Wimpy’s suburban heart of glass

With some of my South African relatives finally touching down in the UK post the volcanic ash cloud flight embargo, it was interesting to pick up on a musically led campaign emanating from the region this week.

A new Wimpy ad from South Africa offers an insight into a not-so-typical South African family unit in a bid to connect with close-knit SA suburban family life.  The commercial highlights the musical prowess of the ‘Skoltimaier Seven’ who, resplendent in skin tight lycra and 80s shoulder pads, perform ‘Funky Town’ on collectible glasses in their living room – part of an in-store promotional giveaway effort from the restaurant chain.

The campaign kicked off with a short viral mockumentary of the homespun band. “We are like the Jackson 7, or 6, but we are better than those little guys with all their face jobs – we are all natural,” says the person playing ‘the `son’ in the viral.

The ad itself owes much to the Cadbury’s school of viral ad/music combos. The focus of the whole commercial actually centres on the youngest girl member of the family who, up front and centre, sports the oddest side-to-side head movement (almost as freakishly unnatural as – and remarkably similar looking to – the girl in Cadbury’s ‘Dancing Eyebrows’ ad from 2009).

With extended family as important as individuals in their nuclear family in many white South African homes, the ad – regardless of the light-hearted approach – uses music to promote this concept of unity and extend it to the notion of eating together. This could have been pushed further with some form of UGC element asking for other families to work together on other musical renditions.

Scared of beards

Fosters has launched a quirky new series of ads promoting its Carlton Draught beer. The ‘Any Excuse’ campaign sees a bizarre folk music trio (with creative facial hair) performing musical renditions to various male body parts in order to sing the beer’s praises. Each ad sees the heavily knitted warblers composing odes about the various different parts of a man’s anatomy and how they tell him he needs a cold Carlton Draft.

The seven ads Tingle, Elbow, Leg, Weenis, Wart, Nose, and Bump are currently doing the rounds online and are reminiscent of Reeves and Mortimer’s Mulligan and O’Hare. Apparently Fosters put this promotion on the back burner for a while after completion as they considered whether or not to use it. The commercials were stripped form TV schedules just before launch late last month, amid concerns the campaign could offend some viewers. The campaign will now run online to gauge viral effect and public reception before roiling out to a more mainstream TV and cinema audience.

Carlton’s ‘Big Ad‘ viral from 2006 won 30 awards globally and another recent campaign ‘Flash beer‘ saw a man reenacting a scene from Flashdance. ”I believe our target market will go looking for Carlton Draught material online. And online, it’s unable to offend anyone,” said Vincent Ruiu, group marketing manager at Carlton Brands.

As with any slightly off the wall ad campaign there is a very fine line between hilarious and repulsive. Get it right and you’ve got a viral hit. Get it wrong and you’ve also got a viral hit – but for all the wrong reasons. There is also the knock on effect of how your product is associated with the comedy you are providing.  There needs to be a perceived distance between what is awkward or unappealing about your ad. It needs to be funny ‘over there’ and not directly related to the experience of the product.

A first for music

Coca-Cola China has launched a new online campaign fronted by Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit in order to celebrate Chinese New Year.  The promotion – which features the track ‘The First Taste of Happiness’ – invites users to customize their own festive Coke bottles and participate in an online UGC element which will see their video efforts placed into a collective ad alongside the band. The digital side of the ad campaign depicts Coke drinkers passing their bottles along from one video clip to the next to form a visual chain effect. The ad – which seems to have a prominent Apple placement at various points – is reminiscent of a recent online video created by the Japanese band, Sour. The campaign has partnered with online portals such as QQ.com, Tudou.com, and Youku.com and Coke’s own website to promote the initiative which follows on from last year’s ‘First Taste of the Year’ positioning.

Fahrenheit – who release their fourth album in August 2010 – have been a massive draw in southeast Asia over the last few years. They are also no strangers to brand endorsements, having being Ambassadors for Canon’s full range of digital cameras in 2008.  However, it doesn’t stop there. They have also appeared in ads for Volvo, Man Simple face wash, 7-Eleven, TaiShan iced drinks, Watson’s Water, the C.C Lemon drink, Chun eyewear, I Do Golden! Jewelry, 3+2 Crackers and – well I could go – but you get the general idea.

Coke is in the midst of a $2B three-year expansion and growth plan in China, which includes the opening of an $88M bottling plant in the city of Wuhan to aid the increased demand for the product in the region.  The soft drink brand is tapping into the traditional Chinese New Year concept with this promotion of passing on lucky red ‘lai see’ packages via its very own ‘red packaged’ bottle of happiness. The innovative use of social media and UGC serve to strengthen this positive connection. The youth segment this campaign is aiming to reach are far less cynical than their Western counterparts, so the inclusion of a boy band (even simply juggling coke bottles) is not viewed with anything but admiration. Bearing in mind the 320M Youth sector in China (16-30) has around $135B in spending power – both Coca-Cola and Fahrenheit have lots to gain from creating high distribution, well- rounded, family appealing commercial partnerships such as these.

The empire sneaks back

There is an interesting meld of genres in this recent adidas commercial, which promotes a new line of Star Wars branded footwear in the style of its ‘House Party’ campaign commercial from 2008.  The ad features David Beckham and Darth Vader alongside musicians such as Snoop Dogg and Daft Punk. It also utilises a new remix of the Imperial March – Darth Vader’s entrance tune.  The accompanying footwear will feature an Augmented Reality code on the shoe tongue which will unlock both a Star Wars game and a music game when placed in front of a web cam.

www.youtube.com

www.adidas.com

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

Sing your way out of a contract

A new online campaign from Sprint Mobile takes a direct musical hit at a number of its competitors. Visitors to the ‘mobilegoodbye’ website can create, watch and share a series of break up songs from a selection of hit tracks penned to their old carrier. Each track features a cover version with new lyrics performed by a karaoke duo.

The campaign, aimed at getting moblie users to switch to Sprint’s ‘Any Mobile, Anytime’ package, directly name checks Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. Say goodbye to T-Mobile to the tune of ‘Like A Virgin’ and Verzion to an impassioned reworking of Mr Mister’s ‘Broken Wings’.

The goodbye songs can be shared across various social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. “Sprint is reaching out to new audiences and changing the conversation of traditional wireless advertising by launching these viral spots,” said Mike Goff, VP of national advertising, Sprint.

So What?: The campaign manages to soften its hard-line message via its tongue in cheek karaoke positioning. There’s something a little jarring about putting words into the mouths of consumers when it comes to their feelings towards other brands- especially when its positioned as a message to be shared. However, this campaign is done with such humour – and blatant straightforwardness – that it manages to pull it off.  The sonic touches utilised in simple mouse rollovers -  reverb on the speaker, strum on guitar, and piano keys on clicks – also help to soften any perceived hard edges and gently adds to the tactility of the experience.

“Aggressive marketing delivered with a (musical) smile, a campaign like this sinks or swims on the nuance of its execution. Thankfully for Sprint, the music is well chosen, the lyrics gently amusing, and the band likably ordinary. Doubly impressive is the way the site follows through with its core message, inviting visitors to switch operators there and then – while the karaoke duo look on expectantly.”
Jack Fryer, Strategist, FRUKT

www.mobilegoodbye.com

Band in a banner

Here at BBF we sift through a flood of ‘overly complicated’ or downright ‘conceived while inebriated’ music/brand marketing campaigns on a daily basis. However, we also occasionally stumble on some quite brilliant activity in the music space on our trails. This campaign, used to promote upcoming Universal act VV Brown, is simple but strikingly effective and definitely falls into the later category. “As VV Brown is such a striking artist with a stunning vocal talent, we wanted to move away from the standard advertising formats and introduce her “in person” and singing live on your desktop” said Pru Harris, Island Records Marketing. Which is exactly what VV Brown does, she climbs right into her own web banner ad, crouches down – like Tori Amos on the cover of Little Earthquakes – and proceeds to sing acoustic versions of the songs ‘LEAVE!’ and ‘Crying Blood’ from within the banner alongside her band.

We’ve seen ‘bands in bubbles’ and ‘bands in giant snow globes’ but bizarrely we haven’t seen a band in a banner before. Which seems strangely obvious now we have, and we wonder why no one has tried this before.

This campaign has a nice circular feel to it. With single and album releases increasingly acting as ‘flyers’ for live activity it’s good to see it reversed with online ads acting as mini gigs to promote releases (this one comes with a free download). It also got us thinking about the possibility of ‘Banner Aid’, which could potentially take this concept to the next level. How about placing various bands across the web performing banner gigs on a particular day with a charitable tie in? A real ‘Ad-funded’ effort. Surely that’s not as daft as it sounds.

As for the VV Brown campaign itself its easily our favourite ‘banner ’since Bruce Banner.

Other music advertisers should be green with envy.

VV Brown’s single ‘LEAVE!’ is out on 2nd March, and the track ‘Crying Blood’ is to be featured in the opening credits of James Corden and Mathew Horne’s (of Gavin & Stacey and BRIT Awards fame) upcoming film debut ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’.

Busker makes a mint

Tic Tac has moved on from its “refreshing little lifts” tag line and has started making a bit of noise (literally) in the music space. A few months ago we highlighted a fairly major download giveaway with Sony BMG, and now the mint brand is taking a more quirky viral approach to its musical offerings. Tic Tac is sponsoring Micha Albacow, a 16-year-old boy from Uzbekistan, who does a mean line in mint based busking.

Micha – with Tic Tac boxes strapped to his shoes – invites the public to help him create a musical performance with the assistance of various Tic Tac-based instruments. He’s coming to a city near you soon – you have been pre-warned.

Micha’s accompanying website offers up a Tic Tac Flute styled variant on the Guitar Hero phenomenon, and a free ringtone download. It also features a breakdown of the various Tic Tac-based instruments Micha uses. Our personal favourite is the ‘Crazy Cymbal Machine’ which utilises 8,000 Tic Tacs.

http://www.tictacmicha.com/

Switching on the electrolyte

Gatorade, the Pepsi owned energy drink, is having a major overhaul – taking its increasingly retro packaging up a notch with bold new colours and simple hard hitting statements. It’s out with the ‘Gatorade – Thirst Quencher’ tag line and in with ‘Gatorade G’. US rapper Lil’ Wayne (who had the biggest selling album of 2008 at 2.88M copies) is stepping in, not to contribute music, but to work as a voice-over artist. A new Spike Lee directed commercial for Pepsi’s rebranded Gatorade line features a string of iconic athletes – such as Serena Williams and Muhammad Ali – with a Lil’ Wayne speech delivered over the scrolling imagery.

The ad debuted with no indication of the brand other than a mysterious ‘G’.

The sports drink brand is reimagining its entire line in a bold move to appeal to a broader range of athletes and active people. The revamped bottle features slogans such as, “Be Tough”, “No Excuses” and “Focus”. This is meant to convey the voice and “attitude of a tough-love coach or personal trainer”. The letter G is now prominently upfront alongside the brand’s iconic bolt logo, with the packing screaming ‘Superhero’ in a style reminiscent of The Flash (a smart move with 2009 set to be X-Men and Watchmen focused movie wise). Lil’ Wayne refers to the new moniker as being, “the emblem of a warrior”, “the swagger of an athlete” and “ the heart, hustle and soul of the game”.

The brand is clearly embracing the everyman athlete here, with an ad that takes its marker from footwear brands. “Whether you’re in it for the win, for the thrill or for better health, if your body is moving, Gatorade sees you as an athlete, and we’re inviting you into the brand,” said Sarah Robb O’Hagan, chief marketing officer for Gatorade.

Gatorade stated that its vision would see the brand becoming “a badge of pride for anyone who sweats”. Lovely.

However, monologues aside, where’s the actual music you ask? It’s over here in another commercial in the campaign featuring rapper Murs…

http://uk.youtube.com

http://uk.youtube.com

http://www.gatorade.com

You can buy without fear

Lily Allen’s single The Fear is being promoted via a viral music game. The game, entitled Escape the Fear, features Allen as the main character. Players must help Lily navigate 10 levels whilst avoiding obstacles such as paparazzi cameras, rabid handbag dogs, evil bankers throwing credit cards, alcohol and demonic puzzles.

“The instant gratification of this type of game makes it inherently viral […] we are potentially reaching a new audience who are not listening to the radio or reading the music press” said Dan Duncombe, Digital Director at Parlophone.

The game itself is played out in the 2D retro Donkey Kong style and sees Lily herself striking an uncanny resemblance to a Bratz doll. (could she follow the Katy Perry doll with this far more consumer friendly version?). The site includes the video for the single and plenty of embed options for the user’s favourite social portals. It also has the option to email the viral game to friends.

Plus there is a competition attached to the game to win tickets to Lily’s sold out date at Koko on 28th January.

I’d drowned Lily within 30 seconds on the first level. It wasn’t intentional I swear.

http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/fear