Music plays a greater role in our lives than perhaps any other form of entertainment. Seventy-four percent of millennials say that music defines who they are. Of the top 50 YouTube videos of all time, 46 of them are music videos. Since the launch of YouTube in 2005, 29 music videos have amassed over 2 billion views each.
We have a voracious appetite for music and technology has only begun meeting that demand. In 2018, overall on-demand music streaming surpassed 900 billion streams, an increase of 43% over the prior year. The first half of 2019 saw over 174 billion on-demand video streams; up 39% from 2018. Like so much other content, consumers’ access to music is growing exponentially. Moreover, consumers’ appreciation of music has created a plethora of marketing opportunities, as evidenced by several recent industry surveys:
- Half of adults age 35-50 listen to music every day
- 79% of consumers who Shazam & bookmarked music from an ad also immediately engaged with that brand.
- 80% of audiences acknowledged that the most effective way for brands to connect with them is through a branded live music event, and 93% say they like brands that sponsor live events.
- 90% of 25-34-year-olds think that brands add value to music (for example, by way of making a live event, music video, or artist/fashion partnership possible).
- The use of pop music in advertising campaigns increases audience attention, emotion and memory by 20%.
The Brand Opportunity
Brands seeking to benefit from their consumer’s connection to music have several ways to authentically do so. Licensing a hit or buzzworthy song commands audience attention. Organic brand integrations in music videos, which regularly garner millions of views, connect a brand to an artist’s fanbase. Custom branded content (e.g. tour diaries, intimate performances/behind the scenes footage, exclusive ‘presented by’ livestreams) gives a brand even more control around messaging, fosters a deeper connection with the artist’s audience, and allows for more brand-direct interaction via link-outs, contests, and social reposting. Tour and festival sponsorships broaden fan engagement and bring one’s artist partnership to life on a grand scale.
Most effective of all is a holistic strategy which gives the brand a variety of consumer engagement points. Picture an alignment wherein the brand simultaneously supports the artist’s tour, creates customized content which the artist shares across their social channels, integrates into the artist’s music video, and leverages the artist’s music for traditional advertising spots. This seamless a partnership cultivates a consistent musical identity for the brand and results in passionate fan/consumer support.
If you navigate to a Nike playlist on Spotify, do you not expect to hear anthemic, motivating tracks? How many times have you Shazam’d the music soundtracking an Apple spot? Brands like these have invested in a long-term music strategy, so we automatically link them and our love for music. Mastercard and others have iterated on the concept by creating musical logos (or ‘mogos’) which can be modified by musical genre, making the brand a part of their consumer’s everyday soundscape.
BEN Music & Brands
At BEN, our foray into music was a natural extension of what we already do best: Partnering brands with impactful entertainment content. Coupling our industry connectivity with a history of video integrations, artist partnerships, music supervision and clearances, BEN Music is uniquely equipped to source and deliver 360 brand/music solutions at scale, empowering brands to realize meaningful ROI from music’s universal appeal.
Leveraging our creative ideation and aptitude for savvy artist-brand pairings, we specialize in developing bespoke campaigns that also serve the brand, artist and audience to deliver authentic alignments that drive the most passionate engagement. We’ve deployed these strategies for a number of successful campaigns, including the following:
- For Visible, BEN generated brand awareness with a cross-platform music campaign. We executed 4 music video integrations across various genres, amplifying the integration with buzzy rock band Wallows through an album release event and Instagram content from the artist. The campaign resulted in over 17 million music video views, over 62,000 Instagram story views and an overall 110% increase in guaranteed campaign views for Visible.
- For Three Olives, BEN integrated the brand in DNCE’s video for “Kissing Strangers” and secured DNCE and Halsey to appear at Three Olives’ Coachella activation in Palm Springs. The video garnered over 50 million views on YouTube with the brand receiving over 23 million additional social impressions and a 2000% return on media spend.
- For GapKid’s latest back to school campaign, BEN negotiated a unique rights grant for Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” allowing gifted, young musicians to record their own take on the song under the original Axl[JT2] Rose vocals. BEN built-in additional rights options that permitted the brand to blast the empowering #GapToSchool artist alignment through short-form profile pieces and a social media sing-along series, driving millions of campaign views with an arresting creative.
Music Moves Consumers
It’s clear that any brand interested in deeply engaging with its target consumer should include music partnerships in its overall advertising strategy. When deployed via integrated, scaling solutions like those BEN provides its clients, the results can be far more impactful than a one-off ad spot or a single video integration. An authentic, 360 approach to music is what the market demands. With the right partner developing and deploying custom music strategies to best serve your brand, you’ll find there are more opportunities to meet that demand than ever before.
