SOUNDS LIKE BRANDING™ Published by Heartbeats InternationalHeartbeats International

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?

We see more and more brands working with exploration strategies in music these days and the latest one is from car brand Fiat in the UK. An exploration strategy means a brand guiding people to new music and artists that they haven’t heard before. In this way taking more of a grassroot approach and lifting up new talent to a larger audience.

It’s great to see more brands involving on a micro level but the question remains, what happens to the bands that win these competitions? Normally you hear and read lot about the initiative in the beginning of the campaign but don’t see much of the results. What was really in it for the artist? Did it help them in their career? Did they get the huge success that was promised in the campaign?

Let’s follow Fiat and see what happens…

“Music is both content and media. If we characterize consumer engagement as the sum total of the numbers of daily impressions plus the total amount of content consumtion, then music offers the largest array of consumer facing touch points (reach) than any other category and is by far, the most consumed entertainment content today.”

Steve Yanovsky, Music and Emerging Media Consultant, Mindshare

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“With our music strategy we wanted to cut through the clutter and engage people on their terms, and this is exactly what we have done with the Beat show,” says Penny Welch, sponsorship manager for Samsung UK.

3.2 million video views in one month. A pretty impressive figure I must say and it once again shows the effect music branding has on social media networks.