In the movie Sabrina, Audrey Hepburn mentioned that certain songs are capable of bringing back sudden memories. I guess this is the reason why a lot of advertisers use catchy jingles in their ads to give the same impact to their audience. Music has become one of the major forces in marketing because when an ad has music, you see or hear the ad in a different way – as a matter of fact, you pay more attention to the ad when the music used is a favorite or is very popular for the generation.
We took a look at Saint Joseph's University, Department of marketing, David Allan, Ph.D. study called "Sound Advertising". It is a Review of the Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Music in Commercials on Attention, Memory, Attitudes, and Purchase Intention.
MUSIC AFFECTS ATTENTION
Have you ever experienced seeing or hearing an ad that stopped you from switching channels? This is because this ad has grabbed your attention. Usually, when our favorite TV shows are on for a commercial break, we continue to what were were doing before we were interrupted and this is not the scenario that advertisers have in mind. Companies spend millions just to put up an ad on TV or radio just to get their brands noticed. However, when the ad is sloppily made, nobody wants to stop see or listen to it. But when an ad uses a very catchy or familiar tune for their ads, chances are you are glued to your television screens or radio sets for the next 5 minutes.
MUSIC AFFECTS MEMORY
We identify brands and products basing on what song they used for their commercial. It is because when a certain song is played over and over again, the audience has the tendency to mimic what is being heard, thus relating a certain product to that particular song. One example is an ad that I have seen on TV by McDonald’s. The ad is about young love and the times they spent together in McDonald’s. The song used in this particular ad was very popular and it was sung by a particular 90s band which is very famous in our country. As a result, this specific ad was identified with McDonald’s because a lot of people are familiar with the song plus the ad itself was heart-warming – Isn’t it wonderful meeting your first love when you were 8 years old while both of you are eating a sundae?
MUSIC AFFECTS ATTITUDE
Jingles used in an ad have the tendency to affect product preferences especially if the song used is not popular or, let’s say, half of the world’s population hated that particular tune. Remember that when the music properlyfits, the message processing of the ad is enhanced. So when the audience hates the song used in a certain commercial, it affects the way they look at the product and chances are, they will not watch or listen to the commercial. Worse? They won’t buy the product anymore.
WHY MUSIC ON HOLD?
Chances of ever being able to reach out to potential customers will be thwarted if you fail to put music on hold when asking your callers to wait. Why? Silence" is a big no-no, when to being on hold. In fact, statistics about waiting on hold show that more than 70% of all calls are place on hold at some point, and that 50% of callers will hang-up within less than 50 seconds if only hearing silence. Even worse 35% of those callers who hang-up -- will NEVER call back!
With all that is known about how music is used to affects our mood, and persuades decision makinging, then it is clear that business should be using "on hold" time as their opportunity to have an impact with prospects and customers. With the use of music on hold and messages you get to keep callers on the line longer, and also advertise your goods and services, and you can even reduce callers perceived wait time.
Remember: music =more listeners = more sales.