By Morgen Makombo Sikwila
To put it simply, strategic communication is defined as the use of communication to achieve intended objectives with specific audiences.
The use of campaign materials, such as jingles, to obtain public support can be an effective strategy, particularly at a time when the Tri-media is so effective at communicating a message to the general population.
Candidates with a lot of insight pick their songs with care and have them professionally produced by experts who pay close attention to detail. For want of a better expression, language plays a vital ideological function since it is a tool through which the manipulative intentions of politicians can be revealed. As a result, it is axiomatic that language plays an important role in politics since, in diverse political settings, its primary job is to enable politicians to build social ties that are structurally stable.
Like most people, you have that one jingle that has become your earworm. It gets stuck in your head and keeps playing, or, as soon as you hear it you can’t help but sing along. Although campaign jingles have become less popular more recently, they are still effective.
Some parties have become synonymous with their jingles. As soon as the jingle begins to play, the audience thinks of the party candidate(s). Or, when they hear of the party they think about the jingle. As soon as the catchy tunes start playing, listeners immediately recognize the party candidate. Jingles have associative strengths.
One of the main goals of using jingles is to improve party and candidate recognition. Jingles do an excellent job of creating awareness and improving party identity. They can also be used to improve the recognition of your other party members. For example, when used on television, ensure that the video content features the party name, colors, phone number, and logo. You can also incorporate your party’s slogans and taglines in the jingle. When potential voters see other party candidates in various campaign materials, they can easily recognize the party.
Jingles are like a good song. As soon as you hear it, you want to tell your friends and family about it. The song may even come up in random conversations. Similarly, you may find yourself humming or singing the jingle around other people.
Jingles are lighthearted and warm. They create an immediate connection with the listeners. They are fun and easy to listen to with rhymes in the lyrics and pitch patterns that enable them to be encoded in the brain easily. As a result, they become embedded in your subconscious mind. It’s no wonder they keep popping up in mind when least expected. This also explains why people can remember a jingle that they heard more than a decade ago.
Since jingles are memorable, they make it easy for voters to remember the party and its manifesto. A good jingle should define clearly what a manifesto offers. Therefore, when they are ready to vote, the party is top of mind. Ultimately, memorable jingles improve voter awareness and enhance party loyalty.
In a world of information overload, politicians have to work harder to grab the attention of potential voters. Jingles are one of the most effective campaign tools to accomplish this goal. They are more effective, particularly in this era of information and sensory overload. As long as a jingle is well-written and produced, it is bound to catch the target audience’s attention. It can, produce intense emotional and mental stimuli in the listeners.
The political landscape has changed greatly since the birth of the internet. Earlier on in the digital era, radio and TV were the main media for political campaigns. Many people relied on TV and radio to get access to information and politicians were keen to leverage captive audiences on both media to increase campaign awareness and drive voters. Media consumption patterns have since changed. Fewer people now rely on radio and TV as their primary sources of information. More people rely on various platforms on the internet to get information.
Also, there is a significant increase in on-demand media consumption.
Few people now watch national televisions. According to research, radio jingles come third on the list, with streaming platforms such as YouTube and Facebook being the second most popular media for jingles. People also watch jingles as pop-up campaigns on websites and browsers, music streaming platforms such as Spotify and Pandora, gaming apps, as well as in-app campaigns. One of the top benefits of jingle campaign is that it can be used across the board on various electronic media. They are still effective on radio and TV but they can also be used across various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Besides, social media offers the potential for virality. If your jingle is interesting enough, it can be shared and viewed up to millions of times, which broadens party reach and awareness. When this happens, it increases acceptance exponentially. Some parties have produced several jingles over the years.
As is the case in most elections, the party using jingles is the most likely observable one among many others. As such, potential voters have numerous options to choose from when voting. If a voter is not aware of party ideology and manifesto, they cannot vote for it. In the case when they are aware of party ideology, they have a good first impression to consider the party when making voting choices. Jingle campaigning can help stand out among competitors. Jingles can be used to present party personality as likable and electable. They are a unique way to differentiate one from other competitors.
There are what are called “sensorial or tactile moments of truth” — signature elements that a voter will automatically attribute to a candidate. But capturing someone’s visual senses often won’t be enough. For voters, the best way to their hearts is through their ears.
The voter’s psyche is socio-culturally inclined towards song and dance…So if one hears a signature sound, a signature jingle, a signature tune that will immediately make think of the candidate, that is such a big win already for them.
Campaign jingles live rent-free in our heads – whether we like it or not. Once a candidate hooks a voter through their auditory senses, everything else follows. Hearing these signature sounds also strikes the emotions of potential voters; some of the jingles can leave one feeling hopeful for a better tomorrow, while others want to get up and dance. Voters, have got all senses, engaged. They look at the campaign adverts, hearing the jingles, singing along with it, and dancing to it. So, it’s the jingle that ties it all in.
The practice of creating campaign jingles is a whole other major endeavor in itself. While heartfelt and sentimental original compositions were a common way to go in the past, voters’ behaviors have changed. The best way to capture the attention of today’s voters is through parodies of already existing popular songs.
When the tune is familiar and then just change the lyrics to include the candidate’s name, that’s what will stick with people. Usually, candidates prefer parodies so they can stick better. Though, there are some candidates who ask for original compositions sometimes, it’s the same for campaign strategists, whou sually advise clients to go for parodies rather than original compositions, which generally take longer for people to recognize. There isn’t much time for campaigns. The game is awareness to conversion. If there is still a need to make people aware about the jingle, then that’s another hurdle that candidate has to climb before conversion. It will be easy for a candidate to convert voters because they’re already aware. But the existing songs that campaign jingles are patterned after don’t just need to be popular. They need to be catchy, upbeat, and of course, danceable.
The beat alone is already distinct, so when witty is inserted, repetitive lyrics into that, potential voters will have a pretty strong jingle in their hands. Jingle makers usually only need a handful of things from their clients: their name, the position they’re running for, their advocacy and experience, party logo, and where they’re campaigning. When it comes to the specific elements that make a campaign jingle effective, frequently mentioning a candidate’s name throughout the song is key.
Name recall is really what’s important. There shouldn’t be too many lyrics that praise the candidate. It has to go back to the name. In the chorus, the name should be mentioned in every verse. Every four lines, the name should be there. Usually, candidates like it when their names are always mentioned in their song, and their names fit well in a jingle’s tune. They also like it when the song includes their manifestoes, slogans, and platforms.
When vehicles blasting campaign jingles pass through streets, residents of that area should be able to remember the name of the candidate in the first place once the music begins to fade as they drive off. While jingles are clearly here to stay in a country like Zimbabwe where music is a major part of its culture, the challenge for political candidates and jingle makers alike is to compete with people’s dwindling attention spans. The major difference is, before, you have the runway and candidates have the benefit of making original compositions. Candidates have the voter base that would appreciate thoughtful, well-thought lyrics, good messaging, and songs that are totally consistently aligned with the candidates and their advocacies.
Although parties often splurge on jingle campaigning, they don’t have to spend all revenues on making a jingles for it to be successful. The key is to hire a professional composers who can also help write and sing lyrics (or works alongside someone who does) and the campaign teams to come up with jingles that suit campaign goals. A campaign jingle can constitute catchy tunes such as popular songs or vote tunes. Jingles are cost-effective in that one can use them on a variety of media for a long time. If need be, simple updates can refresh jingles and continue to wow potential voters.
Jingle campaigning has stood the test of time. Although the pattern of media consumption has changed over the years, they are still effective campaign tools. Jingles are catchy and memorable. They can be used to achieve various campaign goals including building awareness, driving party brand recognition and recall, and increasing voters. They can be used on both traditional electronic media and various online platforms. The main key to success in jingle campaigning is to work with a professional to produce a jingle that scores high. Adhere to the principles of repetition, consistency, and frequency to optimize campaign efficiency. Rambai makashinga.
Morgen Makombo Sikwila
MSc Peace and Governance
BSc Counselling
Diploma in Environmental Health
Certificate in Marketing Management
