Songtradr Highlights The Difference Music Makes In Advertising
New report measures the impact that music used in ads has on the top brands in one of advertising’s largest markets—Beer
For some, music is considered just background, or an expense item on an advertising creative budget.
But for others, music can make or break how an ad performs and by extension… determine how brands perform in the marketplace.
Songtradr, the world’s largest B2B music company, recently analyzed the impact music used in ads had on the top brands in one of advertising’s largest markets—Beer. The company studied brand performance across 2022 to rank the top 10 brands by the effectiveness of their music choices in the newly released Music of Beer report.
Four of them ran standalone, high-profile Super Bowl ads as well. So to illustrate the impact a single music choice can have on overall brand value, Songtradr compared the performance of those Super Bowl ads against their 2022 rankings. The results spoke volumes.
Hit: Michelob Ultra
The company’s “Caddyshack” themed campaign mixing both original and licensed music tapped both nostalgic music (and movie) references but used modern celebrities for a fresh twist. Energy-wise the music supported their 2022 strategy, and hit home with their core demographic. Taken together, the ad scored big, boosting the emotion-weighted brand preference within the beer-drinking Super Bowl audience by 6.6%.
Miss: Busch Light
Busch Light’s decision to use a short clip of Sarah McLaughlin’s 1999 hit “Angel” as part of a head-fake gag fell flat. The music that preceded it also missed the mark, falling out of line with the company’s dynamic rock / country sound that typically accompanies the rugged Busch Guy. As a result, Busch Light’s emotional appeal among beer-drinking Super Bowl watchers dropped by a whopping 2.9%… leading to a 2.1% drop in its overall brand preference, compared to its position in 2022.
On The Fence: Budweiser
While Budweiser briefly aired a clip of its iconic “Here Comes the King” march, it was largely supplanted by the use of the Metro Boomin trap-infused hip-hop track TK. The result didn’t swing the needle much one way or another. Overall, Budweiser enjoyed a mere 1% bump in emotion-weighted preference after the Super Bowl, with research suggesting that in order to build brand equity and boost engagement, a more lively Metro Boomin remix of the “King” march might have been the way to go.
Clearly, the choice of music makes a difference. But the way brands use music spans far beyond TV Ads. For instance, Heineken led all beer brands in their strategic use of sound and music for the entirety of 2022, scoring a 91% overall on Songtradr’s newly released Sound of Beer study.
That’s well ahead of second place Corona (75%) and third place Busch Light (68%). Heineken sets itself apart by consistent use of creative re-recordings, which allow for high flexibility and customization, while still generating nostalgia by association. It employs music as a tool to connect with audiences beyond traditional advertising.
For instance, the company teamed up with Songtradr Group company Massive Music to build a series of music experiences across different genres and formats showcasing how beer can bring different people together.
The brand wanted to project an image of open mindedness, which meant incorporating multiple genres (pop, rock, rap, EDM, R&B, and classical) into the brand’s unique point of view. MassiveMusic built a series of 24 playlists across all genres hosted on the Heineken site to encourage fans to explore new music together.
It also had local artists remix a popular Chainsmokers song, with rights cleared by Songtradr’s Big Sync team, and perform them at two massive free concerts in Vietnam and Malaysia hosted by Heineken along with the Chainsmokers themselves. Read (and hear) the case study here.
Songtradr’s Music of Beer report conclusively finds that a thoughtful, consistent and strategic use of music in branding & advertising content accounts for over 33% of beer brands’ overall business performance.
The Super Bowl comparison demonstrates how choosing the wrong music in ads can actually damage brand preference. And the most successful brands are using music that is not just brand-aligned and differentiated but is also high in energy and arousal.
At the end of the day, it’s all about engaging consumers and creating an emotional connection. And what does that better than music?
