RPM's New Urban Marketing Tool: The DJ Made Me Do It

Back in 1986, 3,000 Run DMC fans spontaneously held up their gym shoes, landing the New York trio a $1.5 million sponsorship contract with Adidas. What began as spontaneous tributes quickly turned into well-crafted sales campaigns. Now a former record-industry executive is bringing hip-hop's influence to a whole new level—relying on hip-hop's radio and club DJs themselves. "DJs are the key influencers in hip-hop—they dictate trends," said Rene McLean, previously an executive with Elektra and Innerscope records, and now CEO of niche-marketing agency RPM. Based in New York and established in 1997, RPM targets potential consumers by connecting businesses and products with hip-hop's DJs, artists, writers and producers—a population McLean refers to as "urban tastemakers."This summer, Pepsi and RPM are launching a three-month campaign to heighten Pepsi's product awareness in the hip-hop community with the help of the country's most popular urban DJs. The exclusive group, selected by RPM and Pepsico, is expected to include New York's DJ Enuff and L.A.'s Eric Cubiche. They will serve as "soda ambassadors," touting the soda via on-air mentions, club events, photo shoots, block parties, Pepsi-sponsored mix tapes and cross-promotions with brands such as Launch and T-Mobile. Although formal plans have yet to be developed, McLean said Pepsi may integrate elements of its hip-hop effort into its summertime TV and radio campaigns—handled by Omnicom's BBDO New York.Neither RPM nor Pepsi would disclose terms of the deal. According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, Pepsi spent about $135 million on measured media in 2004. Even if only a small percentage of that budget was targeted to an urban audience, it paid off: The soda was mentioned in at least eight Billboard Top 20 hip-hop singles last year."The hip-hop lifestyle is enormous," said Brett O'Brien, multicultural marketing manager for Pepsi. The genre also reflects the brand's "Choice of a new generation" tag. "Youth are leading a new order," he said.Two years ago, ad agency Interpublic Group's McCann-Erikson in New York teamed up with Blue Flame, the marketing branch of Sean "P.Diddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment to launch Tag, a youth-marketing division. Last month, WPP's Grey formed a similar project-based relationship with Combs. But spreading messages through DJs rather than artists is a relatively new, if promising, concept. "DJs have always been on the cutting edge," said Pepsi's O'Brien. "Getting into [their] minds as people who support the scene adds relevance to the brand, resulting in stronger, more credible consumer relationships," he said. "RPM provides the introduction, and allows us to sit at the table with people [the community] trusts."DJs make a more targeted connection, said Matt Rotundo, Tag's head of business development and branded entertainment. "They're local, so they're more personal. Nelly or Beyonce can promote something. But when potential consumers see [influential New York DJ] Funkmaster Flex out using a product, it provides legitimacy. If you can tap into that—and brands should—it supercedes traditional planned advertising.""DJs are extremely significant" in how hip-hop drives popular culture, said Todd Boyd, a University of Southern California critical studies professor and author of the 2003 book, The New Head Nigga in Charge. "They're very visible," he added, and they essentially control the hip-hop community's music choices, trends and even lingo.Corporations trying to leverage hip-hop keep watch on its controversial side—in the news again recently when rappers 50 Cent and The Game fueded. "There's a limit to where we would be associated," O'Brien said. But Boyd notes, "One or two random incidents do not define a whole culture." He also views the wariness of some advertisers as a generational issue; younger consumers "have grown up with hip-hop and identify with it in spite of race or location," he said.Melcon Copeland, CEO and president of global online agency Buyhiphop Media Ventures, blames some companies' negative perceptions on a lack of education. "Smart marketers" know that hip hop-influenced campaigns sell products—especially among hard-to-reach 12- to 35-year-olds. "They're buying," he said. "Business is the bottom line."RPM's efforts have included the annual summits for hip-hop trendsetters. At the 2004 Mixshow Power Summit in Puerto Rico some 400 guests test drove Chevy's Cobalt, slipped into Reeboks and sipped cold Pepsi.Even very traditional marketers are better appreciating urban culture. "The demographic knows what's fresh, and what's not," said McLean, who believes hip-hop will retain its edge even as part of mass marketing. "Rebellion is part of what it is—and makes it credible to the audience," he said. "When rock came around, they were all the bad boys—the Rolling Stones, Sting. Now Sting is doing car commercials."

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RPM's New Urban Marketing Tool: The DJ Made Me Do It

Randi Schmelzer

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Randi Schmelzer