integrate some humor into your next ad campaign, the first step is to take a good, long look at your own brand. If you’re running a crematorium, humorous ads may not be for you. There are just some things in our lives that we’d rather not crack jokes about.

If you’ve decided that funny ads aren’t inherently contradictory to your brand, then it’s time to start brainstorming. If the humor in your ads feel completely alien to your brand image, it will come across as forced and awkward. There are a bunch of different styles of humor: witty, dry, dirty, tongue in cheek, slapstick, silly, you name it. The trick is finding which type of humor makes the most sense for your brand and your target audience.

Coke’s Feel Good Ad

In this Coke ad, students on a college campus come across a seemingly magical Coke machine that distributes flowers, pizza, excessive amounts of soda–and most importantly–smiles and laughs. There’s no comedians or funny gags to be seen. It probably didn’t get a belly laugh out of you, but seeing the students’ reactions got you smiling at their surprised expressions. Coke’s brand image relies on the joy of sharing a moment (specifically, one over a bottle of their product), not on scripted comedy. What’s funny for Coke got them 8 million Youtube views and a successful, feel good ad.

At the end of the day, you want your customers to fall in love with your brand. What better way to do that than to make them laugh?

No One Remembered This Credit Union’s Name Until This Humorous Radio Ad

Today, radio is a medium that brings the highest ROI and reaches the largest audience in America every day. But in 1986, radio was the brand-saver of a credit union in San Antonio, named Security Service Federal Credit Union.

The credit union attributed their lack of presence in the market to their lengthy name. Paul D. Green, VP of Marketing for the credit union told LA Times, “We wanted to be able to ask for people’s business, but our name is so long that we found people just didn’t know who we were.”

They also believed the inability to fund television advertising was to blame. Many of their holding company owned competitors were seeing success with TV. “We’d either have to go on TV right next to these spots and spend significant dollars or find a way to compete in a less expensive medium. So, we chose radio,” said Green.

Advertising firm Bert, Barz & Kirby produced an award-winning radio campaign that couldn’t be forgotten. “We basically made fun of our long name. It did wonders overnight,” said Green of the campaign.

Green stated that customers began to pour in to the credit union saying things such as, “You’re the guys with the funny ads.” Security Service Federal Credit Union reaped greatly from the ads, with an increase of 24,000 members, and a 105-million-dollar increase in assets.

While the competition spent two to three million dollars annually on TV advertising, Security Service Federal Credit Union spent a mere 112,000 dollars per year in comparison on radio production and media buys.

Transcript of the Famous Radio Ad

………..
VOICE 1: Hello, Albert’s Advertising Specialists.
VOICE 2: Albert, this is Security Service Federal Credit Union. Where are the matchbooks we ordered?
1: Oh, I’m trying to shorten your name to fit on the matchbook covers.
2: Shorten Security Service Federal Credit Union?
1: Uh-huh, to Security Service Federal.
2: No.
1: Federal Credit?
2: No.
1: Union?
2: Albert…
1: How about Security Service Federal Credit Union?
2: Albert, it sounds like a junior college. Can’t you make the matchbooks bigger?
1: Bigger?
2: Yeah, we want everyone to know we’re big, the seventh-largest credit union in the country, with over 100,000 members.
1: You want all that on the matchbook?
2: Uh-huh.
1: You want to be able to lift this matchbook?
2: Look, we want people to know Security Service is already like a bank, with CashPlus, our automated teller machines.
1 (Interrupting): Hold it, there’s not that much sulfur in all of Texas.
2: We’ve got IRAs, money-market accounts and other services to solve your money problems.
1: You know, if you prop up this matchbook along the highway, it’ll double as a billboard.
2: Oh, never mind. Now, what about the pencils we ordered?
1: Oh, I got everything on the pencil. That was a breeze.
2: It’s not too heavy?
1: No, but the eraser rubs up along the ceiling.
ANNOUNCER: Security Service Federal Credit Union. You’re going to know who we are.

……….

Source:
http://articles.latimes.com/1986-01-06/news/mn-13504_1_credit-union

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