• Categories

  • Music

    The Monocle Weekly: Sounds Like Branding exclusive interview

    monocle_weekly

    Monocle’s editor in chief Tyler Brûlé and culture editor Robert Bound speak to Jakob Lusensky about the book Sounds Like Branding and the relationship between music and marketing.

    Listen to the Monocle Weekly, edition 113, online or download the programme here and you’ll hear Monocle’s editors, amongst them Tyler Brûlé, speak with Jakob Lusensky on how music and marketing have blended together, how it has affected artists, the future for music branding, and much more (if you want to go directly to this, skip to 38:00).
     

    slbenglishAbout the book Sounds Like Branding

    Sounds Like Branding is an ‘ear-opening’ journey through the history of music and marketing, from the humble jingle and the arrival of Muzak to Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking association with Pepsi in the 1980s and music branding embraced today by global brands such as Nike, Starbucks, Levi’s and Coca-Cola.

    “Jakob Lusensky has done a great service to all marketers by writing Sounds Like Branding. Every company should have a music strategy. Some do; most don’t. This book shows you how. It’s a five step programme – a very short stairway to heaven.”
    Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

    Read more here.

    Order Sounds Like Branding at Amazon.co.uk

     

    About the Monocle Weekly

    The Monocle Weekly is a mix of smart discussion, previews, field reports and feature interviews. From Monocle’s studio in London and their bureaux in Tokyo and New York, Monocle’s editors focus on the stories shaping the week ahead.

    Culture editor Robert Bound is a regular with his weekly playlist of artists established and obscure and editor Andrew Tuck is at hand to moderate debates and pull in contributions from our correspondents in far flung corners of the world. The Monocle Weekly is hosted by editor in chief Tyler Brûlé.

    Print

    Sounds Like Branding released today!

    SLB English

    Today marks the international release of the book Sounds Like Branding, published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (A&C Black Publishers Ltd).

    “Jakob Lusensky has done a great service to all marketers by writing Sounds Like Branding. Every company should have a music strategy. Some do; most don’t. This book shows you how. It’s a five step programme – a very short stairway to heaven.”
    - Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

    Sounds Like Branding is an ‘ear-opening’ journey through the history of music and marketing, from the humble jingle and the advent of Muzak to Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking association with Pepsi in the 1980s and the music branding embraced today by global brands such as Nike, Starbucks, Levi’s and Coca-Cola.

    Order Sounds Like Branding at Amazon.co.uk

    Interested in a sneak preview of the book? Download a free excerpt of Sounds Like Branding and read about why you should market your brand through music, the music stairway, strategies for working with music and more!

    Get a free excerpt

    Download

    Print

    How your Dad’s taste in music has influenced yours

    There are many reasons why you listen to the music you do today. For many, one of their great influences is the music their Dad listened to at home, or maybe a concert he took them to. Some of you may have sworn to never listen to anything like your Dad’s music again, some may have loved it. Either way, the music your Dad listened to when you were young had an effect on your taste today.

    Folks at the multi-room music system makers Sonos asked ‘What do dear old Dad’s listening habits say about the artists in your repertoire?’ and created a flowchart predicting what kind of music you prefer by the tunes your father listened to when you were young. If you’re lucky, your father exposed you to a variety of music during your formative years.

    fathers-taste

    Illustration by Column Five Media.

    Print

    Decode Jay-Z with Bing

    Microsoft wanted its agency, Droga5, to help leverage the usage of the Bing search engine. To expand the search reach, Bing needed to become more culturally relevant and appeal to a younger audience. The launch of Jay-Z’s autobiography ‘Decoded’ was used to do this. The book’s 350 pages were individually placed in a plethora of different locations, over 13 cities all around the world. The chosen location for each page was contextually relevant to the page itself, meaning that you could literally walk through the life of Jay-Z. But the location of each page could only be found by using Bing search and maps.

    For the ‘Decode Jay-Z with Bing’ campaign agency Droga5 won both the Outdoor and Titanium and Integrated Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2011.

    “We loved its bravery, its boldness, its innovation,” commented Cannes Lions’ Titanium and Integrated Jury President Bob Scarpelli, chairman of DDB Worldwide. “It’s immersive. It’s interactive. It’s creating conversations with customers. It gave millions a reason to use Bing. They put every page of Jay-Z’s new autobiography out in the world every day for a month in 13 major cities in the world. Fans could walk through J-Z’s life.”

    The unique partnership brought Bing to the forefront of pop-culture and gave millions of Jay-Z fans a reason to use Bing Search and Maps.

    The results, except from winning the Grand Prix for Outdoor as well as Titanium and Integrated at Cannes Lions 2011:

    • The average online player engagement was over 11 minutes per visit.
    • Jay-Z’s Facebook fans grew by one million during the campaign launch.
    • Decoded went straight to the New York Times Best Seller list at #2 its first week.
    • Bing.com saw an 11.7% increase in visits the month of the campaign (Bing’s only form of marketing during this period).
    • Bing.com entered the top ten most visited sites in the US.
    • Bing earned 1.1 billion global media impressions.
    • Bing’s ‘intent to use’ scores were higher than any other Bing marketing initiative ever according to ComScore. Online Buzz and Social metrics were above average for any Bing marketing program according to Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

    This project is truly an excellent example of how music branding can work when done correctly.

    Read more about the case and other Cannes Lions winners here.

    Print

    ABSOLUT to Launch the ‘Cee Lo Distilled’ Film on Facebook

    In March 2010, ABSOLUT Vodka teamed up with Jay-Z to release a 14-minute documentary about the musician’s life and work, and now it’s announcing another two-part film starring rapper and record producer Cee Lo Green.



    The first chapter of their work titled ‘Cee Lo Distilled’ will appear on the brand’s Facebook page on June 27. As for now, ABSOLUT launched a 1’45’’ teaser, which previews the upcoming film produced by the brand in cooperation with The Fader. The new creation is taking viewers into the world of the celebrated rapper as he tells about his family and childhood, shares on what ‘being truly exceptional’ in today’s world of music means to him and what inspires and influences his work. In general, the movie seems to be just a new piece revolving around another performer—but since this musician has a unique charisma and talent, the film is really worth seeing. The second and the final chapter of the documentary will go online on July 6.

    Read more on Popsop.com

    Print

    A free excerpt of Sounds Like Branding for a tweet!

    slb_freechapterThe book Sounds Like Branding is an ‘ear-opening’ journey through the history of music and marketing, from the humble jingle and the advent of Muzak to Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking association with Pepsi in the 1980s and the music branding embraced today by global brands such as Nike, Starbucks, Levi’s and Coca-Cola.

    Interested in a sneak preview of the book? Download a free excerpt of Sounds Like Branding for a tweet and read about why you should market your brand through music, the music stairway, strategies for working with music and more!

    Get a free excerpt

    Sounds Like Branding is published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (A&C Black Publishers Ltd) in the UK on the 18th of July and can be pre-ordered below.
    Order Sounds Like Branding at Amazon.co.uk

    For more info about the book, check out The Book page.

    Print

    Pre-order the English version of Sounds Like Branding

    book_eng_new_head2_sm1

    Everyone loves music, but not everyone loves advertising. Faced with increasingly impatient and fickle customers, some of the world’s most famous brands have been turning to music and artists to engage the public in a way they could never do alone. Why? Because music speaks to our emotions, brings people together and starts conversations. If used correctly, it can turn a one-off purchaser into a loyal fan.

    “Jakob Lusensky has done a great service to all marketers by writing Sounds Like Branding. Every company should have a music strategy. Some do; most don’t. This book shows you how. It’s a five step programme – a very short stairway to heaven.” - Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

    Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (A&C Black Publishers Ltd) will publish the English version of Sounds Like Branding in the UK on the 18th of July.

    Order Sounds Like Branding at Amazon.co.uk

    For more info about the book, check out The Book page.

    Print

    PressPausePlay - What is technology doing to culture?

    We’re living in a time of digital revolution. Today anyone can become a writer, musician, photographer or filmmaker. But what happens to the quality of culture when everyone becomes a ‘creator’?

    Nowadays, culture has more or less become democratic, with many opportunities for those who want to explore, create and share. At the same time, it has never been easier for creators, musicians and consumers of culture, to get lost in ‘the ocean of garbage’.

    “When humans make stuff we tend to make interesting things” Moby says. But, does this apply to all humans who get hold of a camera or a computer and a broadband connection? Hasn’t new technology dissolved the mystery of creation?

    Yes, there are many opportunities with all new technology. Yet at the same time it has made it harder to find good quality, which might leave us satisfied with culture holding a level of mediocrity…

    The documentary PressPausePlay is a film about hope, fear and digital culture, containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.

    If you have a Swedish IP address you can watch the whole documentary here (available until the 2nd of July). If you’re not having a Swedish IP address you can get a glimpse of the documentary below.





    Print