Developing a real Bond with music fans

Bonds underwear in Australia is promoting the brand’s Original Hipster underwear – and its ‘hipster’ credentials – via an all girl rock group performing in their underwear. Simple, yet effective, this ad is part of the brand’s 10 year underwear celebration and marks yet another iconic commercial for the brand. The song featured in the ad – which Bonds are giving away as a free download via a dedicated micro site – is ‘Standing On The Corner’ by Melbourne band Super Wild Horses.

This is notably not the first time this route has been used by an underwear brand. The Vassarette US underwear company created an  all female rock group (The Vassarettes) who performed live in their underwear last year.

Bonds have utilised music across a range of commercials over the years, from underwear clad models rollerblading to the sounds of US indie group The Phenomenal Handclap Band; girls attacked by bees to the electro beat of Goldfrapp; a Patty Cake musical experience comprised purely from the sounds of skin on skin; right through to their `Evolution of Dance’ inspired mash up.

Bonds has ultimately positioned its commercials somewhere between Gap and Apple in terms of use of colour and music. Playful, simple, stylish  – much like the products it is selling. As far as underwear goes though music is used on face value here –and this is something that crosses across the whole underwear category. Whether it’s Victoria’s Secret in the US which uses music and its numerous brand ambassadors (Black Eyed Peas, Seal, etc) primarily as background entertainment, or UK lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, which occasionally veers down an album release route. Music is used to good affect, but often has a ‘listen but don’t touch’ application.

Bonds other ads, such as the ones below for its Hoodies and Tees, are evident of a swing towards a more narrative led focus.  There is a slight nod to a more emotive storyline, something that is generally absent from underwear ads. What you see is generally what you get from underwear commercials.  The Bonds Hipsters campaign could have possibly taken the desire to be in a band that bit further, perhaps with some form of creative application online enabling users to get hand on with music,  or perhaps a deeper alignment promoting the development of upcoming girl bands.

As underwear commercials are clearly telling us all to consider what’s underneath our clothes, perhaps its time for underwear ads to listen to what might be underneath the music sync.

Franz in high places

French fashion house Dior have recruited UK indie band Franz Ferdinand to record the track ‘Eyes of Mars’ for the latest Dior Lady Rouge bag campaign. The song features vocals from French actress Marion Cotillard – winner of an oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in the film ‘La Vie En Rose’ – who portrays Lady Rouge, a character who moves from working woman to nightclub singer in New York.

The campaign, with its distinctive red palette, is the second part in an ongoing series by Dior – the first being Lady Noire, which consisted of a Film Noire styled movie. Lady Blue, set in Shanghai, is coming soon. An instrumental version of the Franz Ferdinand track is also available, plus a ‘Making Of’ video offering a behind the scenes look at the Annie Leibovitz photo shoot that comprises the print promotion. The content can also be shared via Twitter, Facebook and a Lady Rouge widget via the Lady Dior website.

The endorsement by Franz Ferdinand is interesting, particularly given the bands recent Twitter outburst against endorsements. Lead singer Alex Kapranos offered up some choice words aimed squarely at his US record label after they decided to use one of his tracks as musical accompaniment on a McDonald’s website. The song was subsequently removed and appeared to be an error on the labels’ part (not McDonald’s, who had used it in good faith). Interestingly, Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson kept a diary of tastiest burgers he ate while on tour in America last year on the band’s official website – so this is a partnership that could have worked, had the band been open to the idea.

The Dior campaign itself is much more a cinematic fit, with the band composing more of a movie sound track than a mere jingle for the luxury brand. It’s a striking example of the quality of music that can be utilised by aligning directly with a particular act – and in this case one that was not an obvious choice. In many ways the inclusion of Franz Ferdinand and Marion Cotillard can be seen as a bid to appeal to aspirational luxury shoppers who, amid a new found frugality, have all but disappeared during the recession. Luxury is aspirational and brands such as Dior are aiming to stimulate a renewed interest for high end goods. Music – which can be fine-tuned to appeal to both McDonald’s $1 menu buyers and Dior’s most devoted fans  – has the ability to be molded to fit the full spectrum of brand needs.

Luxury jewellery brand Cartier promoted its Love – By Cartier collection in 2008 with a major music focus on a global scale. Prada too embarked on a similar campaign to Dior’s when it teamed with Antony and the Johnsons on a specially composed track to tie in with the launch of its Fall/Winter ‘08 women’s wear collection.

Shower streaming music

Prior to Christmas Burger King launched a digital campaign featuring a bikini-clad woman singing in the shower. The extremely male-orientated ‘Shower cam’ campaign invited users to vote for which song should be performed – and which type of bikini should be worn – the following day at 9:30am. In addition visitors to the website could also win a date with Burger King’s so called “sizzling shower babe” at the London Leicester Square Burger King restaurant. The campaign, part of a major push to promote the restaurant’s breakfast menu, was promoted via the Spotify streaming music service. An online video also highlighted the audition process to find the right singer.

So what?: BK obviously knows who its early risers are. This is a very different campaign from the McDonald’s push for its breakfast menu mentioned earlier, aimed squarely at a specific male target demographic – one that Burger King states are the primary visitors to their restaurants in the early hours. So in many ways this overtly sexual campaign makes sense. However, the brand’s ‘Squarebutts’ commercial from 2009 – which featured the Sir Mix-A-Lot song ‘Baby Got Back’ – faced some negativity due to its link to the restaurants’ kid’s meals.  There is also a question mark here surrounding the knock on effect on the female customers who frequent the establishments during other times of the day.

“This is a simple crowd-sourced campaign with a strong link to a new music platform and an obvious nod to BK’s 2004 subservient chicken campaign. However, offering up both male and female model options may have endeared it to BK’s wider audience.”
Giles Fitzgerald, Editor, FRUKT Music Intelligence

www.burgerking.co.uk/showercam

Wear my watch

The final edit of the soon to be released new song (’Wear My Kiss’) from the restructured Sugababes line-up is currently circulating on the Net. The video depicts Heidi, Amelle and Jade in what appears to be either a dystopian futuristic factory setting or Simon Cowell’s garage, complete with a scaled down version of Paris’ La Défense and infinite Sugababes clones.  Having said that it’s fairly standardised Sugababes fair – see: Sugababes in a lift, by a caravan, on a big rug – but there is one thing that stands out as a possible missed opportunity.  As the video plays out a series of objects appear behind the girls underneath the giant white structure, first a tie, then a watch, a diamond and a pair of shoes. Each object links directly to a line in the song. At first we thought the watch was possibly part of a branded partnership with say Omega, but it appears it isn’t, at least not to our knowledge.  The question is should it have been?

With music videos generally awash with product placement, from mobiles (Samsung for instance in a Girls Aloud video ) to sunglasses (Such as the Carrera range in the recent Alicia Keys video) it’s rare an opportunity exists to showcase products on such a prominent scale. The shoes for example are utterly generic and could have so easily been brand specific, as could the watch. However,  why stop there. Bearing in mind the objects are rendered and placed in during post production this video could have supported multiple versions, with the additional option of a ‘click through to purchase’ embedded into the items in the video on YouTube/VEVO. We’re not suggesting it becomes a conveyor belt of brands akin to the Generation Game. However, in a culture where multiple brands can coexist in the same video – see: Trojan/Tuborg – this video could have made good use of its large-scale vending machine in the background.

The shoes in the video appear to change from green to silver anyway depending on which one you watch, and aside from the diamond this could easily be a selection of items from the Next catalogue. Which is not an unthinkable suggestion bearing in mind EMI partnered up with the high-street fashion retailer to promote new artist Ava Leigh in a series of adverts in 2008.

Candie’s Girl

Britney Spears has signed up to be the face of Kohl’s Candie’s clothing range for a second consecutive year. New ad campaigns are currently being shot, with the first among them to roll out in the Spring. “I had a great experience working with Candie’s last year and I am thrilled to be asked to sign on again for a second year,” said Spears.

Britney Spears became the face of Kohl’s Department Stores exclusive Candie’s female youth clothing brand in the spring of 2009, a tie-in set around her Circus Tour.  She followed in the footsteps of a number of other artists who have aligned with the overtly pink fashion label, such as Hayden Panettiere, and Fergie from The Black Eyed Peas.

The campaign launched with the introduction of 4M exclusive, limited edition, pull-out posters in US Weekly Magazine featuring Britney in full Candie’s apparel. “Britney is not your average girl, so we didn’t want to do an average media buy. We wanted to create an event with the debut of the campaign,” said Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, Iconix Brand Group.

For its fall campaign Candie’s outfitted Spears for her new music video, “Radar” and used footage from the music video for an accompanying television commercial. The music video features Candie’s apparel, footwear, jewelry and accessories. “The new Candie’s advertising campaign featuring Britney Spears is authentic, relevant and designed to resonate with our junior shopper,” said Julie Gardner, Kohl’s EVP and chief marketing officer.

So what?: Candies is Kohl’s junior brand range, and melding the campaign directly with a music video is a clever way to engage with an audience that is looking for vibrant fashion conscious role models. “Candie’s fits into my life in such a huge way. My sister loves Candie’s, my Mom loves Candie’s,” said Spears. This echoes her new everywoman positioning. As opposed to previous endorsees Britney is now an aspirational figure to tweens, teens and young American moms. This range pitched a collection geared towards all three demographics, the wannabe tween, the fashion savvy teen and the value-hunting mom.  Candie’s has drafted in numerous musicians over the years, including Kelly Clarkson, Ashlee Simpson, Hillary Duff and Fergie but Britney is the ultimate cherry on their endorsement cake. The exclusive partnership with US Weekly leveraged a level of momentum similar to a catwalk premiere, and the ‘fashion shoot as music video’ for the fall campaign built on this feeling of a breaking exclusive.

“In a market where some celebrity endorsements have been hit hard in 2009 – golfing club hard – it suddenly pays to stay with your safe bet from the previous year, as opposed to latching on to an unproven entity. Surprisingly Britney, who had a very public meltdown in 2007, has emerged as a bankable asset for Candie’s. With her seventh studio album looming in the Fall, Britney should be on track to keep Kohl’s in the Pink for another year”
Giles Fitzgerald, Editor, FRUKT Music Intelligence

Brands see the value of music

This week saw the 50th edition of the Brands Bands Fans newsletter. Since its inception in May 2007 – and the subsequent launch of our blog, Twitter feed, events and panels, we have covered a vast and ever expanding selection of brand and music partnerships and marketing activity. We hope you’ve found it as invaluable as we have and that it has opened your eyes to the full spectrum of opportunity available within music.

What our ongoing involvement in this space has consistently impressed upon us is the break neck speed of activation; it is relentless, ever-evolving, adapting and diversifying. However, in many ways it is hard to keep track with hundreds of branded music campaigns springing up each month. Many of these can fly under the radar in such a busy marketing environment, and we hope we’ve managed to capture the heart of the brands and music zeitgeist over the last few years. We’ve uncovered some marketing gems along the way, from innovative digital platforms harnessing the power of social media; right through to intimate gigs bringing fans closer to the music they love.

Despite a perceived lull in marketing spend, 2009 has been among the most creative and active years for music marketing, with brands recognising that music touch points offer a longevity of consumer traction that few other routes to market can match. With green shoots of economic revival sprouting as we approach the year’s end we envisage that this level of creativity will continue throughout into 2010. And, as ever, we’ll be there to capture the very best as it happens across the globe.

So What?: For all the campaigns that we cover are any of them cutting through? Do music fans even want brands involved with the music their hold so dear? The answer, it appears, is a resounding “yes”. Exclusive research from FRUKT Music Intelligence’s ‘Brands and Music Manifesto 2010’ (more details on back page) can reveal that consumers are increasingly more accepting of brand involvement in music. A nationally representative survey undertaken in the UK depicts a nation that has moved away from the old concept of seeing bands as “selling out” by aligning with brands. In excess of three quarters of consumers now believe music is an important factor in brand engagement, with 86% open to brands that enrich their experience of a product with music tie-ups such as downloads, festival sponsorships or live music events. The research also highlighted how 31% of 16-18 year-olds, and one in five adults, say music drives their choice of brand if the involvement adds value.

“Brands Bands Fans was created in order to highlight the myriad of music oriented marketing activity, innovations and trends across the globe. Over 100,000 words later, since our very first Pepsi story, we are still delivering a resource unmatched in the industry. A little light analysis shows interestingly, that we’ve covered significantly more activity from the US than anywhere else on the planet, and that MySpace, Sony, Nokia, Samsung and Coca-Cola rank as the most ‘busy’ brands in music according to their respective citations in BBF. It’s so positive that so many brands are now beginning to explore the potential of music – and to understand it’s not just a TV sync or an opportunity for a bit of ‘cool’ by hanging out with new bands… but that music is a vast cultural space.”
Jack Horner, Creative Director, FRUKT

FRUKT Brands and Music Manifesto 2010

97% of consumers like or love music*
…but how can brands harness this passion?

Packed with insight including:
• FRUKT’s vision for 2010
• Building relevant artist endorsements
• Maximizing live music’s potential
• Delivering successful campaigns
• Differentiating music activity
• New research, essays & case studies

* FRUKT Research, as featured in the special report

Download the sampler here

Only £150 or get it for free when you subscribe to FRUKT Music Intelligence (£400pa).

To subscribe, or to order your copy, contact Dudley Ashton:
+44 (0)20 7017 8146 / sales@fruktmusic.com

Valley of the dancing dolls

The Dolly Rockers – the outspoken Girl Band with a penchant for large headphones and short skirts billowing with netting – have entered into a new brand partnership with KangaROOS footwear in order to promote their latest single ‘Gold Digger’.

The ‘How do you rock your Roos?’ competition asks visitors to a dedicated Bebo page to record their own dance routine to the new Dolly Rockers single.

The girls – Sophie, Lucy and Brooke – will then pick through the video entries to select their favourites to see which will go through to the final.

The ultimate winner will get to spend a day with the Dolly Rockers and their choreographer recording at a central London studio, plus a behind-the-scenes experience during the filming of the Dolly Rockers’ third music video. They will also net themselves a Dolly Rockers makeover  – which bearing in mind their own ‘covered-in-doubled-sided-tape-and-rolled-through-Primark’ look, is not one for the faint hearted. Plus to round it off they’ll also pick up a whole bunch of KangaROOS and Dolly Rockers goodies.

The Dolly Rockers quirky attire is ripe for clothing and footwear brands that want to associate with a young, empowered and rebellious female audience. Something that is currently lacking on the well-groomed, all too polite, girl band endorsement remit at present.

The campaign runs from the 1st September to 22nd October.

In a separate promotion the Dollys are asking their fans to spread the word about their new single to their closest friends, in a pay-it-forward style email gathering campaign. The fan who supplies the most email addresses will win a private performance from the group in their own living room. Ok, its blatant email harvesting, but it doesn’t attempt to hide it, which is very much in its favour, as is the fact there is a genuine VIP prize for promoting the single.

The gig race is on

Ted Baker’s new Born menswear range has launched a new campaign which will require dedication, stamina, and quite possibly ear plugs. In order to promote its new Born clothing range of shirts, polo shirts, T-shirts, and hoodies  – all aimed at a younger 18-24-year-old audience than its mainline brand – Born is setting a ‘Gig Race’ challenge.  Contestants involved will have two weeks to attend as many gigs as they can, whilst blogging and twittering their exploits as they go. The eventual winner will walk away with £1,000 of Born by Ted Baker clothing and possibly a Guinness World Record for the most gigs attended in one week. As well as that Born has two tickets for his year’s sold out Bestival music event, featuring Kraftwerk, Lily Allen, Fleet Foxes and Massive Attack, to give away.

If you think you have what it takes to tackle this musical triathlon, then you can sign up via the link below.

www.bornbytedbaker.com

http://twitter.com/bornbytedbaker

Girls are louder

The Saturdays – a girl band once described as a “Girls Aloud for the recession era” – are making some serious inroads on the endorsement circuit of late. It seems ever more clear that the group are Girls Aloud 2.0, waiting in the wings for the long-running and universally accepted girl band to expire properly (rather than splitting temporally to follow solo projects, as recently announced). Universal appears to have the Sats working 24-7 on promotional work, with the group popping up at every promotional opportunity possible. However direct brand alignments are coming in proper now and see the five piece moving into territory well established by Girls Aloud (Sunsilk, Kit Kat, GDH, Ultimo, Coke Zero, Samsung, to name but a few). As usual you wait for ages for a proper endorsement to arrive and then three come along at once.

1. Veet: The girls are currently the faces – and legs – of the Veet and Veet Debut hair removal collections. The airbrushed photo attached to the promo sees them moving from the 50’s Style pin ups they portrayed in their charity single version of Depeche Mode’s ‘ I Just Can’t Get Enough’ to looking like they should be sprayed on the side of a WWII bomber. Beauty products are a natural fit for the aspirational girl band, and although the pay out for this campaign is probably not in the Girls Aloud Sunsilk remit (estimated at £1.2M) it places them in a similar bracket to Taylor Swift who signed her legs up with Gillette last year.

2. Virgin Mobile: Despite the Veet campaign the girls have decided to cover up their legs in black tights for a separate promotion for Virgin Mobile’s Addict pay as you go tariff (I’ve heard you have to let the hair grow to a certain length to use Veet – so maybe that’s the reason). As the new product offers up ‘unlimited flirting’ the photo shoot for the campaign sees them aping the classic Robert Palmer Addicted to Love video, with the girls dressed in black (with Frankie playing the part of Palmer) and sporting white fender guitars. It’s a press worthy idea, despite the fact the group aren’t actually a guitar band. However, I wonder what Cort Guitars – who used to be the sponsor of Una Healy – make of the Fender hanging round her neck.

3. RARE: The final campaign (for now) sees the girls moving into fashion with the launch of their own collections in conjunction with the RARE fashion brand. The limited 10 piece collection of dresses in conjunction will offer up 2 outfits per group member – “enabling fans to wear clothing designed by their favourite ‘Saturday’” . “Our relationship with Rare started with Mollie’s yellow dress in our If This Is Love video, so it’s great that we now get to have our very own range,” say the band. The clothes will be a meld of Hell Angels Chic and 80’s inspiration apparently. It’s not the first time however they have designed for the fashion brand, they sported their own creations at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards UK in 2008. The group also appeared in a ‘The Saturdays heart Rare’ window campaign in 54 BANK fashion stores at the end of last year promoted the RARE range, with a nationwide in-store tour of five BANK stores – Liverpool, Manchester Arndale and Trafford, Leeds and Birmingham. “The girls encapsulate the very essence of our brand – fashion conscious, on-trend and full of fun,” said Rare CEO John Quinn.

Now I like The Saturdays, and I’d happily listen to a double album of their version of ‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’ than ever have to listen to Depeche Mode’s current album again. However, what I think is irrelevant here, as its the fact they tick numerous boxes in the marketing to women category that is drawing in the brand activity in these particular examples. They have a certain ‘every woman’ appeal that cuts across a sizable age range, however for these brand campaigns to truly work they need to leverage more than just a glamorous facade. Cool by association works to a certain extent, but consumers, and especially female ones are demanding more from the brands that are clamouring for their attention.

A recent article on marketing to women through music in our FRUKT Music Intelligence report highlighted the Rise of the Sufranets: a new wave of tech savvy brand conscious females who are exercising their right to vote on your brand. Which means brands need to start the converstions online, before the consumers do it themselves. One example where The Saturdays offered something extra and more interactive was the recent tie up with Spotify, where they served up collaborative playlists to promote the MTV/Body Shop Safe sex campaign. With Gamma women buying into technology, blogging newtorks, and social networking as an extension of their personality, its time for brands to start offering deeper conversations as opposed to just offering a face and a message.

Topman offers bespoke access for music fans

UK high street youth clothing retailer Topman has embarked on a unique music initiative that sees it handing over control of its current music campaign to a selection of emerging artists. The CTRL platform – inspired by the recognition that fans want greater access to bands – enables one act per month to curate a bespoke live event featuring a selection of their favourite artists, whilst also taking hold of the creative reigns of the Topman CTRL blog.

First up to curate the CRTL blog and programme a live event is highly acclaimed British electronic 3-piece Metronomy. They will be followed by upcoming New Zealand born singer/songwriter Ladyhawke. Lightspeed Champion and Sam Kilcoyne are also lined up to participate and will programme stages at The Great Escape and Underage Festivals.

Topman Marketing Director, Jason Griffiths said: “After many years of successful music sponsorships, we feel that the time is right to launch our own platform. We will be handing over the reigns each month to an upcoming artist to bring our audiences closer to their favourite new bands. We are really excited to provide a window to their creative world and are looking forward to seeing what they come up with.”

The first CTRL Live event took place on the 25th March at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, and featured Kamerakino, Your Twenties, Koko Von Napoo and a DJ set from Metronomy themselves.

So what?: Fashion and music should go hand in hand, but for a long time now these two areas have only tentatively collaborated. The odd endorsement here, the occasional artist led collection there, but rarely led with a deeper understanding of what consumers what and need from music. This campaign from Topman goes someway to redressing this common misconnection by harnessing a developing trend emerging from the new music business. Radio’s ability to keep ahead of the zeitgeist is greatly diminished, and music TV is all but extinct, the ones making any real noise are the niche communities built around genuine fans.

Topman offers up an eclectic mix of cutting edge fashion for the youth market, and providing equally exclusive access to the personal playlists of artists on the creative cusp is a bold and decisive move. Recommendations don’t come any better than from your idols, and this handpicked selection sees Topman taking ownership of a definite space within music’s culture – as opposed to other brands that simply take campaigns off the peg. Access, rather than ownership is the new route for music consumption, and this campaign offers a new level of intimate insight into the bands Topman’s audience love.

“Topman CTRL is a great idea from a music perspective, it really allows music lovers to get closer to their favourite artists. I like the fact that those artists are also sharing their influences and showcasing their favourite up and coming artists.”
Jennifer Roebuck, Head of Ecommerce and Direct, French Connection

www.myspace.com/topmanctrl

www.topman.com

www.twitter.com/topmanctrl