Here’s the thing about attention spans: they’re not getting any longer. Between endless scrolling, autoplay videos, and a million other things fighting for eyeballs, a brand has about the same amount of time to make an impression as it takes to microwave a cup of coffee. Seven seconds—if that.
That’s not a lot of time, but it’s enough if the message hits the right notes. And by “notes,” I mean literally, sometimes. If you’ve ever caught yourself humming the “Empire… Today!” carpet commercial jingle from the 1990s (bonus points if you can remember the phone number—588-2300), then you already know the power of a few well-placed seconds of marketing. That little tune has been living rent-free in people’s heads for decades. It’s like the musical version of glitter—you can’t get rid of it no matter how hard you try.
Slogans: The Elevator Pitch That Never Stops
If a brand can’t explain itself in one short, memorable line, it’s probably overcomplicating things. A slogan is like a tattoo—it should be short enough to fit on a bicep and meaningful enough to last through trends, bad haircuts, and questionable fashion choices.
The best slogans get repeated in casual conversation, sometimes without people even realizing it. They’re sticky, simple, and often just clever enough to make someone smile. The goal isn’t to sound poetic—it’s to make sure that, when someone needs what a business offers, that one little line pops into their head.
Jingles: The Brain’s Favorite Playlist Add-On
Music has a sneaky way of slipping past the brain’s filters. A jingle doesn’t even have to be a masterpiece—it just has to be catchy. There’s a reason commercials that sing the phone number have been so effective over the years. Numbers are harder to remember than words, but put them to a tune, and suddenly people can recall them decades later without breaking a sweat.
The Empire Today carpet jingle is a perfect example. It’s not just that people remember the melody—they remember the phone number, too. It’s marketing that wormed its way into the national consciousness and refused to leave. That’s the dream for any brand: to create something that gets passed around at family gatherings, shouted across rooms, and hummed in grocery store aisles long after the original ad stopped running.
Mascots: The Walking, Talking Memory Hooks
Some brands go the character route, and for good reason. Mascots give a brand a personality, a face (or a beak, or a set of cartoon eyebrows) that people recognize instantly. The moment that character appears—whether it’s on TV, on a billboard, or in the middle of a parade—people know exactly what’s being advertised before a single word is spoken.
Mascots work because they make brands feel familiar, like an old neighbor you’ve seen around for years. And in the same way neighbors become part of the background of daily life, mascots can become part of a community’s collective memory.
Commercials That Nail the First Seven Seconds
The first few seconds of a commercial are make-or-break. Lead with the logo, the mascot, the jingle—whatever the strongest branding tool happens to be. If the big hook doesn’t show up until halfway through, half the audience might already be gone.
This is especially true for online videos, where people are ready to click “Skip Ad” before the coffee’s even finished brewing. The strongest campaigns hit the viewer right away with something familiar and unmistakable, then reinforce it in a way that sticks.
The Science Behind the Stickiness
It’s not magic—it’s repetition and association. Humans are wired to remember things that get repeated often and connected to something simple. Pair a catchy slogan with a melody, add a character who shows up everywhere, and repeat the whole thing until it’s impossible to forget.
It’s also about engaging multiple senses. Seeing a mascot, hearing a jingle, and reading a slogan all at once creates more memory pathways in the brain. The more connections there are, the harder it is for the memory to fade.
Consistency is King
Changing a slogan every year or swapping out a mascot every few months is the fastest way to kill brand recognition. People need time to build an association, and that means sticking with the same core elements long enough for them to sink in. The Empire Today jingle wouldn’t have become iconic if it had been replaced after a single campaign.
Consistency doesn’t mean the ads have to be identical forever—it just means the brand’s core identity should stay recognizable even when the style changes. Think of it like a favorite meal—you might tweak the recipe over time, but the main ingredients stay the same.
Making Seven Seconds Count
Seven seconds might not sound like much, but it’s long enough to:
- Show a mascot and get the audience to smile.
- Play the first few notes of a jingle that instantly identifies the brand.
- Drop a slogan that sums up exactly what the company does.
- Flash the phone number in big, bold type (bonus points if it’s sung).
The key is not to waste time. In an ad, the most important stuff should happen immediately, not as a reward for sitting through a long buildup.
Why This Still Works in the Digital Age
It might seem like jingles, mascots, and slogans belong to an older era of advertising, but they’re just as effective online as they were on TV. Short-form video platforms are basically built for quick, memorable branding. The same tricks that worked during a 30-second TV spot can work in a five-second pre-roll ad—it’s all about getting to the hook immediately.
Even in social media ads, brands that use recognizable mascots, slogans, or jingles can stand out in the scroll. People may not stop for a generic ad, but they’ll pause for something they recognize in a split second.
Final Thought
The Empire Today phone number is proof that if something is catchy enough, it can outlive its campaign by decades. The right combination of slogan, jingle, mascot, and timing can make a brand part of the cultural background noise—in the best possible way.
Seven seconds is all it takes. The trick is making those seconds count so that, years from now, someone will still be able to hum the tune, picture the mascot, and recite the slogan without even knowing why.
