Gaga for brands

February 17, 2010 Tweet This Post

BRIT (Ad)wards 2010

The BRIT Awards, the UK’s answer to The Grammys, is over for another year. Liam Gallagher threw an award, Kasabian fell over, Lady Gaga sang a song no-one knew, and Cheryl Cole’s lips operated from another dimension. However, aside from the myriad of performances, acceptance speeches and dubious choices of presenter something else was notably absent. The ad breaks didn’t appear to feature a single commercial for an album release – despite an audience of millions of devoted music fans.

In some ways this may seem odd, however a full 30 years on and the BRIT Awards now operate in a music ecosystem where sales are fleeting and brand alignments offer artists a whole new gamut of opportunity. A quick scan of the acts performing last night highlights their ongoing brand appeal, with the majority of artists present involved in brand alignments running concurrently with the event: Cheryl Cole (L’Oreal), Kasabian (Umbro), JLS (Nokia), Lily Allen (Xbox), Dizzie Rascal (Nike), and Florence and the Machine (a saturation of syncs across UK TV). Pixie Lott – who walked away with nothing from her three nominations – has also racked up a wealth of brand alignments in the last year (Nokia, Casio, Guitar Hero, River Island, EA, Orange, O2, and MySpace – to name just a few). Even Lady Gaga – one of the international acts that acted as a crutch to the show – is open for branded business, having recently signed up to a creative partnership with Polaroid.

As for the ads themselves numerous brands chose a musical route (Barclaycard, Hovis, Visa, etc), with the event’s title sponsor MasterCard rolling out idents featuring the Pet Shop Boys playing in a fan’s house. Some ads were subtler than others, with an ad for Schwarzkoff’s Live Colour XXL hair dye following Florence and the Machine’s flame haired award acceptance. Could Schwarzkoff net some of the traction that saw Florence Welch’s album sales rise by 1000% overnight?

Bearing in mind the high level of traction, and in many ways consumer anticipation, during The Grammys and Super Bowl ad breaks in the US, the BRIT Awards still have some way to go with regards to generating a major advertiser buzz. That said, with the lifting of the product placement ban coming into effect later this year, next year’s BRIT Awards could see brands taking a more central role in the UK music industry stalwart

Visa - Football Evolution ad