Does Every Diwali Campaign Need A Trending Song To Make An Impact?

As brands compete for attention during Diwali, music has become an increasingly important part of festive advertising. From reworked Bollywood classics to trending audio clips and catchy festive jingles, brands are constantly looking for sounds that can make their campaigns stand out.

But as the race for virality intensifies, an important question emerges: are brands using music to strengthen their identity or simply borrowing popularity to grab attention?

While a familiar song can help a campaign connect with audiences, industry experts believe that relying too heavily on trending music can come at the cost of originality and long-term brand recall.

Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Advertising Maven and Creator, The English Nut, believes that familiar music can work effectively when it is built around a strong creative idea rather than used merely to capitalise on its popularity.

“A familiar song, used imaginatively, can work beautifully. A great example is the witty Swiggy ad that reworked the song 'Sona kitna sona hai' to convey that 'Sona to gaya' because it's now on Instamart. In the ad, they keep interrupting the song and changing the word sona in the lyric to rona, dhona, etc. Naturally, Karishma Kapoor is miffed!” he says.

Highlighting why the integration of music and the central advertising idea matters, Chattopadhyay points to the Swiggy Instamart campaign as an example of music serving the brand rather than becoming the entire attraction.

“Swiggy Instamart is a great example of a song serving the creative idea and therefore the brand. Because the test isn't whether people remember or hum the song. It's whether they remember the brand, and what it was trying to tell them. After all, the song was already a hit. The advertising still has to earn its own success. And that's the crux of the issue,” he adds.

His observation raises a larger concern for festive advertisers. With several brands competing for consumer attention during the same period, a trending song may offer immediate familiarity, but it does not necessarily create a distinctive identity for the campaign.

Rajeev Raja, Founder and Soundsmith, BrandMusiq, believes brands are increasingly treating trending music as a shortcut to audience attention, often overlooking the long-term value of building their own sonic identity.

“Yes, many are. A trending song feels like a safe shortcut to attention. But it is borrowed attention, and it fades the moment the trend does. Brands that lean on it are renting a moment instead of building an asset,” he says.

According to Raja, the bigger challenge is ensuring that audiences associate the music with the brand rather than simply remembering the popular track used in the advertisement. This becomes particularly important during Diwali, when multiple campaigns compete for attention through similar festive themes and familiar sounds.

“It does. When several brands use the same sound, people remember the song, not the brand. Recall comes from owning a sound that is yours, one people link to you even without a logo on screen. Virality gets you noticed once. Originality gets you remembered even beyond the campaign,” he explains.

He further suggests that brands can explore building their own musical identities instead of depending entirely on existing trends.

“For instance, owning a MOGO® (musical logo) and infusing it into Diwali-specific sonic content would create much better brand recall and attribution,” Raja adds.

Ultimately, the debate is not about whether brands should use trending songs in their Diwali campaigns, but about how effectively they use music to communicate their identity. A familiar melody can provide an instant connection, while an original composition or distinctive sonic identity can help a brand build recognition beyond a single festive season.

As the competition for festive attention grows, brands may need to look beyond the immediate appeal of viral music. Because a campaign's success is not measured only by how many people recognise its soundtrack, but by how many remember the brand long after the song stops playing.