Marketing with Music - Not What It Should Be

There's rarely a TV commercial that gets produced today that doesn't use music in some way. Yet most marketers are getting far less brand impact from the music they use than they should be. Music can be so much more than an underlying soundtrack to the words and pictures of a TV ad. Music can be brand cement. It can be a marketing communication tool that enables you to plant a brand message in a viewer's head FOREVER.

Here are some great examples of branded music that many of us can probably not only remember, but most likely still sing along with.

Almond Joy/Mounds - "Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut"
Meow Mix - "Meow Meow Meow Meow"
Roto-Rooter - "Away Go Troubles Down the Drain"
US Army - "Be All You Can Be"
Alka Seltzer - "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz"
Chili's - "Baby Back Ribs"
Oscar Meyer - "I Wish I Was an Oscar Meyer Weiner"
Campbell's Soup - "M'm! M'm! Good!"
Hertz - "Let Hertz Put You in the Driver's Seat"

There's another really good way to use music and really BRAND it. That's to steal a song that's become a hit on its own and apply it to your brand in such a strong way for such a long time that it's impossible to hear the song any more without thinking of the brand it has now become associated with. Here are a couple great examples of that.

Chevy - "Like a Rock"
Heinz Ketchup - "Anticipation"
California Raisins - "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"

Another approach that also works is the short musical button that ends a spot and becomes an instantly recognizable element of the brand. Two examples of this are:

Mennen - "By Mennen"
Intel - "Intel Inside"

Today, music in marketing has essentially become a throw-away. Part of this is because so few marketers are now committing themselves to long-term campaigns, which is a requirement if you want to establish any branded music. It's a shame because music can and should be a powerful branding weapon.

Does it really make sense to pay for the rights to use the music of some hot recording artist only in one spot for only a limited period of time? Almost never! Unless you're Apple marketing the iPod, in which case using interesting new music is a big part of what the brand is all about. But exceptions like this are rare and only prove the rule. Don't invest big money in music UNLESS you're committed to making the music a big part of your brand identity for a substantial period of time - like FOREVER.