Music to your consumers’ ears
Music can play a powerful role in advertising and branding, if done right. As Christian Finucane, co-founder and creative partner at The Core Agency writes, relevance and consistency with meaningful music in advertising can be a brand asset that only grows stronger over time.
If there’s one thing that can take a shortcut to your heart and mind, it’s soundwaves. And to be specific – music.
When you hear new or nostalgic tracks, music can effortlessly transport you to multitude of emotional spaces, all at the speed of sound. And in our business which is often charged with making people feel something, music plays a vital yet often-undervalued role.
Growing up in the UK I remember the impact of the music selected for the amazing films in the Levi’s campaign. In fact, the campaign used music in such a powerful way that many bands and labels would forgo their licensing fee as the media exposure practically guaranteed a number one hit. Not to mention record jeans sales.
Many of the Levi’s commercials back then used retro tracks, artists such Johnny Cash (Burning Ring of Fire) and Dinah Washington (Mad About the Boy) which shaped that comfortable nostalgia juxtaposed against a rebellious, 501-wearing hero.
Levi’s, and their culture-shaping agency BBH London, would then up the ante and produce slick ads like ‘Drugstore’. Filmed in silvery black and white and set in conservative 1930s America, it was paired with a tense contemporary techno track (Novelty Waves) from Biosphere. It was an unexpected combination, but the rest is history.
Musical craft, the arrangement and composition are all easily borrowed (ok, paid for…) elements that give consumers confidence that they’re buying into something relatable and with genuine soul.
Brands that are purchased by the heart, not just the brain, often command a higher price point and enjoy increased loyalty.
Great music doesn’t just bring quality to a brand, it delivers emotional integrity. And in today’s world where brands are increasingly required to be socially aware and purpose-driven, music can help advertisers get on the same wavelength as customers.
The new spot from Airbnb uses Beautiful Stranger by Kevin Morby to illustrate this perfectly, and like any good music choice, it amplifies the core idea.
You can see the brief: to grow Airbnb we need to quash the fear of having a stranger in your house. Musical solution: a reassuring folksy track that gives you the feels, set against an arresting ‘monster’ visual. A great script, eye-catching direction and the superb music choice all work in harmony to deliver an empathetic story.
Then of course there’s the antithesis of unique branding – stock library music. If ever there was example of good being the enemy of great, stock music is it.
There’s an ad for a popular chocolate spread running currently and ‘their’ music track is one I’ve heard on three other (equally) poorly-branded commercials.
I can hear the growing chorus out there saying that composing original music or buying an artist’s track is so expensive, but most library tracks are by definition the poor man paying twice. As great advertisers know, creating an ownable audio mnemonic is one of the most prudent and powerful investments you can make in a brand.
Take a note out of Telstra’s book with their long running Flight Facilities soundscape. It’s modern, slick and full of techy fills. And like most Australians who have now heard it more than a billion times, it’s still hard to hate. No doubt more people know it as the Telstra song rather than Clair de Lune.
You don’t even need to be watching the ads online or on the telly to know it’s a Telstra ad. That’s the genius of an ownable sound, sonic branding, musical codes (or whatever you want to call it) it just keeps working even when you’re not watching, daydreaming or in the next room on hold to your telco trying to get your internet fixed.
Dan Higson, executive producer at Smith & Western, one of Sydney’s top sound studios puts it this way: “Brand bibles should not only feature requirements for fonts, colours, tone of voice, casting and so on, but they should also feature sonic guidelines. Brands are finally asking themselves, what do we sound like?”
Relevance and consistency with meaningful music for advertising can be a brand asset that only grows stronger over time, in fact, almost Pavlovian in its ability to make you think, feel and do.
If I say Bluey, what do you hear and think?
If I say Jaws, what do you hear and feel?
If I say Bunnings, what do you hear and do?
Done well, a ‘melodic mnemonic’ is ownable, empathetic and effective – paying for itself time and again.
And who doesn’t like the sound of that?
Christian Finucane is co-founder and creative partner at The Core Agency
Hi Christian, I enjoyed your article. You are so right, as a singer/songwriter whether it be an ad, video, movie the song, jingle or soundtrack is the first thing to get me in. When I hear songs of yesteryear I’m drawn back to the period of time it related to and specifically when I heard it the first time. Keep showcasing music in all forms and if you need a distinctive vocal look me up. 👏
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