A Sound of Your Own
You’ve got a business name and a slogan. Perhaps you have a logo and a color scheme that identifies you. But do you have a sound of your own?
Your sound may be a jingle or theme. Jingles and themes stick in people’s minds. When you hear “Thanks for the Memories,” you think of Bob Hope. And if I ask, “Remember the Oscar Meyer Weiner jingle?” you won’t be able to get it out of your head all day. (Sorry!)
We retain information better when it’s set to music, too. My mother helped my Girl Scout troop learn the Girl Scout laws (there are ten) by writing a song about them. To this day, I can tell you all ten laws—and it’s been more than a few years since I learned them. Setting your business name, address, phone number or Web site URL to music will make it easy for customers to remember how to reach you. Include your slogan to reinforce your message.
If you want a jingle of your own, you can contract with someone to write one. A quick Google search found several professional jingle writers who will create a sound for you. There is an extensive list of music providers, including jingle writers, at Radio411.com. You should expect to pay anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand for a package that may include several versions of your jingle.
Make sure you know exactly what rights you are buying. In some cases, the writer retains the copyright but allows you to use the jingle in a defined area, such as a state. To own all rights, negotiate a Work Made for Hire agreement. For more information on Work Made for Hire, see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ9.html.
A low-budget alternative is to use royalty-free music as your sound. Individual tracks or collections can be purchased at prices starting at just a few dollars. One of my favorite sources is . You can use these tracks “as-is” or add spoken word or other vocal elements.
Do not appropriate an existing song or someone else’s jingle. For example, you can not legally write new words for a popular song and use it as your theme, or use a song from one of your favorite CDs. That is a violation of copyright law, and it can get you sued.
Your sound doesn’t have to be a whole song or even a jingle to be memorable and effective. Intel has it’s familiar chords—when you hear them, you think of Intel. NBC used a three-note sound that you immediately recognize.
Once you have a sound for your business, use it often as part of the branding of your business. Play it in all of your radio and television advertising. Put a WAV file of it on your website. Play it on your phone system, when the voice mail answers or while callers are on hold. Make people aware of it, so they associate the song or sound with your business.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
