Music: A Major Key to Marketing Success

Music is like glue for our memories. It helps things stick. I can STILL list every single state in alphabetical order because I learned a song in fifth grade. The preamble? I got that on lock thanks to Schoolhouse Rock. And have you seen The Notebook? In that movie Allie remembers when she hears music, and she can play piano by memory—which might have been more muscle memory but it’s music-related nonetheless (side note: they are making The Notebook into a musical… finally!). Anyways, pairing music with products in commercials helps us, the consumers, to remember those products far more than those without.

If you hear someone speak “Buh dah bup bah bah”, you automatically hear “I’m lovin’ it”. What about, “We are Farmers”? Did you read that to the tune for Farmers Insurance or hear the follow-up “bums”? There are hundreds of jingles that help us remember certain brands and their products, but I love when companies use an under-the-radar catchy tune to help promote their merchandise. Those who know the song will be elated it’s finally getting the recognition it should, and those who haven’t heard it will automatically link their memory of the song to the commercial and the product it features.

Apple does this with their ads all the time. They don’t have to worry about a song overshadowing their products because people go to them for music anyways, so it’s a win-win situation. “Color Flood” is their most recent commercial to feature an underappreciated song. The song is called “Come Along” by Cosmo Sheldrake. It is very catchy and repetitive in order to optimize its “stuck in your head” powers. Go to the video for this song on YouTube, more than half the comments are about Apple’s ad…

Some are welcoming those who learned about the song through the ad, others are praising the ad for using Sheldrake’s song and most are asking, “Who is here from the apple ad?”. Even if they aren’t buying the new iPhone, they are still talking about the company because of this song.

This isn’t a new concept for advertisers or Apple. Here’s a 70-page list of songs the company has used in ads, tracking back to 1984. Hearing a favorable song for the first time leaves a lasting impression, which makes it the ideal medium to promote a product. Have you ever looked up a song because of a commercial or looked up a product because of a song in a commercial? Tweet us the commercials, songs, or both @Speaking_Human.