The Effect of Jingle and Punch Line in Brand Establishment: Success story of some Indian brands

Article by : Prof Sanjana Mondal, Assistant Professor - Marketing, Calcutta Business School

Positioning a brand and ensuring its sustainability is a tough challenge in a dynamic business environment. Creating an innovative message design to communicate the brand is one of the effective strategies adopted by the marketers. As creating an appropriate value that addresses the ultimate satisfaction to the consumers ensures the acceptability of the product, similarly communication strategy, at par with positioning objective can lead to a brand’s success. Some of the Indian brand success stories are the proof of the magical effect of the Jingles and Punch lines in growing market acceptance and sustainability of a brand. Let us take an example of Amul, the taste of India, Nirma- Washing Powder, Dhara cooking oil- 'Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara', Vicco Turmeric- Vicco Turmeric nahi cosmetic, Airtel- Airtel instrumental.

1. Amul Story- Over the years, Amul, one of the most beloved brands of our country, has become the taste of India, just as its tagline claims. Every Indian millennial has grown up listening to the jingles of its many dairy products, and the Amul girl, the brand’s mascot in the polka-dotted dress, has become a nostalgia-evoking symbol. Amul has truly come a long way since its founding in 1946. The Utterly Butterly Girl still wins hearts wherever she is, whether on a billboard or on the packet of butter. The butter girl with Round eyed, chubby cheeked, winking at the consumers, from strategically placed hoardings at many traffic lights hits the love and affectionate emotions that draws attention. This emotional attachment drives the same emotion towards the product she is holding out ie, her favourite packet of butter. For 30 odd years the Utterly Butterly girl has managed to keep her fan following intact. So much so that the ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest running campaign ever. The ultimate compliment to the butter came when a British company launched a butter and called it Utterly Butterly.
2. Nirma Story- The Nirma washing powder advertisement has one of the most famous jingles. It’s been years down the line but the jingle of Nirma is still jingling in the ears of Indians. It was immaterial whether the detergent gave clothes the “Dhood si Safedi” or not, the most effective thing that impacted the product was its communication ie, the ad “Nirma, washing powder Nirma”. The company’s mission to provide, “Better Products, Better Value, Better Living” which was justly communicated through its message design, that in turn contributed a great deal to its success. By addressing Hema. Rekha, Jaya and Susma, the brand positioned itself in the hands of every common women in a community and successfully addressed belongingness.
3. Dhara Story- Best recalled for its signature 'Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara' campaign, the brand has been synonymous with 'Shudhata' or purity for a long time. Along the way, through its advertising campaigns, Dhara has adopted taglines such as 'Anokhi Shudhata, Anokha Assar and has also stressed on health-related propositions with campaigns like 'Happy Hearts are Healthy Hearts' and 'My Daddy Strongest'. Purity was relevant till a few years back. Today, health is more relevant to the consumers and as a responsible marketer of quality edible oils, it was inevitable to address the need gap."
4. Vicco Story- Vicco Group successfully launched its ayurvedic cosmetic cream in the Indian market with ad jingles stating its importance. “Vicco turmeric, nahi cosmetic, vicco turmeric ayurvedic cream” ad positioned its product differentiation highlighting the utility of the turmeric. Turmeric being the most common and popular product used as homemade remedies for instant fairness and glow among Indian household, was wisely used in positioning the product among the young women. The jingle was finely tuned as the objective of the brand was to encourage the usage of ayurvedic products rather than chemical cosmetics. The best ad jingles becomes the ear worms and one can’t get them out of their mind.Vicco turmeric was one of such examples.
5. Airtel Story - If there has been one tune that's been synonymous with cellphones for many years, it is Airtel's instrumental tune composed by A.R. Rahman. The magical effect of the jingle addressing the hearing sense of organ, returned high dividend in terms of audio branding and brand recall. A catchy jingle can sway the world, cutting across cultures and geographies. Airtel ad jingle was an example of the statement. The jingle fulfills the objective of connection which is the moto of any telecom service provider.

Hence it is recommended for all the brand to frame an innovative communication strategy that is at par with the specific objective of the brand. The positive the objective the positive should be the response if clearly communicated. The brand stories discussed above are the perfect example of the statement.