Steal These Ideas!: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star, 2nd Edition

What Is a Jingle, and How Is It Used and Misused?

In a very real sense, jingles are commercial hymns. Done well, they are impossible to resist and remain in people's memories from the first few hearings through the rest of their lives.

The dictionary defines a jingle as a memorable advertising slogan set to a catchy melody. To be considered effective, a jingle should literally ring a bell in the brain that immediately registers the product or service the jingle represents.

Despite the power a jingle can wield in consumer purchase decisions, its usage has diminished significantly from the high point of its popularity in the 1950s. The following are several reasons why jingles today are rarely thought about or created:

• Clients no longer demand ...