The potential synergies between consumer brands and the music industry have never been more important to explore. With total ad spending down 15 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with the first half of 2008 and ad spending on music down 16 percent in the same period, it makes sense that an increasing number of marketers and musicians are interested in essentially doubling their promotional weight, both on- and offline. (Related: "2009: Trends in Music Branding.")
Here, three campaigns whose clever creative strategies have boosted the profiles of both the brands and artists:
COCA-COLA
For Coca-Cola, happiness is a five-note branding mnemonic turned into a song heard around the world. The effort, a collaboration with Atlantic Records for the cola's "Open happiness" campaign from Wieden + Kennedy, stars a genre-bending mix of artists: Cee-Lo Green; Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump; Panic at the Disco's Brendon Urie; Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy; and Janelle Monae.
Producer Butch Walker and Green co-wrote the nearly four-minute track released in March (the mnemonic was written by Human) via MySpace-where it's been streamed more than 700,000 times -- and iTunes, where it reached No. 27 on the Pop Chart in the U.S. The song was used in ads that aired in 31 markets, with spots including eight customized versions with local artists (such as Leehom Wang in China, whose version reached No. 1 on the Top 100 chart of search engine Baidu.com). In July, a music video -- as stylistically fanciful as the animated "Happiness Factory" spots -- premiered on MTV. And the song is keeping its buzz on: so far, it has inspired more than 100 user-generated versions on YouTube, and this winter it will be heard at various venues at the Olympics in Vancouver.
"One thing [that 'Open happiness'] has proven to us is that music has the power to connect," said Coke's global music marketing manager Umut Ozaydinli at an Adweek and Billboard Music and Advertising Conference earlier this year.
According to Atlantic's svp of brand marketing, Camille Hackney, the collaboration -- orchestrated by companies including Brand Asset Group and Crush Music Media Management -- is helping to keep the artists top of mind as they each prep upcoming releases.
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