Case study: BlueSpot Knee Clinic Jingle
At the start of the Summer my colleague, James Taylor, casually mentioned that his knee surgeon, Shameem Sampath, was looking to create a radio jingle for his BlueSpot Knee Clinic in Lancashire, England. At that time he was going down the route of a re-record of The Chordettes classic Mr Sandman, sung on occasions at the surgery by staff, as a play on Shameem's name. Licensing this song, however, was expensive and complicated as it was already being used by Wonga for their radio campaign.
I suggested a bespoke jingle would be a more flexible and enduring way and in the hands of the right composer (i.e. me) he could have an original music asset to add the emotional dimension to his brand that music provides. I had worked with vintage girl group, the Swinging Sweethearts, on their first single and was able to draw on the vocalists to create the jingle.
The five point plan worked liked this.
In consultation with Shameem, James and I established a set of key words for the jingle and jammed around these at the piano and vibraphone.
I recorded a demo with West End actor, Amelia Cormack which was played to Shameem on a visit to London.
With some adjustments to the tempo and arrangements, the vibraphone, played by James Taylor, was recorded and Amelia returned with West End actors Brenda Moore-Wait and Katy Shorten.
Voice-over artist, Amanda Alexander added the 'call to action' Text Knee to 84433!
An extended version of the jingle was also recorded and will be available on iTunes in October.
Film-maker, Melanie Melherbe filmed a video of the single with choreographer Kirsty Davide with 3 different girls, due to availability.
The jingle airs on SmoothRadio in the Manchester region from October 7th.
For a company like BlueSpot to approach a composer and film-maker and work on a commercial campaign is rare. But, cutting out the ad agency makes a more creative experience for the client and is a prudent move. Communication and clarity of purpose kept everyone in the loop and it was one of the most enjoyable jobs I have worked on.
Hear the completed Jingle!
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