March 26, 2024 • 36 mins
How did the insurance jingle survive the commercial jingle massacre?
Thank you to Twenty Thousand Hertz for allowing me to reboot their episode Insurance Jingles…Why? This episode was produced by me back in March 2023 and was their 3rd most downloaded episode of the year!
If you haven’t heard of 20k before, go subscribe immediately. You won’t be disappointed. Like Sound In Marketing, they focus on the wonder of sound in a very fun and accessible way with amazing skill and craft. Not sure what episodes to start with? My faves are, Tudum!, I’m Lovin’ It, and Soundalikes. You’re welcome.
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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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcometo the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, owner
and founder of Dreamr Productionsand Sound in Marketing learning.
I create, consult and educate individuals
and brandson the power of sound in marketing.
This podcast exploresall the different nuances
of making sound on purposeand why it matters.
(00:25):
Spoiler alert it matters a lot.
Another podcast that also exploresthe wonders of sound
is the award winning podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz..
If you haven't heard of them,go subscribe today.
One of their episodesis the focus of this episode.
In fact,it is the episode. Way back in March 2023.
(00:49):
I had the absolute pleasureof producing an episode for them
called Insurance Jingles... Why?
I got to dig deep and nerd outon the enigma of the insurance jingle,
and why it's still alive today whenthe traditional jingle seems to have died.
Apparently,I'm not the only one that enjoyed it,
as it was their thirdmost downloaded episode of 2023.
(01:12):
That episode
is actually how a lot of you found me.
I asked the team at 20 Kif I could rerun the episode
on Sound In Marketing,and they gave me the go.
So without further adieu,I present Insurance Jingles... Why?
You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz
American Family Insurance.
(01:34):
Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Nationwide.
Is on your side. Here in America.
Insurance jingles are everywhere.
We are farmers. Bum bum bum bum bum bum.
You might be totally sick of them.
Or you might think they're actuallypretty fun.
Diggy diggy diggy diggy diggy 21st.
(01:55):
Some of these jingleshave been around for over 50 years.
The man,
I'm nationwide is on your side.
Then new ones are still being createdtoday.
USAA. Somehow insurance
jingles survivedwhen other jingles faded away.
(02:15):
I’m a pepper. He’s a pepper.
She’s a pepper.
If you drink Dr. Pepper you're a pepper too.Be a pepper.
Drink Dr. Pepper. Be a pepper...
Like many things
in advertising,jingles came from the radio.
That's producer and sonic branding expertJeanna Isham.
(02:36):
In the early 1920s, when commercial radiowas first starting out,
advertisers were skepticalof this new medium.
For years, the main type of advertisinghad been print ads
in newspapers and magazines.
And companies thought,if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But a few brands saw an opportunityin this new format
and decided to give it a try.
(02:59):
The very first audiocommercial came out in 1922.
It was an ad for an apartment
building in New York called the HawthorneCourt Apartments.
Unfortunately, the original audio is lost,
but the ad probably soundedsomething like this.
So come live at the dazzling HawthorneCourt apartments, where you'll enjoy
state of the art amenitieslike pilot light stoves,
(03:24):
cast iron radiator heating,
telephone service and many more.
Pretty boring right?
It didn't take long for companiesto realize how much better ads would be
with music.
Enter Wheaties cereal.
In 1926,Wheaties dropped the mic with this banger.
(03:46):
Crispy and crunchy the whole year through.
The kids never tire of them, and neither
will you so just buy
Wheaties the best breakfast food
in the land.
After that,the jingle just kept getting better.
(04:08):
In 1939, Pepsi spiced things up
with this jazzy tune.Pepsi Cola hits the spot.
12 full oz.
That’s a lot. Twice as much fora nickel too. Pepsi cola is the drink for you.
By the 1950s, Americanswere watching television, a lot of it,
and that gave jinglesa whole new world to thrive in.
(04:31):
In 1958, Mr.
Clean spruced up our TV screenswith this little ditty. Mr.
clean gets rid of dirt and grimeand grease in just a minute.
Mr. clean will clean your whole houseand everything that’s in it.
In the Swinging 60s, Nancy Sinatragave us this song about RC Cola.
Come on over to Royal Crown Cola.
(04:53):
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad cola.
By then, the insurance industrywas ready for its turn in the spotlight.
In the mid 60s, American Family Insuranceintroduced their iconic melody,
American Family Insurance.
With that, the insurancejingle train had left the station,
(05:15):
and pretty soonmany other companies hopped on board
(Met Insurance Jingle)
We help you find the future.
The future is now.
The Rock of Prudential above and beyond.
Nationwide is on your side.Through the 80s and 90s.
(05:40):
The jingles just kept coming.
Eventually it felt like there was onein almost every commercial. Yahoo.
800-588-2300 Empire
Light up a room with a dollopa dollop.
$5, $5, footlong
(06:01):
Mommy. Wow.
I'm a big kid now.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow I wish I was an Oscar Mayer weiner.
Give me a break.
Give me a break.
Break me off a piece of that.
Kit Kat Bar.
But then something strange happened.
In the 20 tens, advertiserscut way back on using jingles.
(06:24):
Suddenly, many of those melodic earwormswere replaced with spoken word slogans.
Subway fresh is what we do. Huggies.
We got you, baby. Have a break.
Have a Kit-Kat.
But insurance companies were like,nah, let's keep those jingles jingling.
We are insurance.
We are farmers. Bum bum bum bum bum bum.
(06:46):
But before we can figure outhow insurance jingles survived
the Great Jingle Massacre,
we have to understand why that massacrehappened in the first place.
The jingle
died as commercialsgot shorter and shorter.
That's Colleen Fahey,coauthor of a book called Audio
Branding Using Sound to Build Your Brand.
(07:09):
It was great for a 60 second commercialwhen you could do verse, chorus, verse,
chorus.
It was okay for a 30 second commercial,but not great.
These days,some commercials have gotten really short
thanks to platformslike Spotify and YouTube.
But now that your commercialsare 15 seconds and 60 seconds
(07:30):
and there's so many more mediums,you really can't develop
a song the way they used to develop songs.
So if you're a companythat wants to keep your ads consistent,
you might not invest in making a long,old fashioned jingle
because it's just not going to fitinto these micro ads.
You can see that evolutionpretty clearly in the State Farm jingle.
(07:55):
The State Farm jingle
was writtenby Barry Manilow over 50 years ago,
and they have had a lot of successin keeping this music going.
For those of you who don't know, Barry
Manilow is a singer songwriterwho was huge in the 70s and 80s.
Oh Mandy, well you came and you
(08:17):
gave without taking.
But before he was melting hearts on stage,
Barry was working as a jingle writerin the 1960s.
He composed several jinglesthat would end up becoming classics.
I am stuck on BandAid brandfcause BandAid’s stuck on me.
I am stuck on Band-Aidsbecause Band-Aids stuck on me.
(08:39):
But Barry's jingle masterpiece has to be
like a good neighbor
State Farm
is there.
Barry's original composition
had several verses a bridgeand that sweet, sticky chorus.
(09:02):
But the commercials typicallyjust use the main line from the chorus.
And like a good neighbor, StateFarm is there.
More recently,State Farm decided to ditch the singing,
but keep the melody playing underneaththe slogan like a good neighbor.
State Farm is there.
Sometimes they'll leave the slogan outentirely and just play the melody. (melody playing)
(09:26):
Other times,they'll even chop off the second half.
So it's just the first five notes.(State Farm sonic logo playing)
At this point,
the sound is really more of a sonic logothan a full on jingle without any lyrics.
It's closer to something like Intel.(Intel sonic logo playing)
But that makes it perfectfor this digital age
of short ads and sonic logosthat are hyper distilled. (sonic logo montage playing)
(09:57):
This transformation just proves
how brilliant and flexibleBarry's original melody was.
And no one's as surprised as he isthat it's still around.
Nobody expected a commercialto last that long.
Same thing with Band-Aids.
In an interview with the TelevisionAcademy Foundation, Barry explained
that you don't usually get royaltiesfor composing the music and lyrics
(10:19):
for a jingle. To get that,
you'd have to actually performon the recording or appear in the ad.
But as a composer,you just get a flat fee.
And for that State FarmInsurance commercial, I got $500
and it's been going for 45 years.
(10:40):
Shorter ads can help explain why
so many companies ditched the jingle,but it's only one piece of the puzzle.
Well, before the internet,
there was another advertising trendthat spelled trouble for the jingle,
which was putting real pop songsin commercials.
For decades, almost every pop tuneyou heard in a commercial
was either a cover or a totally reworkedversion with branded lyrics.
(11:04):
For instance, in the late 70s, Sunkistredid the Beach Boys
Good Vibrations with lyricsabout bubbly orange jubilation
Sunkist is giving that Good Vibration
Orange Jubilation
But a decade later, Nike pulled away
from the cheesy coversand decided to pony up for the real thing.
(11:25):
In an ad for their new air sneakers,they played the Beatles song Revolution.
Say you want a revolution.
Well, you know.
The ad features both professionaland amateur athletes
running, training and generallykicking butt wearing Nike shoes.
It turns out Nike didn't actually get full
(11:48):
permission to use the song,and they ended up getting sued.
Still, the campaign was a hit andit kicked off a new trend in advertising.
Pretty soon, popular music was showing upin more and more commercials.
In the early 90s, Chevy proved how ruggedit was with Bob Seger's Like a Rock.
America is still the landof rugged individualists,
(12:09):
like a rock.
I was strong as I could be.
Like a Rock. Songs by the BlackKeys, have appeared in commercials
for Subaru, Cadillac, AT&T,American Express, and Victoria's Secret.
Fasten your seatbelts, ladies.
Victoria'ssecret has reinvented the bra again.
(12:32):
In the late 2000,
the ASPCA pulled at our heartstringswith the help of Sarah McLachlan.
They ran a campaign that featured hersong Angel, set to slow motion videos
of very sad looking animals. In the arms
of the Angels
fly away from here.
(12:56):
And the trend continues to this day,with both classic
and modern songsshowing up in all kinds of commercials.
Here's a recent Toyota commercialfeaturing Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.
It's a world of endlesspossibilities and adventures
you can't even imagine.
Now, of course, licensinghit songs for commercials is expensive.
(13:19):
So why did so many brands start doing it?
Part of the pressure came directlyfrom the music industry.
Music companies that publish all the music
hired people to start pushing their songs.
Steve Karman created lots of famousjingles, including the one for nationwide,
which he wrote in 1969,call the man from nationwide.
(13:43):
He's on your side.
Steve also wrotea book called Who Killed the Jingle?
In an interview with Cuny TV,he explained how companies use popular
music to entice us.
There is this belief out therethat if you associate your product
with a hit song,then you're you're hip, you're with it.
If a song becomes
(14:04):
popular, it's because a lot of peoplehave positive feelings about it.
And if you're a company,
you want to borrow that feelingand attach it to your product.
So if the song is exciting,the product is exciting.
If the song is romantic,then the product is romantic.
And that strategy can be really effective.
According to a Nielsen study.
(14:24):
Popular songs can increase the viewer'sattention, emotion,
and memory of a commercial by 20%.
With all of this in mind, it'sno wonder why
brands started choosing pop songs overbranded jingles.
In Who Killed the Jingle?
Steve writes, and I quote “jingles soundedold fashioned to a younger audience,
and the young audience iswhat the advertisers want.
(14:46):
A jingle wasn't subtle.
It tried too hard the opposite of cool.”
But using
pop songs in commercials can backfire,because sometimes those positive feelings
end up going to the artistrather than the brand.
So if you see a credit card commercialwith a Katy Perry song in it,
(15:07):
your first thought might not be,I should sign up for that credit card.
It might be Katy's the best.
I should check out hernew album, The City.
Thank you. Preferred card.
Now earning two times the pointson entertainment and dining out.
With no annual fee to apply,go to city.com/thank you cards.
Another issue is that peoplebring their own associations to the music.
(15:28):
So if someone has negativefeelings about a song,
this strategy doesn't work at all.
For instance, maybe you're not crazyabout My Milkshake by Kelis.
Or maybe you do like it,
but you don't think the undertone isa great fit for a paper towel commercial?
My milkshake brings all the boys to theyard, and their like it’s better than yours.
Spilled your milkshake.
(15:48):
Quick!
The quicker picker upper Bountypicks up spills quicker.
Or maybe you think the lyrics to Brown
Sugar by the Rolling Stoneshave aged really poorly.
If so, you probably wouldn'tbe very impressed with this Pepsi
commercial, where the song is sungby a squeaky, soda loving fly.
(16:09):
Brown sugar
Oh yeah
Popular musicis something that many people use.
But we've seen researchthat shows that branded music
is much more effectivein drawing attention.
(16:29):
One benefit of original
branded music is that the brand ownsthe music rights forever.
But pop songs can usually only be licensedfor a few years.
Then they move on to someone else'slicensed music
that happens to be popularand they don't build equity.
When you buy a house or invest inthe stock market, you're building equity.
(16:49):
Ideally, those investmentswill increase in value over time.
The same is true for building a brand.
You want people's memories and feelingsabout your brand to strengthen.
As the years go by.
The most important thing about your Sonicbrand is it's building
a very important type of equitythat will be there forever.
A jingle that lasts yearsor even decades is a great way to do that.
(17:12):
When I'm in my 70s,I probably won't remember which pop song
Apple used in their commercials30 years ago, but I can almost guarantee
that I'll remember the KitKat jingleeven if I haven't heard it in decades.
Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar.
But that doesn't mean there's
no room for famous musiciansin ad campaigns.
(17:33):
Instead of just throwing a hitsong onto their commercials,
some companies pay celebritiesto speak or sing their jingles.
That way,the message stays focused on the brand
while the company still gets some of thatcelebrity star power.
Nationwide is especially good at this.
Recently, they ran a campaignwhere each commercial featured
a new branded song sungby a different performer.
(17:55):
But all of these songs endedin Steve Karmen's iconic melody.
Here's a version by singer songwriterTori Kelly.
Big things happen every day
and you need some help along the way.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
Another version featured Leslie OdomJr, who played Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
(18:20):
How to plan today and that's the key.
So tomorrowyou can get where you want to be.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
Here's a third version by JillScott with so much to protect each day.
Caring goes a long, long way.
Nationwide is on your side,
(18:43):
while a fourth version featuredGabriella Wilson, also known as her.
Maybe you should take it slow.
There's so much to care for in your life.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
State farm did something similar,but instead of a new song,
(19:05):
it ended up being a returnto the original. Around 2010.
State farmcommissioned Weezer to sing their jingle.
The band asked
if there were any recordings of the songthat hadn't been cut down
for a commercial, but all StateFarm could find was Barry Manilow.
Original sheet music and lyrics.
It seemed like no one had everactually recorded the entire thing,
(19:25):
so Weezer went into the studioand recorded the full three minute song.
Here's a clip.
No man has a promise of a life
without care and like a good neighbor.
State farm is there.
(19:47):
State Farm is there.
State Farm and Nationwide
have been using the same jinglesfor over half a century.
They have a lot of brand recognition.
And for any up and coming insurancecompanies, it's a tough act to follow.
(20:08):
If they want to compete with these jinglejuggernauts, they have to make something
that's super catchyand flexible enough to last
for years.
For over 50 years,
most commercialswere between 30 and 60s long.
This made them a natural fit
for extended jingleswith full verses and a catchy chorus.
(20:30):
But as ads went digital, they got shorter
and shorter.
At the same time,
many companies dropped their melodicjingles in favor of spoken word slogans.
So something like this.
The quilted quicker picker upper Bounty
turned into - bounty,the quicker picker upper.
(20:52):
Some brands leaned into popular music,like this Gatorade commercial featuring
welcome to the jungle.
Gatorade for a more bold, intense flavor.
But by and large, insurance companieskept using their trusty old jingles.
That's not to saythey didn't change with the times.
Some insurance companies
(21:13):
started speaking their sloganwhile the jingle played in the background.
American Family Insurance get a quoteor find an agent at AmFam.com.
While others hired big name celebritiesto sing their jingles.
For example, nationwide builta whole campaign around Peyton Manning.
In one commercial,he can't get their jingle out of his head.
(21:34):
50 Omaha set hut.
Nothing beats a new car smell.
Chicken parm.
You taste so good.
In another, Peyton coaches Brad Paisleyon how to sing the jingle
nationwide is on your side.
What do you think? We're almost there.
(21:55):
On the jingle, though, Brad.
I want to feel it. Right here.
Right here in the chest. Know your heart.
Heart in your heart.
By the way, Peyton, if you're listening,Steve Kamen would appreciate a call.
Here he is again on Cuny TV.
Do you know thatI have never received a phone call
from Peyton Manning saying, Steve,I love your song.
(22:15):
Thanks for writing that great song.
Why does nothing.
Not a postcard, a letter, a fax, nothing.
So why did insurance companiescling so tightly to their jingles?
I don't even know if I would
even consciously thinkabout an insurance company
if there wasn't a jingleor some sort of shtick like Geico.
(22:37):
I’ve traveled all over the countrytalking about saving with Geico.
When it comes to insurance, to me, it'svery much who's top of mind.
Yeah.
You know, when you think about Coca Cola,they have amazing sonic branding.
They have great music, but they also havepackaging and they have taste.
And there's a touched the glass.
(22:59):
They actually trademarked the shape of itbecause it fits in your hand.
So they have so many more waysthat they can become top of mind
than just an insurance companythat you don't fully understand.
People aren't really surewhat happens to their money where it goes.
It's very vague.
Sonicbranding needs to be solving a problem.
(23:22):
Insurance jingles in general are very muchtrying to solve
the problem of this is nota memorable service for anyone.
It's something that people makeone decision, maybe
one out of the course of 5 to 10 yearsand that's it.
Then you forget about it.
Depending on the situation,
insurance is either painfully boringor deadly serious
(23:46):
because the whole point of insuranceis to help out in bad situations.
I think the reason thatwe don't think about them is because it's
associated with negative vibes,negative energy.
Like our car just broke downor our house just caught on fire.
It's not happy memoriesthat you think about for insurance.
And so by attributing music,which is such a strong,
(24:10):
powerful connection,putting a light spin on insurance
before you have to deal with insurance,I think they're kind of like beating us
to the punch.
Insurance King actually made a jingleabout that exact idea
nobody wants until they need it,and they can't even get it
We’re talking about car insurance.
(24:30):
Breaking the law can really ruin your lifeif you let it.
If you don't have car insurance.
Most insurance commercials
go out of their way to give youa feeling of comfort and support.
Think about the sloganlike a good neighbor state farm is there.
Nationwide is on your side.
(24:52):
Are you in good hands?
When you watch these ads,you're supposed to forget
about copays and deductibles and premiums.
Instead,you're supposed to feel like choosing this
company means they're personally goingto have your back.
One way to dothat is through a reassuring jingle.
Another is through a warm,friendly mascot.
(25:12):
Whether it's the Geico gecko, Flofrom Progressive or Jake from State Farm,
because this is such a non tangible
service, personalization helps.
So bringing a human or even a duck (Aflac)
into the picture can helpit become more concrete and tangible.
(25:36):
Most jingles are aimed at
a broad, general audience,but occasionally
a jingle is designed to get the attentionof a particular group.
USAA is an insurance company that's opento military members and their families.
So when they decided to make their ownjingle, that was their target audience.
The USAA jingle came
(25:57):
about by some research that USAA had done.
Colleen is also the US managing director
for SonicBranding Agency called Sixième Son.
They uncovered that their awarenesswas extremely low
in the keygrowth market of the military people.
So USAA asked Coleen's team to crafta Sonic
(26:18):
brand that would help them connectwith this group.
I'm not even quitesure we knew a jingle would come from it.
That's Sergio Trujillo, the former leadbrand strategy manager at USAA.
We just knew that there was an opportunity
to utilize audio and musicin a more intentional way.
(26:38):
During that time,I have seen examples by brands
such as Visa and Mastercard.
And Ireally turned to those as inspiration.
Their goal was to unify the sound of theiradvertising both now and in the future.
So it was through our discussionswith Sixième Son
(26:59):
that we really peeled back The Onionand identified the various places
where we could build out a cohesive
universe of sounds in music.
The first thing they had to figure out
was what they wantedthese sounds to communicate.
There were several things they wishedwe would capture.
(27:20):
One was this humanity,warmth, and camaraderie.
Then another bucketwas sort of their integrity and rigor.
And another was their authenticityand groundedness.
In one of their brainstorms,someone brought up the idea of a call
and response chant.Like you might hear at a soccer game.
(27:44):
And the room got so excited,
they began to talk about memoriesthey had of their time in the military,
when they felt like they were doingsome horrible job cleaning the barracks.
But they were all chanting togetherwith this call and response.
I’m a steamroller baby. I’m a steamroller baby.
So rolling down the line.So rolling down the line.
(28:07):
I'm a steamroller, baby.I'm a steamroller, baby.
And you could just feel the whole moodof the room lifted.
And that told us.
This is something that harks backto their military experience and is a good
part of their military experience,and a great thing to attach a brand to.
They knew they didn't want the jingleto be too smooth or melodic.
(28:30):
They didn't want to be polished.
They didn't want to be professionalsingers, precise musicians.
The creative director would say,put more mud on those boots.
And that gave us a lot of guidance, too,
because that made us make it sort of realand rugged.
With these ideas in mind.
Colleen's team crafted the jingle.
(28:52):
Since it's so short,it could easily be called a Sonic logo. (USAA sonic logo playing)
Next, they wove that logo
into something called the Sonic DNA.
(USAA sonic DNA playing)
So the sonic
(29:12):
DNA helps establish the rhythm,
the energy, the instrumentation,the melody,
and many, many pieces of musicwill be built out of that.
It's kind of like a sonic style guide.
And of course, the logo is a motifthat runs through it
and becomes the ending,and then goes off to live its own life.
(29:36):
USAA
with the sonic style guide in place.
They made unique versionsfor different types of ads.
What we decided to dowas create many variations
on our own theme,so that it could be used for celebrations. (USAA music playing)
(29:58):
That could be used for sports.(USAA music playing)
It could be
jazzy. (USAA music playing)
One version was very patriotic.(USAA music playing)
(30:24):
What we tried to dowas give them a huge toolkit
that they could use to always bring peopleback into this world of the USAA.
camaraderie.
Here are a few examples of that.
Sonic branding at work.
USAA insurance is madejust the way Martin's family needs, and
with hassle free claims.
(30:44):
He got paid before his neighbor
At USAA we’ve been called too exclusive.
Cause we only serve thosewho honorably served all ranks.
Like other insurance companies,they sometimes leave out the vocals
and just play the melodybeneath their slogan USAA. (music playing)
What you're made of, we're made for.(music playing)
Get a quote today, USAA.(music playing)
It's still onlyfor the military community. (music playing)
(31:07):
They even use their sonic brandingin their on hold music.
USAA
So here we are,more than 3 or 4 years later,
and it's still being used acrossa variety of different TV commercials,
digital radio, terrestrial radio, Pandora,
(31:28):
etc..
Clearly,
writing a good insurancejingle means checking a lot of boxes.
It should be catchy,unique, and reassuring.
It should tell the listeners
something about the company itselfand what it stands for.
(31:50):
And it should be flexibleenough to work in a wide variety of ads.
The upshot is, when it's done well,that jingle
can form the basis of an entire Sonicbrand.
It can be a through line that ties
all of a company'sadvertising together for years to come.
I wonder if all of a sudden insuranceagencies,
the next ones that came out,they decided, you know what?
(32:12):
We're not doing this.
We're going to skip the silly jingle, andwe're going to focus on just our product.
Would they be successful?
Would we go? Well,they don't have a jingle.
They don't have a sound.
But Nationwide's got a sound.
Why don't they have a sound?
I think nowadays there's so many differentjingles and shticks
(32:33):
for insurancethat in order to be successful
as an insurance company,if you didn't have a jingle,
that would have to be your marketingcampaign.
It'd be like,we're not spending tons of money
on a jingle to get you to notice us.
We pass those savings on to you.
Here's no jingle.
It turns out
(32:54):
several brands have started doing exactlythat.
For instance, the companyNjm put out a commercial about a man
who just can't escape
the jingle of a fictional insurancebrand called Top Insurance.
Today's forecast is brought to youby - We are the tippy top we’re Top Insurance.
We are the tippy top- we’re Top Insurance.
(33:14):
Some insurance companies are knownfor their jingles.
Top insurance.
Please hold NJM is known for what matters.
Outstanding service.
You can actually count on no jinglesor mascots, just great insurance.
AAA took the meta jingle commerciala step further.
Insurance companieslove using jingles to sell your policies.
(33:34):
But not AAA.
That's Triple-A.
Who needs a catchy jingle?
Cause AAA has coverage, confidence.
So you've written a jingleabout how we don't do jingles,
outsmart jingles, and choosecoverage confidence from AAA
Maybe
someday insurance jingles will fade away.
(33:57):
But for now,it seems like they're here to stay.
Well, these jingles and the lightheartedtone, it's been going since the 60s.
So if it ain't broke, don't fix it right.
(34:27):
Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the sounddesign studios of Defacto Sound.
Find out more at Defacto sound.com.
This episode was writtenand produced by Jeanna Isham
and Casey,Emerling with help from Grace East.
It was sound edited by Soren Bejen
It was sound designedand mixed by Joel Boyder and Brendan Pratt
with original music by Wesley Slover.
(34:50):
Thanks to our guests ColleenFahey and Sergio Trujillo.
To learn more about these topics,check out Colleen's book
Audio Branding Using Sound to BuildYour Brand.
You can also subscribe to Jeanna’s podcast,which is called Sound In Marketing.
It's availableright here in your podcast player.
I'm Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening.
(35:24):
Thank you again to
Twenty Thousand Hertz for allowing meto rerun this episode.
If you haven't already, go subscribeto their podcast immediately.
It is most definitely on my topthree list.
Not sure what episodes to start with.
Here are my faves.
Tudum.
I'm lovin it, and Sound Alikes.
I'll link to all of themin the show notes.
(35:44):
If your company is ready to exploresound in its
marketing,Dreamr Productions would love to help.
We produce branded podcasts, sonic logos,
and strategize branded sound plans.
Send us a message at Dreamr Productionsor connect
with me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
The Sound In Marketing podcastis produced by Dreamr Productions
(36:06):
and hosted, written and edited by me,Jeanna Isham.
Let's make this world of sound
more intriguing,more unique, and more and more on brand.
Welcometo the Sound In Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Jeanna Isham, owner
and founder of Dreamr Productionsand Sound in Marketing learning.
I create, consult and educate individuals
and brandson the power of sound in marketing.
This podcast exploresall the different nuances
of making sound on purposeand why it matters.
(00:25):
Spoiler alert it matters a lot.
Another podcast that also exploresthe wonders of sound
is the award winning podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz..
If you haven't heard of them,go subscribe today.
One of their episodesis the focus of this episode.
In fact,it is the episode. Way back in March 2023.
(00:49):
I had the absolute pleasureof producing an episode for them
called Insurance Jingles... Why?
I got to dig deep and nerd outon the enigma of the insurance jingle,
and why it's still alive today whenthe traditional jingle seems to have died.
Apparently,I'm not the only one that enjoyed it,
as it was their thirdmost downloaded episode of 2023.
(01:12):
That episode
is actually how a lot of you found me.
I asked the team at 20 Kif I could rerun the episode
on Sound In Marketing,and they gave me the go.
So without further adieu,I present Insurance Jingles... Why?
You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz
American Family Insurance.
(01:34):
Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. Nationwide.
Is on your side. Here in America.
Insurance jingles are everywhere.
We are farmers. Bum bum bum bum bum bum.
You might be totally sick of them.
Or you might think they're actuallypretty fun.
Diggy diggy diggy diggy diggy 21st.
(01:55):
Some of these jingleshave been around for over 50 years.
The man,
I'm nationwide is on your side.
Then new ones are still being createdtoday.
USAA. Somehow insurance
jingles survivedwhen other jingles faded away.
(02:15):
I’m a pepper. He’s a pepper.
She’s a pepper.
If you drink Dr. Pepper you're a pepper too.Be a pepper.
Drink Dr. Pepper. Be a pepper...
Like many things
in advertising,jingles came from the radio.
That's producer and sonic branding expertJeanna Isham.
(02:36):
In the early 1920s, when commercial radiowas first starting out,
advertisers were skepticalof this new medium.
For years, the main type of advertisinghad been print ads
in newspapers and magazines.
And companies thought,if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But a few brands saw an opportunityin this new format
and decided to give it a try.
(02:59):
The very first audiocommercial came out in 1922.
It was an ad for an apartment
building in New York called the HawthorneCourt Apartments.
Unfortunately, the original audio is lost,
but the ad probably soundedsomething like this.
So come live at the dazzling HawthorneCourt apartments, where you'll enjoy
state of the art amenitieslike pilot light stoves,
(03:24):
cast iron radiator heating,
telephone service and many more.
Pretty boring right?
It didn't take long for companiesto realize how much better ads would be
with music.
Enter Wheaties cereal.
In 1926,Wheaties dropped the mic with this banger.
(03:46):
Crispy and crunchy the whole year through.
The kids never tire of them, and neither
will you so just buy
Wheaties the best breakfast food
in the land.
After that,the jingle just kept getting better.
(04:08):
In 1939, Pepsi spiced things up
with this jazzy tune.Pepsi Cola hits the spot.
12 full oz.
That’s a lot. Twice as much fora nickel too. Pepsi cola is the drink for you.
By the 1950s, Americanswere watching television, a lot of it,
and that gave jinglesa whole new world to thrive in.
(04:31):
In 1958, Mr.
Clean spruced up our TV screenswith this little ditty. Mr.
clean gets rid of dirt and grimeand grease in just a minute.
Mr. clean will clean your whole houseand everything that’s in it.
In the Swinging 60s, Nancy Sinatragave us this song about RC Cola.
Come on over to Royal Crown Cola.
(04:53):
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad cola.
By then, the insurance industrywas ready for its turn in the spotlight.
In the mid 60s, American Family Insuranceintroduced their iconic melody,
American Family Insurance.
With that, the insurancejingle train had left the station,
(05:15):
and pretty soonmany other companies hopped on board
(Met Insurance Jingle)
We help you find the future.
The future is now.
The Rock of Prudential above and beyond.
Nationwide is on your side.Through the 80s and 90s.
(05:40):
The jingles just kept coming.
Eventually it felt like there was onein almost every commercial. Yahoo.
800-588-2300 Empire
Light up a room with a dollopa dollop.
$5, $5, footlong
(06:01):
Mommy. Wow.
I'm a big kid now.
Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow I wish I was an Oscar Mayer weiner.
Give me a break.
Give me a break.
Break me off a piece of that.
Kit Kat Bar.
But then something strange happened.
In the 20 tens, advertiserscut way back on using jingles.
(06:24):
Suddenly, many of those melodic earwormswere replaced with spoken word slogans.
Subway fresh is what we do. Huggies.
We got you, baby. Have a break.
Have a Kit-Kat.
But insurance companies were like,nah, let's keep those jingles jingling.
We are insurance.
We are farmers. Bum bum bum bum bum bum.
(06:46):
But before we can figure outhow insurance jingles survived
the Great Jingle Massacre,
we have to understand why that massacrehappened in the first place.
The jingle
died as commercialsgot shorter and shorter.
That's Colleen Fahey,coauthor of a book called Audio
Branding Using Sound to Build Your Brand.
(07:09):
It was great for a 60 second commercialwhen you could do verse, chorus, verse,
chorus.
It was okay for a 30 second commercial,but not great.
These days,some commercials have gotten really short
thanks to platformslike Spotify and YouTube.
But now that your commercialsare 15 seconds and 60 seconds
(07:30):
and there's so many more mediums,you really can't develop
a song the way they used to develop songs.
So if you're a companythat wants to keep your ads consistent,
you might not invest in making a long,old fashioned jingle
because it's just not going to fitinto these micro ads.
You can see that evolutionpretty clearly in the State Farm jingle.
(07:55):
The State Farm jingle
was writtenby Barry Manilow over 50 years ago,
and they have had a lot of successin keeping this music going.
For those of you who don't know, Barry
Manilow is a singer songwriterwho was huge in the 70s and 80s.
Oh Mandy, well you came and you
(08:17):
gave without taking.
But before he was melting hearts on stage,
Barry was working as a jingle writerin the 1960s.
He composed several jinglesthat would end up becoming classics.
I am stuck on BandAid brandfcause BandAid’s stuck on me.
I am stuck on Band-Aidsbecause Band-Aids stuck on me.
(08:39):
But Barry's jingle masterpiece has to be
like a good neighbor
State Farm
is there.
Barry's original composition
had several verses a bridgeand that sweet, sticky chorus.
(09:02):
But the commercials typicallyjust use the main line from the chorus.
And like a good neighbor, StateFarm is there.
More recently,State Farm decided to ditch the singing,
but keep the melody playing underneaththe slogan like a good neighbor.
State Farm is there.
Sometimes they'll leave the slogan outentirely and just play the melody. (melody playing)
(09:26):
Other times,they'll even chop off the second half.
So it's just the first five notes.(State Farm sonic logo playing)
At this point,
the sound is really more of a sonic logothan a full on jingle without any lyrics.
It's closer to something like Intel.(Intel sonic logo playing)
But that makes it perfectfor this digital age
of short ads and sonic logosthat are hyper distilled. (sonic logo montage playing)
(09:57):
This transformation just proves
how brilliant and flexibleBarry's original melody was.
And no one's as surprised as he isthat it's still around.
Nobody expected a commercialto last that long.
Same thing with Band-Aids.
In an interview with the TelevisionAcademy Foundation, Barry explained
that you don't usually get royaltiesfor composing the music and lyrics
(10:19):
for a jingle. To get that,
you'd have to actually performon the recording or appear in the ad.
But as a composer,you just get a flat fee.
And for that State FarmInsurance commercial, I got $500
and it's been going for 45 years.
(10:40):
Shorter ads can help explain why
so many companies ditched the jingle,but it's only one piece of the puzzle.
Well, before the internet,
there was another advertising trendthat spelled trouble for the jingle,
which was putting real pop songsin commercials.
For decades, almost every pop tuneyou heard in a commercial
was either a cover or a totally reworkedversion with branded lyrics.
(11:04):
For instance, in the late 70s, Sunkistredid the Beach Boys
Good Vibrations with lyricsabout bubbly orange jubilation
Sunkist is giving that Good Vibration
Orange Jubilation
But a decade later, Nike pulled away
from the cheesy coversand decided to pony up for the real thing.
(11:25):
In an ad for their new air sneakers,they played the Beatles song Revolution.
Say you want a revolution.
Well, you know.
The ad features both professionaland amateur athletes
running, training and generallykicking butt wearing Nike shoes.
It turns out Nike didn't actually get full
(11:48):
permission to use the song,and they ended up getting sued.
Still, the campaign was a hit andit kicked off a new trend in advertising.
Pretty soon, popular music was showing upin more and more commercials.
In the early 90s, Chevy proved how ruggedit was with Bob Seger's Like a Rock.
America is still the landof rugged individualists,
(12:09):
like a rock.
I was strong as I could be.
Like a Rock. Songs by the BlackKeys, have appeared in commercials
for Subaru, Cadillac, AT&T,American Express, and Victoria's Secret.
Fasten your seatbelts, ladies.
Victoria'ssecret has reinvented the bra again.
(12:32):
In the late 2000,
the ASPCA pulled at our heartstringswith the help of Sarah McLachlan.
They ran a campaign that featured hersong Angel, set to slow motion videos
of very sad looking animals. In the arms
of the Angels
fly away from here.
(12:56):
And the trend continues to this day,with both classic
and modern songsshowing up in all kinds of commercials.
Here's a recent Toyota commercialfeaturing Peter Gabriel's Solsbury Hill.
It's a world of endlesspossibilities and adventures
you can't even imagine.
Now, of course, licensinghit songs for commercials is expensive.
(13:19):
So why did so many brands start doing it?
Part of the pressure came directlyfrom the music industry.
Music companies that publish all the music
hired people to start pushing their songs.
Steve Karman created lots of famousjingles, including the one for nationwide,
which he wrote in 1969,call the man from nationwide.
(13:43):
He's on your side.
Steve also wrotea book called Who Killed the Jingle?
In an interview with Cuny TV,he explained how companies use popular
music to entice us.
There is this belief out therethat if you associate your product
with a hit song,then you're you're hip, you're with it.
If a song becomes
(14:04):
popular, it's because a lot of peoplehave positive feelings about it.
And if you're a company,
you want to borrow that feelingand attach it to your product.
So if the song is exciting,the product is exciting.
If the song is romantic,then the product is romantic.
And that strategy can be really effective.
According to a Nielsen study.
(14:24):
Popular songs can increase the viewer'sattention, emotion,
and memory of a commercial by 20%.
With all of this in mind, it'sno wonder why
brands started choosing pop songs overbranded jingles.
In Who Killed the Jingle?
Steve writes, and I quote “jingles soundedold fashioned to a younger audience,
and the young audience iswhat the advertisers want.
(14:46):
A jingle wasn't subtle.
It tried too hard the opposite of cool.”
But using
pop songs in commercials can backfire,because sometimes those positive feelings
end up going to the artistrather than the brand.
So if you see a credit card commercialwith a Katy Perry song in it,
(15:07):
your first thought might not be,I should sign up for that credit card.
It might be Katy's the best.
I should check out hernew album, The City.
Thank you. Preferred card.
Now earning two times the pointson entertainment and dining out.
With no annual fee to apply,go to city.com/thank you cards.
Another issue is that peoplebring their own associations to the music.
(15:28):
So if someone has negativefeelings about a song,
this strategy doesn't work at all.
For instance, maybe you're not crazyabout My Milkshake by Kelis.
Or maybe you do like it,
but you don't think the undertone isa great fit for a paper towel commercial?
My milkshake brings all the boys to theyard, and their like it’s better than yours.
Spilled your milkshake.
(15:48):
Quick!
The quicker picker upper Bountypicks up spills quicker.
Or maybe you think the lyrics to Brown
Sugar by the Rolling Stoneshave aged really poorly.
If so, you probably wouldn'tbe very impressed with this Pepsi
commercial, where the song is sungby a squeaky, soda loving fly.
(16:09):
Brown sugar
Oh yeah
Popular musicis something that many people use.
But we've seen researchthat shows that branded music
is much more effectivein drawing attention.
(16:29):
One benefit of original
branded music is that the brand ownsthe music rights forever.
But pop songs can usually only be licensedfor a few years.
Then they move on to someone else'slicensed music
that happens to be popularand they don't build equity.
When you buy a house or invest inthe stock market, you're building equity.
(16:49):
Ideally, those investmentswill increase in value over time.
The same is true for building a brand.
You want people's memories and feelingsabout your brand to strengthen.
As the years go by.
The most important thing about your Sonicbrand is it's building
a very important type of equitythat will be there forever.
A jingle that lasts yearsor even decades is a great way to do that.
(17:12):
When I'm in my 70s,I probably won't remember which pop song
Apple used in their commercials30 years ago, but I can almost guarantee
that I'll remember the KitKat jingleeven if I haven't heard it in decades.
Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar.
But that doesn't mean there's
no room for famous musiciansin ad campaigns.
(17:33):
Instead of just throwing a hitsong onto their commercials,
some companies pay celebritiesto speak or sing their jingles.
That way,the message stays focused on the brand
while the company still gets some of thatcelebrity star power.
Nationwide is especially good at this.
Recently, they ran a campaignwhere each commercial featured
a new branded song sungby a different performer.
(17:55):
But all of these songs endedin Steve Karmen's iconic melody.
Here's a version by singer songwriterTori Kelly.
Big things happen every day
and you need some help along the way.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
Another version featured Leslie OdomJr, who played Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
(18:20):
How to plan today and that's the key.
So tomorrowyou can get where you want to be.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
Here's a third version by JillScott with so much to protect each day.
Caring goes a long, long way.
Nationwide is on your side,
(18:43):
while a fourth version featuredGabriella Wilson, also known as her.
Maybe you should take it slow.
There's so much to care for in your life.
That's why nationwide is on your side.
State farm did something similar,but instead of a new song,
(19:05):
it ended up being a returnto the original. Around 2010.
State farmcommissioned Weezer to sing their jingle.
The band asked
if there were any recordings of the songthat hadn't been cut down
for a commercial, but all StateFarm could find was Barry Manilow.
Original sheet music and lyrics.
It seemed like no one had everactually recorded the entire thing,
(19:25):
so Weezer went into the studioand recorded the full three minute song.
Here's a clip.
No man has a promise of a life
without care and like a good neighbor.
State farm is there.
(19:47):
State Farm is there.
State Farm and Nationwide
have been using the same jinglesfor over half a century.
They have a lot of brand recognition.
And for any up and coming insurancecompanies, it's a tough act to follow.
(20:08):
If they want to compete with these jinglejuggernauts, they have to make something
that's super catchyand flexible enough to last
for years.
For over 50 years,
most commercialswere between 30 and 60s long.
This made them a natural fit
for extended jingleswith full verses and a catchy chorus.
(20:30):
But as ads went digital, they got shorter
and shorter.
At the same time,
many companies dropped their melodicjingles in favor of spoken word slogans.
So something like this.
The quilted quicker picker upper Bounty
turned into - bounty,the quicker picker upper.
(20:52):
Some brands leaned into popular music,like this Gatorade commercial featuring
welcome to the jungle.
Gatorade for a more bold, intense flavor.
But by and large, insurance companieskept using their trusty old jingles.
That's not to saythey didn't change with the times.
Some insurance companies
(21:13):
started speaking their sloganwhile the jingle played in the background.
American Family Insurance get a quoteor find an agent at AmFam.com.
While others hired big name celebritiesto sing their jingles.
For example, nationwide builta whole campaign around Peyton Manning.
In one commercial,he can't get their jingle out of his head.
(21:34):
50 Omaha set hut.
Nothing beats a new car smell.
Chicken parm.
You taste so good.
In another, Peyton coaches Brad Paisleyon how to sing the jingle
nationwide is on your side.
What do you think? We're almost there.
(21:55):
On the jingle, though, Brad.
I want to feel it. Right here.
Right here in the chest. Know your heart.
Heart in your heart.
By the way, Peyton, if you're listening,Steve Kamen would appreciate a call.
Here he is again on Cuny TV.
Do you know thatI have never received a phone call
from Peyton Manning saying, Steve,I love your song.
(22:15):
Thanks for writing that great song.
Why does nothing.
Not a postcard, a letter, a fax, nothing.
So why did insurance companiescling so tightly to their jingles?
I don't even know if I would
even consciously thinkabout an insurance company
if there wasn't a jingleor some sort of shtick like Geico.
(22:37):
I’ve traveled all over the countrytalking about saving with Geico.
When it comes to insurance, to me, it'svery much who's top of mind.
Yeah.
You know, when you think about Coca Cola,they have amazing sonic branding.
They have great music, but they also havepackaging and they have taste.
And there's a touched the glass.
(22:59):
They actually trademarked the shape of itbecause it fits in your hand.
So they have so many more waysthat they can become top of mind
than just an insurance companythat you don't fully understand.
People aren't really surewhat happens to their money where it goes.
It's very vague.
Sonicbranding needs to be solving a problem.
(23:22):
Insurance jingles in general are very muchtrying to solve
the problem of this is nota memorable service for anyone.
It's something that people makeone decision, maybe
one out of the course of 5 to 10 yearsand that's it.
Then you forget about it.
Depending on the situation,
insurance is either painfully boringor deadly serious
(23:46):
because the whole point of insuranceis to help out in bad situations.
I think the reason thatwe don't think about them is because it's
associated with negative vibes,negative energy.
Like our car just broke downor our house just caught on fire.
It's not happy memoriesthat you think about for insurance.
And so by attributing music,which is such a strong,
(24:10):
powerful connection,putting a light spin on insurance
before you have to deal with insurance,I think they're kind of like beating us
to the punch.
Insurance King actually made a jingleabout that exact idea
nobody wants until they need it,and they can't even get it
We’re talking about car insurance.
(24:30):
Breaking the law can really ruin your lifeif you let it.
If you don't have car insurance.
Most insurance commercials
go out of their way to give youa feeling of comfort and support.
Think about the sloganlike a good neighbor state farm is there.
Nationwide is on your side.
(24:52):
Are you in good hands?
When you watch these ads,you're supposed to forget
about copays and deductibles and premiums.
Instead,you're supposed to feel like choosing this
company means they're personally goingto have your back.
One way to dothat is through a reassuring jingle.
Another is through a warm,friendly mascot.
(25:12):
Whether it's the Geico gecko, Flofrom Progressive or Jake from State Farm,
because this is such a non tangible
service, personalization helps.
So bringing a human or even a duck (Aflac)
into the picture can helpit become more concrete and tangible.
(25:36):
Most jingles are aimed at
a broad, general audience,but occasionally
a jingle is designed to get the attentionof a particular group.
USAA is an insurance company that's opento military members and their families.
So when they decided to make their ownjingle, that was their target audience.
The USAA jingle came
(25:57):
about by some research that USAA had done.
Colleen is also the US managing director
for SonicBranding Agency called Sixième Son.
They uncovered that their awarenesswas extremely low
in the keygrowth market of the military people.
So USAA asked Coleen's team to crafta Sonic
(26:18):
brand that would help them connectwith this group.
I'm not even quitesure we knew a jingle would come from it.
That's Sergio Trujillo, the former leadbrand strategy manager at USAA.
We just knew that there was an opportunity
to utilize audio and musicin a more intentional way.
(26:38):
During that time,I have seen examples by brands
such as Visa and Mastercard.
And Ireally turned to those as inspiration.
Their goal was to unify the sound of theiradvertising both now and in the future.
So it was through our discussionswith Sixième Son
(26:59):
that we really peeled back The Onionand identified the various places
where we could build out a cohesive
universe of sounds in music.
The first thing they had to figure out
was what they wantedthese sounds to communicate.
There were several things they wishedwe would capture.
(27:20):
One was this humanity,warmth, and camaraderie.
Then another bucketwas sort of their integrity and rigor.
And another was their authenticityand groundedness.
In one of their brainstorms,someone brought up the idea of a call
and response chant.Like you might hear at a soccer game.
(27:44):
And the room got so excited,
they began to talk about memoriesthey had of their time in the military,
when they felt like they were doingsome horrible job cleaning the barracks.
But they were all chanting togetherwith this call and response.
I’m a steamroller baby. I’m a steamroller baby.
So rolling down the line.So rolling down the line.
(28:07):
I'm a steamroller, baby.I'm a steamroller, baby.
And you could just feel the whole moodof the room lifted.
And that told us.
This is something that harks backto their military experience and is a good
part of their military experience,and a great thing to attach a brand to.
They knew they didn't want the jingleto be too smooth or melodic.
(28:30):
They didn't want to be polished.
They didn't want to be professionalsingers, precise musicians.
The creative director would say,put more mud on those boots.
And that gave us a lot of guidance, too,
because that made us make it sort of realand rugged.
With these ideas in mind.
Colleen's team crafted the jingle.
(28:52):
Since it's so short,it could easily be called a Sonic logo. (USAA sonic logo playing)
Next, they wove that logo
into something called the Sonic DNA.
(USAA sonic DNA playing)
So the sonic
(29:12):
DNA helps establish the rhythm,
the energy, the instrumentation,the melody,
and many, many pieces of musicwill be built out of that.
It's kind of like a sonic style guide.
And of course, the logo is a motifthat runs through it
and becomes the ending,and then goes off to live its own life.
(29:36):
USAA
with the sonic style guide in place.
They made unique versionsfor different types of ads.
What we decided to dowas create many variations
on our own theme,so that it could be used for celebrations. (USAA music playing)
(29:58):
That could be used for sports.(USAA music playing)
It could be
jazzy. (USAA music playing)
One version was very patriotic.(USAA music playing)
(30:24):
What we tried to dowas give them a huge toolkit
that they could use to always bring peopleback into this world of the USAA.
camaraderie.
Here are a few examples of that.
Sonic branding at work.
USAA insurance is madejust the way Martin's family needs, and
with hassle free claims.
(30:44):
He got paid before his neighbor
At USAA we’ve been called too exclusive.
Cause we only serve thosewho honorably served all ranks.
Like other insurance companies,they sometimes leave out the vocals
and just play the melodybeneath their slogan USAA. (music playing)
What you're made of, we're made for.(music playing)
Get a quote today, USAA.(music playing)
It's still onlyfor the military community. (music playing)
(31:07):
They even use their sonic brandingin their on hold music.
USAA
So here we are,more than 3 or 4 years later,
and it's still being used acrossa variety of different TV commercials,
digital radio, terrestrial radio, Pandora,
(31:28):
etc..
Clearly,
writing a good insurancejingle means checking a lot of boxes.
It should be catchy,unique, and reassuring.
It should tell the listeners
something about the company itselfand what it stands for.
(31:50):
And it should be flexibleenough to work in a wide variety of ads.
The upshot is, when it's done well,that jingle
can form the basis of an entire Sonicbrand.
It can be a through line that ties
all of a company'sadvertising together for years to come.
I wonder if all of a sudden insuranceagencies,
the next ones that came out,they decided, you know what?
(32:12):
We're not doing this.
We're going to skip the silly jingle, andwe're going to focus on just our product.
Would they be successful?
Would we go? Well,they don't have a jingle.
They don't have a sound.
But Nationwide's got a sound.
Why don't they have a sound?
I think nowadays there's so many differentjingles and shticks
(32:33):
for insurancethat in order to be successful
as an insurance company,if you didn't have a jingle,
that would have to be your marketingcampaign.
It'd be like,we're not spending tons of money
on a jingle to get you to notice us.
We pass those savings on to you.
Here's no jingle.
It turns out
(32:54):
several brands have started doing exactlythat.
For instance, the companyNjm put out a commercial about a man
who just can't escape
the jingle of a fictional insurancebrand called Top Insurance.
Today's forecast is brought to youby - We are the tippy top we’re Top Insurance.
We are the tippy top- we’re Top Insurance.
(33:14):
Some insurance companies are knownfor their jingles.
Top insurance.
Please hold NJM is known for what matters.
Outstanding service.
You can actually count on no jinglesor mascots, just great insurance.
AAA took the meta jingle commerciala step further.
Insurance companieslove using jingles to sell your policies.
(33:34):
But not AAA.
That's Triple-A.
Who needs a catchy jingle?
Cause AAA has coverage, confidence.
So you've written a jingleabout how we don't do jingles,
outsmart jingles, and choosecoverage confidence from AAA
Maybe
someday insurance jingles will fade away.
(33:57):
But for now,it seems like they're here to stay.
Well, these jingles and the lightheartedtone, it's been going since the 60s.
So if it ain't broke, don't fix it right.
(34:27):
Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the sounddesign studios of Defacto Sound.
Find out more at Defacto sound.com.
This episode was writtenand produced by Jeanna Isham
and Casey,Emerling with help from Grace East.
It was sound edited by Soren Bejen
It was sound designedand mixed by Joel Boyder and Brendan Pratt
with original music by Wesley Slover.
(34:50):
Thanks to our guests ColleenFahey and Sergio Trujillo.
To learn more about these topics,check out Colleen's book
Audio Branding Using Sound to BuildYour Brand.
You can also subscribe to Jeanna’s podcast,which is called Sound In Marketing.
It's availableright here in your podcast player.
I'm Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening.
(35:24):
Thank you again to
Twenty Thousand Hertz for allowing meto rerun this episode.
If you haven't already, go subscribeto their podcast immediately.
It is most definitely on my topthree list.
Not sure what episodes to start with.
Here are my faves.
Tudum.
I'm lovin it, and Sound Alikes.
I'll link to all of themin the show notes.
(35:44):
If your company is ready to exploresound in its
marketing,Dreamr Productions would love to help.
We produce branded podcasts, sonic logos,
and strategize branded sound plans.
Send us a message at Dreamr Productionsor connect
with me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
The Sound In Marketing podcastis produced by Dreamr Productions
(36:06):
and hosted, written and edited by me,Jeanna Isham.
Let's make this world of sound
more intriguing,more unique, and more and more on brand.
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