You only win when they’re singing
Opinion
Winning attention isn’t just about making noise; it’s about giving people something they can sing, writes Chris Herbert-Lo.
The UK is never more united than when together in a chorus. The birthplace of The Beatles. Home of Britpop. It was here, not their native US, where The Killers first broke through, and Mr Brightside (a sing-along sensation that repeats verse and chorus twice) has since clocked almost 10 years in the charts.
Our instinct to join in song makes sense for a nation built around the weekly pilgrimage to the football terraces that fans call home. When Saturday comes, hundreds of thousands make the journey to sing in support of their teams, many millions more listening at home or joining from a distant pub.
So, while Norway fans at the World Cup may row in unison, the togetherness among fans of Scotland and England has been borne out in song.
From the passion of the Tartan Army belting out Flower of Scotland, to the relief of England players and fans joining together for a verse of Wonderwall. That relief is a mix of England having opened their account with some attacking intent and of things finally moving on from Sweet Caroline.
Truth is, there are some lyrics so ingrained in our culture that most Brits can’t help but finish them:
- Someday you will find me, caught beneath the landslide…
- And through it all, she offers me protection, a lot of love and affection…
- Is this the real life, is this just fantasy…
- Autoglass repair, Autoglass…
The importance of being heard
Earworms, whether they be sing-along classics or sonic logos, are so powerful because audio strengthens memory. According to dual-coding theory, combining sound with other stimuli creates stronger mental encoding, improving recall and recognition.
Sound is also processed by our brains significantly faster than visual stimuli, allowing brands to signal their presence almost instantaneously.
Beyond speed and memory, sound has a direct emotional impact. Neuroscientific research shows sounds have a more immediate pathway to the brain’s emotional centres.
A well-designed sonic logo or well-chosen backing track can evoke instant feelings and build deeper associations over time.
Stick a banging soundtrack on it
A couple of years back, I was speaking to effectiveness expert Peter Field about the common themes in how fame drives work. His research had turned up a series of factors that I’d noted down at an event a few years before. Extreme humour, provocative cause, unconventional use of media…the list went on. After reaching the end, he said I’d missed one. “A banging soundtrack”.
You only have to look at some of the greats to appreciate this. The Levi’s ads of the late 90s, plus surfers, the gorilla, the cascade of balls bouncing down a San Francisco street, every one of them soundtracked with a single piece of banging music.
In the Nike versus Adidas ad debate this summer, always the first big game of a tournament, the role of music seems to have been underplayed. Neither takes ownership of a piece of music in a way that makes it synonymous with the ad.
Many reviews referenced Nike’s 1998 ‘Airport’ as a benchmark against which all others have since been compared. An ad soundtracked by ‘Mas Que Nada’, a tune which kids at the time would jokingly attempt to sing when showing off their football skills (trust me, I was one).
Turning things up to 11
The good news is that options for landing a sonic logo or pumping soundtrack are more abundant than ever.
Radiocentre’s High Gain Audio study highlights that commercial audio listening has increased by 23% since 2018. While broadcast radio remains the dominant platform within that, aided by connected devices and the growth of digital stations, other commercial audio opportunities, such as online streaming and podcasts, have obviously joined the party.
The study also finds that both broadcast radio and digital audio deliver ROI above the all-media average, and, given that audio is underutilised relative to its effectiveness, reallocating spend to audio can increase overall campaign ROI by up to 9% without any increase in total media investment.
Which is great for those looking to land their audio assets, but also brilliant for brands that want to be more affiliated with music.
Last summer, with Sweet Caroline still reverberating following England’s win at the women’s Euros, brands set out to bottle a different kind of seasonal energy by working directly with musical talent.
Kopparberg partnered with Capital Dance and a roster of new DJ talent to take over a day of programming and fill summer social feeds, positioning itself at the centre of summer sundowner sessions. Adidas’ Cannes-winning tie-up with Oasis meanwhile drove sales at a rate of one item per second and set a uniform of three stripes for those crowds joining in song.
Scotland has now arrived home from the FIFA World Cup, and it’s difficult to predict how England will fare from here, but the ‘No Scotland, No party’ anthem will live long in the memories of the people of Boston, and the wisdom of the crowds that have cheered both countries on shows us winning attention isn’t just about making noise; it’s about giving people something they can sing.
Chris Herbert-Lo is a strategy partner at the7stars. Read his new monthly column for The Media Leader on the first Tuesday of each month.