This post is a response to the open letter to Advertising Age written by The Apollo Project’s Paul Horn. The letter was posted on AdRants and titled (by Adrants) Licensed Music Does More Harm Than Good For Brands.
Where to begin. First off, I abhor generalizations. Whether they be about race, religion, politics or something much more mundane such as music licensing. I don’t believe you can condemn all licensing based upon a disagreement with a Top Ten list published by Advertising Age. In fairness, I agree with Paul that slapping a voiceover on top of a piece of licensed music is a bad idea. Not only are you wasting your clients money, but you are negating your reason for licensing the music in the first place…because it is appropriate, because it connects with your consumer at a visceral level, in a way that a jingle, albeit a catchy one, such as those composed for Freecreditreport.com, cannot.
And just so we’re clear, those freecreditreport.com compositions are jingles, a type of song, but a very specific type. They are smart and clever jingles created to sell merchandise. They have been around since before the days of plop, plop, fizz, fizz and they will be around as long as people have products to sell. And although they are a type of poetry set to music, which by definition would make them songs, they are called jingles for a reason…and they serve a different purpose than licensing a recording for use in advertising. They, as Paul notes, “aren’t very sexy, but they deliver a clear, branded message and everyone can sing them and they have actually helped sell sandwiches and credit reports”. And that’s fine. But brands that license music, and do it well, are doing it for reasons beyond simply selling sandwiches.
Cadillac did not license Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” to sell a car (and we all know GM could use some help selling cars). They used it to try and alter the image of the staid and stale Cadillac brand in the eye of the consumer. The goal was not to have Zeppelin and Cadillac appear together in a Google search. And since when did the results of a Google search become the definition of a successful advertising campaign.
Led Zeppelin represents a very specific archetype. Their music elicits a response and represents an aesthetic that Cadillac was trying to capture in order to reposition the Cadillac brand for a younger consumer. Cadillac had lost its edge to BMW, Mercedes, Acura and Lexus. Led Zeppelin brought that edge back.
Not all advertising exists to sell a sandwich. Some advertising exists to sell the idea of a sandwich. The idea of an automobile or an automobile brand. Associating the idea of Cadillac with the idea of Led Zeppelin helped to positively reposition the Cadillac brand, while having no discernible negative effect on Led Zeppelin. A win, win. An original jingle would not have served this purpose.
Target’s use of” Hello Goodbye” by The Beatles is another example of a masterful music license. In this case the song was being used to both brand and to sell.
- First, the brand: “Hello”. It’s personal. We’re a friend. Come on over and visit. We’re cool. We get you. Trust us. We’re Target.
- Next, the sell: “Goodbuy”. We represent savings. Take a look. There are things in the store that you’ll want to see. The price is right.
- And “Goodbye”. Thanks for visiting. It was great to see you. Please come back and hang out again.
And that’s only the lyrical content of the advertising. Regarding the music, having bands like the Jonas Brothers rerecord the composition only served to reinforce the “Hello” amongst the younger demographic. At the same time, using a Beatles composition reinforced the “Goodbuy” in the minds of those of us who trust The Beatles. Who grew up listening to the band. Who identify with what they have to say. With their message. Which is now Target’s message. Surely The Beatles wouldn’t associate themselves with a misrepresentation. Those of us in the business know that The Beatles no longer own or control this composition, but we are not the average consumer.
These are only a couple of exceptions to Paul Horn’s rules. There are many, many more. A quality, well thought out and well executed advertising campaign, Chevy and “Like A Rock” comes to mind, will most certainly “drive the individual commercials, but also…enhance the overall value and perception of the brand”. Cadillac’s brand image is different today than it was yesterday partially due to its association with the brand of Led Zeppelin. Target is not WalMart. Target is fashion forward. They have exclusive designers. They have advertising that speaks to their consumer not by creating a jingle, but to take liberties with a Beatles lyric, by taking an old song and making it new again.
Leave a Reply