A jingle writer who started in 1985 says AI is now real competition, but not yet a replacement. Cary Reich told Borrell Associates’ Local Marketing Trends Podcast that clients still pay for human ideas and messaging, even as software gets better at producing.
Hosts Gordon Borrell and Corey Elliott asked whether jingles are a dying art form, a lost one, or one hiding in plain sight. Reich said he began writing jingles in 1985 after selling stocks and bonds, joined a local jingle writer, became a partner and owner, and about 14 years ago started Sound Branding Ideas, which writes jingles nationwide.
On AI, Sound Branding Ideas Founder Cary Reich said, “It is definitely competition. It’s actually really getting better and better. I’ve often told my marketing people when it’s better than me, I’m going to retire. Getting close, but not there yet.”
The podcast played three jingles written for the show, and Reich picked the third as his favorite. It was later revealed that the third was made with AI. In August, Borrell Associates found 35% of local advertisers are concerned that a vendor is using AI instead of doing the work themselves, up from 18% a year earlier, and 58% are concerned about paying full human rates for AI-generated work.
So what were some lessons for radio?
Sell the idea, not the audio. Reich stated “You can get a piece of music anywhere, but it’s the idea. And I’m not sure lyrically and understanding a USP and getting the message right is quite there yet. Again, I think it’s great, but people hire me for ideas and that message that makes them stand out.”
Start with the audience, not the client’s taste. Reich said, “One of the things that’s very important is to know your audience. And I always, you know, when I meet with clients, the first thing I do is say, don’t tell me what you like. Tell me what your demo likes. And if your demo are people that, you know, grew up listening to Black Sabbath, that’s right on the money.”
Give the spot a melody. In July, Liberty Mutual Chief Marketing Officer of US Retail Markets Jenna Lebel told the RAB Radio Mercury Awards audience that audio helped turn the company’s brand message into something people sing back, and Reich called Liberty Mutual’s jingle effective.
Repeat the brand. Reich said the goal is to get a brand into the customer’s head, and he settles the name and slogan before choosing a musical style. In October, Cumulus Media/Westwood One’s Audio Active Group reported that podcast ads with seven or more brand mentions scored 77% recall, compared with 59% for ads with one or two, citing Nielsen.
Lastly, pitch in the room, with a backup.
In the traditional model, a jingle writer under contract with a radio station carried a portable keyboard to advertisers’ offices and wrote on the spot, and Reich said the jingle was typically a free gift with purchase for agreeing to advertise. Today he licenses music he has written, produced, and owns to clients in their city. He often has clients fill out a form ahead of time, discusses music, tempo, feel, and style, tours the business, and returns to perform a finished lyric and melody live. He said he can put a lyric together in about five minutes and does that seven or eight times a day at a TV station.
When clients liked his lyrics but not his first musical direction, he said, an alternate idea won them over, and he said the jingle belongs to the client, not to him.
