January 3, 2023 • 14 mins
What’s the difference between a jingle and a sonic logo? Is one better than the other? We’ll dig into that in this episode of the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
This episode was a reboot of an article I wrote back in 2019.
Thank you to Audio Hero for all those fun filler sound effects. To Meow Mix, Kit Kat, Volkswagen, Tostitos, and Pringles for some excellent examples, and to Lucas/McFaul agency, Michael Levine, Trio, Made Music, and Massive Music for actually creating these iconic songs and sounds. Throughout this episode, I’ve also sprinkled some of my own examples in there. If you can spot them let me know.
---
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For further inquiries, email Jeanna at mailto:jeanna@dreamrproductions.com
The Sound In Marketing Podcast is produced by Dreamr Productions and hosted, written, and edited by Jeanna Isham. It is available on all the major podcast channels here https://pod.link/1467112373.
Let’s make this world of sound more intriguing, more unique, and more on brand.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcometo the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, ownerand founder of Dreamr Productions
and Sound In Marketing learning.
I create, consult and educate individualsand brands
on the power of sound in marketing.
The first episode of the Sound
In Marketing Podcast aired in mid 2019.
Now over 100 episodes strong, I'verealized that there's still more to say
(00:31):
in this season of the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
We'll be focusing on the thoughtsand theories and musings
that I formed over my years of experiencein sonic branding
and sound marketing.
If the content in these episodes
inspire actionable ideas for your company,don't hesitate to give me a call.
This is what I do.
This is what I know.
I make sound on purpose.
(00:54):
Now on to the show.
This episodewe'll be discussing the difference
between a jingle and a Sonic logo.
Is one better than the other?
Jingles and Sonic logoshave often been confused.
So let's start with definitions for both.
What is a jingle?
(01:15):
A jingle is a short slogan,
verseor tune designed to be easily remembered,
especially when used in advertisingand marketing campaigns. (jingle playing)
What is a Sonic logo?
A sonic logo, also known as a mnemonic
or earworm, is a short auditory
(01:35):
phrase of branded sound. (sonic logo playing)
Although most associate
this with music, sonic means waveforms.
Therefore,a sonic logo is any audible phrase
or piece of branded sound.
(01:55):
The key difference to note here
is that a jingle,although it can turn into a Sonic logo,
is originally designed for a projector a campaign.
A Sonic logo is designedspecifically for a brand
jingle.
Short shelf life.
Sonic logo.
Future thinking and long term ROI focused.
Okay, now that we've defined these two,
(02:17):
let's dig in. (music playing)
Seeing as most people are familiarwith the word
jingle, let's diveinto what a Sonic logo is for a second.
When you say the words sound identity,sonic logo, or sonic branding,
a lot of people's heads just fill upwith a bunch of question marks.
(02:37):
I have no idea what that is.
That sounds too complicated.
That's more extensive or expensivethan what I need.
Let's just create a jingle for right nowand talk about
sound identities later on down the line.
All of these are reasonable thoughts,and there are plenty
of standalone jinglesthat are fun and product recalling.
(03:01):
However, without consideringthe whole brand before creating a fun
and catchy jingle, the chances of a jinglerecalling your brand specifically
are just that; chances
creating a fun and catchyjingle is relatively easy.
Creating a brand recalling sound identityis harder, but much more profitable.
(03:23):
Let's step back in time for a minute.
And revisit some jingles from the past.
Consider the 1970s Meow Mix jingle.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
(03:48):
Annoyed yet?
If you aren't familiar with the old Meow
Mix commercials, Google Meow Mix song.
If your little kids are around, pleasewait because you will
get nothing else donefor the rest of the day.
I'm still getting requestsfrom my daughter to watch it,
and it has been yearssince I first showed it to her.
(04:08):
That jingle was madespecifically on brand.
Not only did they repeatthe brand name over and over again,
but it was alsothe sound of their consumer; a cat.
Silly, annoying, and memorable.
After watching and
or hearing that ad once,you will always remember Meow Mix.
It says it in the jingle.
(04:29):
In fact, that's all that it says
Although the lyrics and yes,there are actual lyrics
tell the ingredients and the justificationfor buying the product.
It doesn't matter.
All we really need to see is the cutecat video, dubbing their mouths
to appear as if they're talking fancy CG.
Back in the day.
We as humans are very simple in that way.
(04:51):
It's like a viral videoclassic before viral videos.
However, would you want to hear this
as the openerto every single branded item of Meow Mix?
Probably not.
Here's another good example.
Give me a break.
Break me off a piece of that
(05:14):
Give me a break
Break me off a piece of that
Kit Kat Bar. It not only mentions
the product in the jingle,but it tells you how to eat it.
It even makes you move.
Try to sing this to yourselfwithout moving at all.
Or snapping your fingersor tapping your feet.
I dare you.
Give me a break.
(05:35):
Break me off a piece of that...
You couldn't do it, could you?
I know. Do you remember the dah dah dahcommercial?
Da da da.
Da da da.
Da da da.
Very catchy.
Simple to remember. Toe tapping and silly.
(05:56):
It was something you talk aboutaround the water cooler.
But for the life of me,I couldn't remember what it was for.
All that I could remember was some easychair showing up randomly around town.
And for the sake of this argument,I resisted the urge
to google ituntil after I wrote this paragraph.
It was for Volkswagen in the mid 90s.
Great commercial,but not great for brand recognition.
(06:19):
At least not in my case.
Another case for original music here.
This was an existing songby a German group named trio.
The brand's name was nowherein the memorable part.
Hint, hint.
That's a nudge for custom music.
If you didn't catch it, the first time.
If people
remember your videobut can't recall the name of your brand,
(06:40):
then you might have wastedyour marketing dollars.
If a tree falls in the forest
and no one hears it.
I think you get what I'm saying.
So what about Sonic logos?
How do they tie into the jingle?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Let's go back to its definition.
(07:00):
A sonic logois any auditory phrase of branded
sound
The key here is sound and branding.
While a jingle is a catchy little ditty,a sonic logo could be anything from that
to a light buzzing soundcoming from an electronic device.
(07:20):
So could a sonic logo be a jingle?
Of course.
But it's not limited to just that.
The reason this is so importantto understand is that times have changed.
Where once a song
was really your only relevant wayto get your point across sonically.
Now we have all the digital thingswhere a buzz or a beep,
(07:43):
could tell just as relevant of a storyas a tune.
Or maybe in context, an even better one.
So when did this all come about?
Sonic logos
specifically have been evolvingthrough the years.
10 or 15 years ago, a conceptlike Sonic branding was only available
to those big brandsthat could afford a network TV spot.
(08:07):
(music playing)
even for them, it wasn't reallythat front of mind for anyone.
For those not so big brands,it was absolutely irrelevant
as it was A) far overbudgetand B) completely useless
when the main source of attainablemarketing was print and word of mouth.
Websites were just babies at that point.
(08:28):
Myspace was there,but well, it was Myspace.
It was a brand new thoughtthat no one really knew what to do
with, or how to actually use iteffectively.
Digital was nothing compared to what it istoday.
However, todayyou can do pretty much anything.
That is where the birth of sonic brandingand sound marketing really took off.
(08:51):
I recently produced an
episode for the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcastabout jingles and how they've died.
I'll be sure to post a linkin the show notes once it goes live.
In that episode, we discussif the jingle is in fact, dead or not.
My feeling is that although the old schoolversion of the jingle might have gone
by the wayside,I foresee a new hybrid form
(09:12):
and that is through Sonic logos,ultimately through Sonic branding.
Jingles aren't necessarily dead.
They're being reborn like a butterfly.
Sonic logos
and sonic identities are a part of thisnew world of opportunity for the jingle.
Think of the old once you popyou can't Stop slogan from Pringles.
(09:34):
What if they had consideredcreating a personalized Pringles
pop to go along with their 90scommercial campaign?
Oh wait, they did.
(10:20):
Thank you to
Stomp for that inspiration, I'm sure.
But what if they'd gone further?
What if the pop was at the end oftheir ads, but also part of their website?
Maybe even included in shelf displaysin one way or another?
Maybe it could catch on so muchthat some crazy TikToker
does some viral post,including the pop linking Pringles to it,
(10:41):
and driving an increase of salesand traffic to their site as a result.
Maybe because this was done in the 90s,there wasn't
that foresight, but Tostitos caught on.
This is what happens when we let scoopsdirect their own ads.
Nailed it.
Tostitos
Made Music created a fun,
experiential sonic logofor the brand in 2022.
(11:03):
Here's another one.
Philips partnered with Massive Musicto do a bit of a hybrid logo,
using the actual light bulbas part of the instrumentation.
(Music Playing)
or what about this? (SFX)
(11:29):
I actually used a Shasta colorfor that one,
but we all know that your mindwent to Coca-Cola,
does a Tostitos chip, a Philipslight bulb,
and a Coca-Cola have a different soundthan their competitors?
Not really,
but they are the ones that took that soundand claimed it as their own.
Now, if Mission Tortilla GE or ShastaCola want to use that iconic sound,
(11:51):
it will be benefiting their competitorslightly more than them.
Just because the groundworkhad already been laid.
Do you kind of see where I'm getting it?
A commercial is important,but brand building is long term.
Am I saying that the jingle should go awayand never come back?
No way. I love jingles.
They are fun and shareable,and I can still sing.
(12:14):
The ones I heard back in the 80slike it was yesterday.
In fact, I want more.
But what I want to seeis brands stretching those jingles
out of their corny shells, no pun intended
into a more branded sentiment.
Most of the success of past jingles were
that they had easily accessible tunesand lyrics.
(12:34):
That's always what I aimfor when designing a sonic logo.
If you get too highbrow or complicated,you lose the listeners attention
and that relatability. It goes away.
The ability to recall it on your own
by humming itor tapping it later, it goes away as well.
By havingtunes and lyrics that are more simplistic.
You create a massively successfulrecall track record.
(12:58):
There's power in that corn.
Let's just try and aim for some of thatyummy caramel corn instead.
So with all of that being said,my prediction
is that Sonic logos are the new jingle.
Sonic branding is a hybridof something old and something new.
It caters to that high recall connectionthat the jingles from yesteryear created,
while adopting the importanceof cultural significance
(13:20):
and social media brandingthat is prevalent today.
Sonic logosbring the jingle into the branding world.
Thank you to Audio Herofor all those fun fillers, sound effects
to Meow Mix, Kit Kat,Volkswagen, Tostitos and Pringles
for some excellent examplesand to Lucas McFall agency.
(13:41):
Michael Levine,Trio, Made Music, and massive music
for actually creating these iconic songsand sounds.
Also in.
There are a few examples of my ownsprinkled throughout.
If you can find them, you win a sticker.
For those interested, I would love to chatwith you further about your sound
presence and sonic strategy.
Send me a messageat www.DreamrProductions.com.
(14:03):
That's www.DreamrProductions.com,
or you can find me on LinkedIn or Twitter.
All links will be provided in the shownotes.
Let's make this world of soundmore intriguing, more unique, and
more and more on brand.
Welcometo the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, ownerand founder of Dreamr Productions
and Sound In Marketing learning.
I create, consult and educate individualsand brands
on the power of sound in marketing.
The first episode of the Sound
In Marketing Podcast aired in mid 2019.
Now over 100 episodes strong, I'verealized that there's still more to say
(00:31):
in this season of the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
We'll be focusing on the thoughtsand theories and musings
that I formed over my years of experiencein sonic branding
and sound marketing.
If the content in these episodes
inspire actionable ideas for your company,don't hesitate to give me a call.
This is what I do.
This is what I know.
I make sound on purpose.
(00:54):
Now on to the show.
This episodewe'll be discussing the difference
between a jingle and a Sonic logo.
Is one better than the other?
Jingles and Sonic logoshave often been confused.
So let's start with definitions for both.
What is a jingle?
(01:15):
A jingle is a short slogan,
verseor tune designed to be easily remembered,
especially when used in advertisingand marketing campaigns. (jingle playing)
What is a Sonic logo?
A sonic logo, also known as a mnemonic
or earworm, is a short auditory
(01:35):
phrase of branded sound. (sonic logo playing)
Although most associate
this with music, sonic means waveforms.
Therefore,a sonic logo is any audible phrase
or piece of branded sound.
(01:55):
The key difference to note here
is that a jingle,although it can turn into a Sonic logo,
is originally designed for a projector a campaign.
A Sonic logo is designedspecifically for a brand
jingle.
Short shelf life.
Sonic logo.
Future thinking and long term ROI focused.
Okay, now that we've defined these two,
(02:17):
let's dig in. (music playing)
Seeing as most people are familiarwith the word
jingle, let's diveinto what a Sonic logo is for a second.
When you say the words sound identity,sonic logo, or sonic branding,
a lot of people's heads just fill upwith a bunch of question marks.
(02:37):
I have no idea what that is.
That sounds too complicated.
That's more extensive or expensivethan what I need.
Let's just create a jingle for right nowand talk about
sound identities later on down the line.
All of these are reasonable thoughts,and there are plenty
of standalone jinglesthat are fun and product recalling.
(03:01):
However, without consideringthe whole brand before creating a fun
and catchy jingle, the chances of a jinglerecalling your brand specifically
are just that; chances
creating a fun and catchyjingle is relatively easy.
Creating a brand recalling sound identityis harder, but much more profitable.
(03:23):
Let's step back in time for a minute.
And revisit some jingles from the past.
Consider the 1970s Meow Mix jingle.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meowmeow meow meow meow meow meow.
(03:48):
Annoyed yet?
If you aren't familiar with the old Meow
Mix commercials, Google Meow Mix song.
If your little kids are around, pleasewait because you will
get nothing else donefor the rest of the day.
I'm still getting requestsfrom my daughter to watch it,
and it has been yearssince I first showed it to her.
(04:08):
That jingle was madespecifically on brand.
Not only did they repeatthe brand name over and over again,
but it was alsothe sound of their consumer; a cat.
Silly, annoying, and memorable.
After watching and
or hearing that ad once,you will always remember Meow Mix.
It says it in the jingle.
(04:29):
In fact, that's all that it says
Although the lyrics and yes,there are actual lyrics
tell the ingredients and the justificationfor buying the product.
It doesn't matter.
All we really need to see is the cutecat video, dubbing their mouths
to appear as if they're talking fancy CG.
Back in the day.
We as humans are very simple in that way.
(04:51):
It's like a viral videoclassic before viral videos.
However, would you want to hear this
as the openerto every single branded item of Meow Mix?
Probably not.
Here's another good example.
Give me a break.
Break me off a piece of that
(05:14):
Give me a break
Break me off a piece of that
Kit Kat Bar. It not only mentions
the product in the jingle,but it tells you how to eat it.
It even makes you move.
Try to sing this to yourselfwithout moving at all.
Or snapping your fingersor tapping your feet.
I dare you.
Give me a break.
(05:35):
Break me off a piece of that...
You couldn't do it, could you?
I know. Do you remember the dah dah dahcommercial?
Da da da.
Da da da.
Da da da.
Very catchy.
Simple to remember. Toe tapping and silly.
(05:56):
It was something you talk aboutaround the water cooler.
But for the life of me,I couldn't remember what it was for.
All that I could remember was some easychair showing up randomly around town.
And for the sake of this argument,I resisted the urge
to google ituntil after I wrote this paragraph.
It was for Volkswagen in the mid 90s.
Great commercial,but not great for brand recognition.
(06:19):
At least not in my case.
Another case for original music here.
This was an existing songby a German group named trio.
The brand's name was nowherein the memorable part.
Hint, hint.
That's a nudge for custom music.
If you didn't catch it, the first time.
If people
remember your videobut can't recall the name of your brand,
(06:40):
then you might have wastedyour marketing dollars.
If a tree falls in the forest
and no one hears it.
I think you get what I'm saying.
So what about Sonic logos?
How do they tie into the jingle?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Let's go back to its definition.
(07:00):
A sonic logois any auditory phrase of branded
sound
The key here is sound and branding.
While a jingle is a catchy little ditty,a sonic logo could be anything from that
to a light buzzing soundcoming from an electronic device.
(07:20):
So could a sonic logo be a jingle?
Of course.
But it's not limited to just that.
The reason this is so importantto understand is that times have changed.
Where once a song
was really your only relevant wayto get your point across sonically.
Now we have all the digital thingswhere a buzz or a beep,
(07:43):
could tell just as relevant of a storyas a tune.
Or maybe in context, an even better one.
So when did this all come about?
Sonic logos
specifically have been evolvingthrough the years.
10 or 15 years ago, a conceptlike Sonic branding was only available
to those big brandsthat could afford a network TV spot.
(08:07):
(music playing)
even for them, it wasn't reallythat front of mind for anyone.
For those not so big brands,it was absolutely irrelevant
as it was A) far overbudgetand B) completely useless
when the main source of attainablemarketing was print and word of mouth.
Websites were just babies at that point.
(08:28):
Myspace was there,but well, it was Myspace.
It was a brand new thoughtthat no one really knew what to do
with, or how to actually use iteffectively.
Digital was nothing compared to what it istoday.
However, todayyou can do pretty much anything.
That is where the birth of sonic brandingand sound marketing really took off.
(08:51):
I recently produced an
episode for the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcastabout jingles and how they've died.
I'll be sure to post a linkin the show notes once it goes live.
In that episode, we discussif the jingle is in fact, dead or not.
My feeling is that although the old schoolversion of the jingle might have gone
by the wayside,I foresee a new hybrid form
(09:12):
and that is through Sonic logos,ultimately through Sonic branding.
Jingles aren't necessarily dead.
They're being reborn like a butterfly.
Sonic logos
and sonic identities are a part of thisnew world of opportunity for the jingle.
Think of the old once you popyou can't Stop slogan from Pringles.
(09:34):
What if they had consideredcreating a personalized Pringles
pop to go along with their 90scommercial campaign?
Oh wait, they did.
(10:20):
Thank you to
Stomp for that inspiration, I'm sure.
But what if they'd gone further?
What if the pop was at the end oftheir ads, but also part of their website?
Maybe even included in shelf displaysin one way or another?
Maybe it could catch on so muchthat some crazy TikToker
does some viral post,including the pop linking Pringles to it,
(10:41):
and driving an increase of salesand traffic to their site as a result.
Maybe because this was done in the 90s,there wasn't
that foresight, but Tostitos caught on.
This is what happens when we let scoopsdirect their own ads.
Nailed it.
Tostitos
Made Music created a fun,
experiential sonic logofor the brand in 2022.
(11:03):
Here's another one.
Philips partnered with Massive Musicto do a bit of a hybrid logo,
using the actual light bulbas part of the instrumentation.
(Music Playing)
or what about this? (SFX)
(11:29):
I actually used a Shasta colorfor that one,
but we all know that your mindwent to Coca-Cola,
does a Tostitos chip, a Philipslight bulb,
and a Coca-Cola have a different soundthan their competitors?
Not really,
but they are the ones that took that soundand claimed it as their own.
Now, if Mission Tortilla GE or ShastaCola want to use that iconic sound,
(11:51):
it will be benefiting their competitorslightly more than them.
Just because the groundworkhad already been laid.
Do you kind of see where I'm getting it?
A commercial is important,but brand building is long term.
Am I saying that the jingle should go awayand never come back?
No way. I love jingles.
They are fun and shareable,and I can still sing.
(12:14):
The ones I heard back in the 80slike it was yesterday.
In fact, I want more.
But what I want to seeis brands stretching those jingles
out of their corny shells, no pun intended
into a more branded sentiment.
Most of the success of past jingles were
that they had easily accessible tunesand lyrics.
(12:34):
That's always what I aimfor when designing a sonic logo.
If you get too highbrow or complicated,you lose the listeners attention
and that relatability. It goes away.
The ability to recall it on your own
by humming itor tapping it later, it goes away as well.
By havingtunes and lyrics that are more simplistic.
You create a massively successfulrecall track record.
(12:58):
There's power in that corn.
Let's just try and aim for some of thatyummy caramel corn instead.
So with all of that being said,my prediction
is that Sonic logos are the new jingle.
Sonic branding is a hybridof something old and something new.
It caters to that high recall connectionthat the jingles from yesteryear created,
while adopting the importanceof cultural significance
(13:20):
and social media brandingthat is prevalent today.
Sonic logosbring the jingle into the branding world.
Thank you to Audio Herofor all those fun fillers, sound effects
to Meow Mix, Kit Kat,Volkswagen, Tostitos and Pringles
for some excellent examplesand to Lucas McFall agency.
(13:41):
Michael Levine,Trio, Made Music, and massive music
for actually creating these iconic songsand sounds.
Also in.
There are a few examples of my ownsprinkled throughout.
If you can find them, you win a sticker.
For those interested, I would love to chatwith you further about your sound
presence and sonic strategy.
Send me a messageat www.DreamrProductions.com.
(14:03):
That's www.DreamrProductions.com,
or you can find me on LinkedIn or Twitter.
All links will be provided in the shownotes.
Let's make this world of soundmore intriguing, more unique, and
more and more on brand.
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