Music for Women's Ads: Stereotype or Empowerment?

What makes great advertising for women? The women at amp believe that it starts with great sonic! But what is the sound of an inspiring and memorable women’s ad?

March is Women’s History Month, and the women at amp have been talking about the most memorable ads targeting women, particularly how they used sonic.  One of the most iconic women’s ad songs of the 80s/90s was the over-the-top, brimming with confidence, ‘Woah Bodyform, Bodyform for you!’ from the feminine care company, Bodyform. Designed to inspire with the confidence that nothing should stop you from skydiving/rollerskating/anything at all, this custom track became an icon.

But, what happened to it? Did we get bored of it? Bodyform was certainly not the only one using this type of energetic custom track (anyone remember Herbal Essences’ She’s Got The Urge?). But we have noticed that more recently, brands tend to use licensed tracks that reflect the brand’s current values rather than original tracks featuring the brand name. You can listen to some of them in our YouTube video (below), reviewing women focussed ads as part of our holiday ads series. 

Another classic ad came from revolutionizing women’s shaving products. Gillette’s Venus range was launched in 2000 at huge expense, using a version of Shocking Blue’s song Venus (later popularised by Bananarama’s 80’s pop cover), which conveniently features the brand name in the chorus (I’m your Venus, I’m your fire, and your desire). Whilst this might seem like a great idea - the brand name is there, and it’s already a popular song, so it may keep people engaged and help with brand recognition - the problems arise when you keep using this track in the long-term.

That song is still played at cheesy ’80s nights and no longer seems cool and relevant. And, of course, any licensed track might also have all sorts of other associations for consumers (including negative ones). Venus has tried to modernize the song with different styles and voices and with the lyrics slightly changed (from I’m your Venus, to I’m a Venus, to reflect female empowerment rather than focusing on being someone else’s fire!).

The interesting thing about the music choice for Venus is that Gillette had already created really successful custom music for its male razor range. Gillette’s famous jingle ‘Gillette, the best a man can get’ had been in use since 1989 and became so famous that almost everyone of that generation will sing that to themselves when they walk past Gillette razors in the store. Although they no longer use this slogan, Gillette modernized this classic jingle and transformed it into a sonic logo.

With the success of the custom sonic for the men’s range, it is particularly surprising that they didn’t use the same approach for the women’s range. 

One of the reasons that having a Sonic DNA™ is so useful is that you don't need to overuse a track and get bored of it, but you still benefit from the familiarity it creates by transforming the melody and harmony into different styles. 

But all is not lost for the epic branded songs we used to love (or maybe hate!) Brands like elf have ridden the TikTok popularity wave, creating a custom track Eyes, Lips, Face (E.L.F.), featuring Holla FyrSixWun and iLL Wayno and creating the incredibly popular #eyeslipsface TikTok challenge around it. So perhaps the rise of sonically focused social media platforms like TikTok will help repopularize this style of advertising with a helping hand from influencers and the hope of a viral craze. 

Now is the time to create custom music for your brand to ensure that it can only be associated with one brand when it is heard. In recent years, Venus has released an animated self-care video series aimed at young women, featuring The Pube Song and encouraging the use of #SayPubic on social platforms to destigmatize the subject. One video features a collaboration with U.S. rapper Princess Nokia referencing the brand directly (‘Venus has the tools so you can do you’). 

So, it now seems that Venus is open to creating a bold, new sonic identity, which may mean that it is time to say goodbye to their well-worn song and create more ownable music for the whole range. Whilst one viral song is great, a Sonic DNA allows you to create a whole world of sonic, all on-brand, all owned, all instantly recognizable, and all based around that custom track.

At amp, we use the latest technology to empirically test all our sonic to make sure the music and brand fit is just right. Want to see how we do it? Check out the third episode of our series!