Brands, Bands and Hands

From: Marketing

Jan 24, 11:18 by Giles Fitzgerald

Will a brand makeover hide the cracks at EMI?

What?

EMI has sat too long in its old school music industry easy chair, comfortably resting not only on its laurels but also on top of a £1.3B copyright catalogue it had hidden under the mattress for a rainy day. Suddenly it’s pouring (EMI lost £288.5M in 2007) and Terra Firma is standing at the door, briefcase and umbrella in hand, ready to bail it out. However, in bailing it out, quite a few of the babies are going out with the bathwater, and much has been made of the private equity firm’s ongoing staff cull since it took over EMI’s reins. However, sometimes to bring new life you have to take a defibrillator to the heart and Guy Hands is now offering a lifeline for EMI in the form of “new partnerships” with artists via “corporate sponsorship”.

The news has met with some derision from both artists and the media. Why? To suggest that Robbie Williams is any less of a brand than, say, Campbell’s soup is stretching reality somewhat. If (for example) Robbie, VW Golf and Nike all fall under my consumer-purchasing umbrella, then why not combine them? Brands are now as much a part of a consumer’s lifestyle choices as music; the defining characteristics are not that dissimilar. Whether EMI has the ability, however, to effectively manage the delicate balance is open to question?

So what?

Guy Hands is a man who once proposed a Yellow Submarine World for the disused Millenium Dome. Does he really have what it takes to tackle the brand arena?

“Working with brands properly means you need to think like a brand and act like a service provider. You’re no longer the most important person in the room – they are. You need to be flexible enough to tailor your activities to meet their needs; and know what your acts might be doing 9-12 months in advance. This will require new people, new partnerships, new processes and a new culture. Do-able. But not do-able whilst falling off a log.”
Anthony Ackenhoff, MD, FRUKT

“EMI has a challenge – in that it doesn’t add much value to the deal from an artist manager’s perspective, until (and if) it has more 360° deals in place. We can and have brokered sponsorships, endorsements and other brand relationships with artists AND we add the ability to help activate this. If rights that the label owns are required, we go to them and do a deal – but often catalogue is not required; and so the label in several deals we’ve done in the past have no role at all.”
Jack Horner, Creative Director, FRUKT

Will brand sponsorship work at EMI? Let us know your comments and they could appear in February’s issue of Five Eight magazine. Send your opinions to giles@fruktmusic.com

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