SOUNDS LIKE BRANDING™ Published by Heartbeats InternationalHeartbeats International

Sounds like Branding (How to use the power of music to turn customers into fans) is the forthcoming book by Jakob Lusensky, CEO at Heartbeats. The book takes you on an ear-opening journey through the history of music and marketing, from the humble jingle and Muzak to today’s music which is blurring the line between brands and bands; making brands in to the record labels of tomorrow.

You can now download the Sounds like Branding Beta version for a tweet!

Enjoy reading!

We caught up with media futurist and CEO of The Futures Agency, Gerd Leonhard in Paris the other day. Here, in roughly 60 seconds, he gives you his take on the future of branding and communication.

Heartbeats gives you ‘The Manual’ – a manual for bands and artists on how to build a successful strategy to attract brands (or how to sell out without selling out). This material was first presented at MIDEM earlier this year, and due to a big interest from artists, record labels and publishers, in getting access to the material, Heartbeats decided to put together ‘The Manual’.

‘The Manual’ is now yours for a tweet!

You can also view ‘The Manual’ on SlideShare.

The most important question for a brand is not whether they should use music, but rather how the music should be used. The four step ‘music stairway’ illustrates the most beneficial way for brands to work strategically with music.

Many brands find themselves on Step One. This step is characterised by the unconscious usage of music. Essentially this is an ad hoc, make-it-up-as-you-go approach, often relying on staff or employees to choose music. The end result is a schizophrenic music experience that sends mixed branding signals to customers.

Step Two is characterised by a conscious usage of music. Brands have developed their own music identity, through a defined sound with defined values. Often they have a sound logo or theme song. On Step Two, music has evolved into a branding element and strategic tool.

Moving up to Step Three, a brand becomes even more actively involved in music. This commitment often takes form as music-oriented marketing campaigns ( e.g. “buy and get” promotions) and/or artist partnerships. A good example of a Step Three level of music involvement is Heineken’s ‘Green Room Sessions’ - a live club concept, presenting cutting edge artists and DJs.

The Forth and final step on the music stairway requires ‘owning’ a strategic platform in music culture. In this scenario, brands are not merely associated with music, but also actively champion music through exclusive platforms or programs that can’t be found anywhere else. The Red Bull Music Academy is a good example of this.

So the million dollar question is…What step is your brand on?

Hello!

It’s been a bit quiet here for a while. The main reason is that right now we are finishing finishing the final edits of the book “Sounds like branding” published by Norstedts publishing house, Sweden in mid-March.

For all you english speakers there will be a beta version released around the same time as an audio book on Spotify as well as a limited edition (250 copies) 7″ vinyl…we will give you all details of this in the new year.

If you happen to come to Cannes in January for the MIDEM fair you should really check out our workshop below. Jakob from Heartbeats will also sit in the experts panel of MIDEM +.

Enjoy Christmas!

 

I’m with the brand!

A workshop on how to build a successful
strategy to interest brands
(or how to sell out without selling out…)

MIDEM, Cannes Monday 25 January
4.00pm to 5.00pm

How to define your assets in the best way, identify your band/festival’s identity, package & present yourself to a brand, build a connection with it, monitor success…these are key factors for success to be discussed, together with best case practices on the ones that are doing it in the right way. All questions are welcome!

A recent study on twins by Nokia and professor Adrian North reveals that 50% of our musical taste is predetermined. Watch this!

Here are some pictures from the last Heartbeats and Sounds like branding session in Tokyo.
And if you prefer video you can experience a little mash-up of it below.