Magic of Music in Advertisements | Epic Ad Jingles That Are So Much Better Than Our Bollywood Songs
Magic of Music in advertisements. The music itself plays a huge role in any form of communication; Within 4-5 months from now, we will be surrounded by music, as Ganapati Chaturthi is nearing and it is the religious festival of Indians and every cultural festival in our country.?
Music is the core of the festival, connecting one and all at a purely emotional level. Many know the song (both lyrics and the tune), some know just the tune and hum along, but even those who are listening to a song for the first time get involved. Music is a great connector, connecting even those who are tone-deaf!
“One would think that there is a lot of music in Indian advertising. But listen to a cluttered tape of commercials and you will change your mind. There are a lot of jingles, but not much music.”
In the early eighties, jingles dominated the Indian advertising scene. It was about taking a brand name, slapping it on a tune, and repeating it a number of times. That was it. “Remember ‘Nirma, Nirma, Nirma, Nirma, washing powder Nirma’, and so on. That wasn’t music - and that isn’t music - Not to me at least.”
“Music comes from the future and travels?to the present and runs for decades and the legacy of it continues for centuries.”
Check out these wonderful renditions from the world of advertising.?
1. Sometimes Cadbury can say it better than words
This song broke the stereotypical connotations of the song “selling” a product, this music tries to entertain, touch and involve the listener with singer Usha Uthup in 1982. Her jingles and lyrics for the brands like Gold Spot and Nescafe’ are widely remembered. Which led to the emergence of another voice from Kolkata, Usha Uthup.?
2. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara?
Ek Sur, better known as Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, is that a song doesn’t demand patriotic pride, it simply, gently, evokes it.?
“Patriotism was not forced; rather it was a project to fall in love with - that effectively stays forever with us forever.”
The song is also known for its production values that surpassed every standard set by the industry at the time. It took six months in making.?
The concept for Mile Sur was developed in 1988 by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad and promoted by Doordarshan and India’s Ministry of Information.?
It was telecasted for the first time on Independence day 1988, after the telecast of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort.?
Millions of Indians heard it for the first time then, it has become an unofficial anthem of India. Millennials should definitely listen to this song.?
Conceived and Directed by Suresh Mullick, Composed by Ashok Patki, and Co-composed by Louis Banks, Lyricist- Piyush Pandey who was then an account manager at Ogilvy & Mather.?
3. Asian Paints
In 1991, Rahaman composed this wonderful festive theme song for Asian Paints. It is a wonderful theme song, its local setting and then was right up Rahaman’s alley. It gave him a stent into composing jingles and music for advertisements early in his career.?
Tradition and culture are narrated at their best with the help of music composed by young maestro A.R. Rahaman.?
4. Cadbury Dairy Milk and Cricket are Back?
The ad, written by Piyush Pandey of Ogilvy & Mather and directed by Mahesh Mathai, would go down as one of the most remembered ads of the decade, maybe even several decades.?
Though the Cadbury film showed ladies and gents in their Sunday best attire. Which is not so realistic- All of them are sitting appropriately, the final dance broke the mirage. The final dance was purely a free flow of dance and an expression of joy. After her famous dance, Shimona Rashi was permanently referred to as the Cadbury girl.
?5. Airtel Instrumental?
If there has been one tune that’s been synonymous with cell phones for many years, it is Airtel’s instrumental tune composed by A.R. Rahaman.?
?6. Hero MotoCorp
It had come to our nearly a decade ago and it had a message which asked to shed inner fear and charge ahead towards glory.
The new brand identity and logo Hero MotoCorp was developed by the London firm Wolff Olins. The logo was revealed on 9th August 2011 in London, the day before the third test match between England and India.?
Hero MotoCorp revitalizes “Hum Mein Hai Hero” Commercial for 2020. In the new version, the tune has been uplifted for the current times. Where the older version had come out at a time when Hero and Honda had just parted ways, this new version features Hero Motocorp’s current lineup and is themed on the nation’s comeback after the pandemic. The pace of the music is quick and added up with rap lyrics which mixes well with the present melodies.?
Here’s what it looks like:
7. Googly, Woogly Woosh?
Ponds came up with many ads with the Googly, Woogly, Woosh song and each song had an adorable theme attached to it. This ad was created by Ogilvy headed by Piyush Pandey who got insight based on his real-life experience. Nita did one day in a romantic moment, grabbing hold of my cheeks and saying, ‘Googly, Woogly, Woosh.’ The campaign ran for ten years!?
8. Amul - The Taste of India
Amul, 1998. We loved the vibe that this song generated by blending India's culture with it.
9. Kya aap closeup karte hain??
Mugdha Godse is featured in this ad and believe it or not, we love this jingle for its nasal twang. Piyush Pandey the adman behind this advertisement says that - The name of the toothpaste allowed us to pun with the word ‘close-up’.
The lyrics describe someone with fresh breath being able to get close up to someone from the opposite gender, and this was done in a manner that entertained the viewer through the brand name was mentioned multiple times.?
10. You and I in this beautiful world.?
Even great scripts get lifted by great music. In the very first Vodafone pug film, they layered some stock music. And were going to buy music rights to an existing song. Piyush Pandey veteran creative director insisted on creating an original song. Piyush Pandey replied to Mahesh You have created the most original piece of work. Now write an original song. That’s the moment when Mahesh came up with a one-liner thought which was going to make this pug film the most creative piece of artwork.?
The rest is history. The music is legendary as is the song. It’s hummed, people sing along with the music when they hear it, and may still have the song as their ringtone! Not just imagine the same film with a lifeless track. That is what music does to a film.?
11) Titan’s Signature Tune - Mozart 25th Symphony
Titan is India’s most successful consumer brand. It was unheard of in the mid-1980s to use Western classical music for an Indian brand aimed at an audience little exposed to that genre of music. But it struck a chord. Xerxes Desai- Titan’s Founding Managing Director felt the music gave the brand a world-class feel. “Of all the symphonies of Mozart, this one has a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and spirit about it.?
Titan’s signature tune would go on to entrench itself so deeply in the public mind that television audiences knew it was a Titan ad the moment the music came on even if they weren’t watching.?
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As Xerxes said with a chuckle,?
I don’t know if Mozart will turn in his grave or get up and applaud the kind of things we’ve done to his symphony using so many other instruments.?
Mozart’s 25th Symphony remains Titan’s signature tune to date.?
Titan’s founding managing director, the late Xerxes Desai, had worked with ad agency Ogilvy & Mather (then OBM) to select the signature tune for the brand’s television commercials, which was a piece of Western classical music.
12) Idea - Idea Internet lagoing, India ka no ullu banoing’.
Idea’s new campaign shows how its mobile internet has empowered everyone to call a fib. Lowe Lintas has created a campaign that will show users how to evade unscrupulous situations and people in everyday life.?
The concept of the campaign is ‘Idea Internet lagoing, India ka no ullu banoing.’?
It is known that people get cheated easily in India- while travelling or even in their own city or town. Most people talk more than their actions.?
Idea feels that with the help of mobile internet it is now easy to catch such frauds.?
The problem of fooling people easily, according to Idea, can be solved with Information. And this information can be made easily reachable with the mobile internet that Idea provides to its users.?
By showing different segments of society using the service, Idea manages to show that it is meant for everyone- and not just the tech-savvy young crowd.?
13) Lays Smile Dekhe Dekho?
Be the reason for someone’s smile today Smile Deke Dekho!?In the video, titled Smile Deke Dekho, the actors are seen dancing to a peppy beat.??
The commercial video shows Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt making each other smile. Sunishi Chauhan has lent her voice for the song with Nakash Aziz, while Amit Trivedi is the music composer. Vayu has penned the lyrics of the fun number.?
14. Amul-The Taste Of India (Mero Gaam) Amul, 2016
This is a recent rendition of the old Amul track by Sunidhi Chauhan. Need we say more?
15. Airtel, 2011
Striking the right chord with today's youth by depicting their social life during college days, Airtel made a friendship anthem for all of us.?
16) Vicco Turmeric Nahi Ayurvedic
Iconic Advertisement - Every 90’s kid favourite jingle.?
Remember going to the movies as a 90s kid? The usual samosa-soft drink combo, the salted popcorn, the candy ice-creams. The Vicco Vajradanti ad? Is there a more inspired rhyming jingle than Vicco turmeric… nahi cosmetic??
Tell us you didn’t sing that and we”ll call you a liar.?
Most people growing up during the late 90s and the 00s were ambushed with the ad’s yellow aesthetic, something we eventually developed a taste for… like haldi doodh.?
The Vicco Vajradanti advertisement has been a significant part of our movie-going experience, something that’s been parodied over and over and still remains catchy. Each and everyone has heard this jingle more than once in their life.?
17) Alia Bhatt grooving to Vicco Vajradanti Jingle #DaantGungunaye
The brand thought of revising the iconic commercial to connect with Gen Z. In a very typical Bollywood style.?
So they hired Alia Bhatt to star in a ‘music video’ where favourite Dharma kid does the occasional shimmy to a generic Bollywood-ised version of the iconic jingle.?
The latest version of the jingle cuts down on the Ayurveda-heavy and problem-solution narrative. Also, with the addition of a popular star face and dance moves, the brand appears to be headed towards building a strong digital presence connecting with the younger generation.?
I personally had made peace with the original ad’s catchy rhyming jingle and its beloved yellow aesthetic, which made everyone to required sing ayurvedic jadibutiyon se banaa sampoorna swadeshi in one breath, the second most important challenge since Shankar Mahadevan’s Breathless.?
18) Humara Bajaj - Humara Bajaj felt the heartbeat of India. A symbol of Indian Pride. An ad that is still relevant today.?
The words Hamara Bajaj took on a new, more personal meaning, while Buland Bharat ki buland tasveer stirred a different kind of national consciousness among the masses, it gave a more personal touch and told Indians to not look back. India of the future was expected to be bold, uplifted and fierce.
“Hamara Bajaj was one of India’s first inclusive campaigns. It was an all-embracing brand in the sense that ‘Hamara’ Bajaj meant a lot more than ‘Mera’ Bajaj. It was not about saying this is my Bajaj but it was saying this is our Bajaj,” says Bijoor.?
The advertisement was positioning Bajaj as a family brand but also tapping into an open, inclusive, collective Indian identity.
Audience and consumer easily connect and relate to national identity communication,? inclusiveness and inclusion.?
19) MDH - Mahashay Dharmapal Gulati (Mahashian Di Hatti)?
Shahi Paneer ya jo jaljeera masala, Kasuri Methi ya Deggi Mirch, Asli Masale Sach Sach, MDH...MDH, “I would be wrong if I assumed you did not hum the line with me. The jingle is so iconic that it can easily make even a teenager of today sing the exact tune with a picture of Gulati surfacing in their head.?
20) Liril: The Liril Girl?
Karen Lunel, the woman bathing and having fun in the ad, continued to be the ‘Liril girl for over a decade. She represented a new India, where wearing a bikini didn’t seem out of the ordinary, and girls could have fun. Lunel was unabashed and unapologetic about enjoying a bath outside.?
Bottom Line:
When creative directors put heart and soul into the music, they build an asset that can be used, as has been the case with Titan, for decades.?
The Titan tune is now an asset that has lasted decades. Take Lifebuoy’s ‘Raksha karta hai Lifebuoy’. If you listen to the words, including the brand name, it sounds like a sales pitch. But that’s not how?“Consumers hear the song; they immerse themselves in the music, they hum along with the music.”
These are just a few instances of what music can do for a script or a brand. That’s why It gets on my nerves when a client says, ‘Buy some stock music and slap it on,’ or ‘Can’t we get the music cheaper?’
“We are a country where there is magical music from all regions. Listen to it. Respect it. Get inspired by it. Inspire others with it.”
The best Indian advertisement songs list is endless -I have tried to cover some of our favourite and memorable advertisement songs/jingles which have not lost their selling power and it resonates with people.?
Let me know your favourite Indian advertisement songs in the comment section below.?