As a small business owner and musician, I often think things like, “How could I get people to think about my business with just seven or eight musical notes?”
It may seem like an odd question to you, but think about it—insurance companies have been doing this with their jingles for a long time. Jake and his friends at State Farm can summon thoughts of their company with nine notes (“Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”). Nationwide does it in seven (“Nationwide is on your side”), Farmers, Liberty… well, let’s say it’s almost a required staple of the insurance industry. McDonald’s is trying with their five notes (“Bah da bop bop bah”)… I guess that one works.
But I promised you last time that I would share some more insights from the cruise, and here’s the main one: Disney can use music to make the mundane into something magical. My main example is a ship’s horn.
If there’s anything more boring than an ordinary ship’s horn, I don’t know what it is. I mean, they serve a purpose (pay attention during those lifeboat drills, kids!), but generally it’s just a long blast when the ship is coming out of its dock. Leave it to Disney Cruise ships to turn boring into, well, magical!
If you haven’t heard it yet, the Disney ships’ horns play music. Very simple tunes, of course, limited to a small number of notes, but… well, just take a listen! That’s yet another completely over-the-top detail where they separate themselves from the competition, using the power of music! The first seven notes in “When You Wish Upon a Star” became the first musical horn number, and those notes appear other places as well, like the attention-getting tone before a ship-wide announcement (they also play before every Disney movie, BTW). Those seven notes have become a short cut for, “Prepare for something magical!”
There are many other examples on board: music trivia contests abound, chandeliers contain musical staffs and notes that actually form a song, and the incredible Hyperspace Lounge aboard the Disney Wish is made even more amazing by an astounding background score. They manage to make something great, then make it even better by weaving music into it.
Well, back to reality. I don’t have another cruise coming up for a while, and I’m still stuck on my original problem. So if anyone can let me know how to translate “Fun, unique, effective, cooperative team-building using the power of music” into a seven- or eight-note jingle, please let me know!
Cheers.
– Phil
