Old Hindi songs in ads proving to be attraction magnets for brands

Music has been serving as an important auditory signature for brands for a long time – be it in the form of jingles, some particular notes or sounds. In this mix, Bollywood songs have also been helping brands build a connect and stand out in a musical way. 

One still remembers the Wrigley Doublemint ad, where the Kishore Kumar classic ‘Ek Ajnabee Haseena Se’ was given a contemporary touch to support a sweet boy-meets-girl narrative. Google India’s 6-minute long ad highlighting father-son bond was woven together with the melodious strains of Sholay’s theme music. And who can forget the adorable squirrels serenading each other to the seductive tune of ‘Mr India’s song, ‘Kaate Nahi Kat Te’ in the Kit Kat ad. 

Brands have been taking recourse to Bollywood songs to set the tone, mood and message of their campaigns across categories. In recent times we have Ranbir Kapoor grooving to retro film songs in the Yatra ads; Google Home ads too have been using retro Hindi film songs. 

Be it the original songs or their remixed version, Bollywood songs have taken precedence over the good old jingles. 

Adgully spoke to some brand experts to find out the strategy behind brands going for retro Hindi songs, how they add to building brand connect and some do’s and don’ts that brands need to keep in mind while selecting songs for their campaigns. 

How it works as brand strategy? 

 Harish Bijoor
Harish Bijoor
According to Harish Bijoor, Brand Expert & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, movie songs that have been memorable over the decades, or for that matter even the new ones, are audio brand ambassadors that create an instant attraction and pull. That is the role of these songs and they fulfil them well, he remarked. 

Sundeep Nagpal, Founder-Director, Stratagem Media, too, agreed that using songs in ads improved brand recall, especially if it is connected creatively with the selling proposition of the brand. 

For Subir Chatterjee, Director, White Light Productions, this whole strategy was a no brainer. He pointed out, “It’s the same thinking as using film stars in your campaign and cashing in on their popularity. The absence of original advertising ideas triggers star-based advertising. Clients feel happy and don’t mind spending money on the star rather than on the campaign itself. There’s the same strategy in using Bollywood songs, piggybacking on equity, basking in reflected glory. Such campaigns seek to cash in on the fan base and tie up with the current popular mood. They hope for rub off, a tie-in with the extended synergy.” 

Giving a brand’s perspective on using film songs, Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com, noted that Bollywood has left a lasting impression on the cultural psyche of the nation. “And with Ranbir Kapoor as the brand ambassador of Yatra, it seemed a perfect fit to merge the unique positioning of Yatra with the great musical legacy of the Kapoor khandaan. The songs used in the ads encourage the viewers to sing along, but majorly it also helps them to remember the unique services presented by Yatra.com,” he added. 

Prahlad Kakkar
Prahlad Kakkar
On a different note, Prahlad Kakkar, Ad Film Director, Genesis Productions, felt that use of songs in ads was “highly unprofessional”. Elaborating on this, Kakkar said, “All retro songs carry a nostalgia factor. The remixes are quite popular amongst youngsters, depending upon the salience of the song. The melody of the tune is the most important thing, what is called as ‘Goonj’. So, the brands using these jingles automatically get a kick-start. But now it has become a very complicated issue because nobody really knows who owns the rights of these compositions. There are no set standards set up by the music company on rates/ royalty. The charges are arbitrary and depend on the clients.” 

At the same time, he agreed that using old film songs in ads is a clever revival of songs. “It brings nostalgia to people’s minds and at the same time also helps the brand.” 

Some advice for brands 

According to White Light’s Chatterjee, brands need to make sure that the song being selected for an ad is popular for the right reasons. “Your brand depends on it. It’s important to keep an eye on the larger context of the film. Watch out for unfavourable subtexts and spin-offs. Be very careful and be aware of trashy or vulgar spin-offs,” Chatterjee cautioned. 

Harish Bijoor’s advice to brands was not to overdo it to death, so that every ad has a song clip in it. 

Sundeep Nagpal
Sundeep Nagpal
Nagpal of Stratagem Media felt that there must be a significant synergy of idea/ thought between the brand positioning and the mood/ lyrics of the song. “Basically, they should connect naturally and not be a forced connection,” he added. 

“The film industry has to figure out that who has the music rights. Whether its music director or the producer” Prahad Kakkar elucidated. 

While observing that using song in campaigns was a very old phenomenon, Prahad Kakkar added that now the rules had changed. “In the beginning, there were no rules and no clear guidelines. The film industry has to figure out who holds the music rights – whether it is the music director or the producer.” 

Not much benefit for brand positioning 

Subir Chatterjee
Subir Chatterjee
On songs helping brands strengthen their positioning in the market, Subir Chatterjee remarked, “If the song is popular, it has equity and the film has done its work. There is an easy recall. The better the crafting of the fit between the song and the brand, the better is the rub off. Transfer of epithet, transfer of goodwill, emotional tie-up, brand recall and most importantly, appearing current, topical and relevant – those are the advantages.” 

Sharat Dhall
Sharat Dhall
Citing Yatra’s example, Sharat Dhall informed, “While communicating with our customers as a part of our usual exercise, we gathered that although they look out for hassle-free experiences, they also want more value from their travel and want it to be worth every ounce spent on the trip. So, it was a conscious decision by Yatra to create ads with a lighthearted and humourous tonality so as to ensure that they are fun to watch and yet deliver the key consumer message. The evergreen and classic tunes featured in the TVCs not only captivate the audiences by getting them to smile and hum along, but also reinforces Yatra’s brand message of being ‘India ka travel planner’.” 

For Bijoor, the advantages for the brand are the awareness pulls, as songs can prove to be the “attraction magnets”. However, according to him, using songs in ads does nothing in terms of brand positioning. 

Agreeing with Bijoor, Sundeep Nagpal, too, felt that using songs may not always benefit the brand’s positioning, but it could help in improving top-of-mind recall for the brand and its attributes.

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