The 52nd Grammy Awards netted an average of 25.8M viewers, representing a rise of 32% over the same event in 2009, making it the most watched Grammy’s since 2004. A large part of this can be attributed to the calibre of artists performing and a renewed social media push for the annual awards show pre event. However, some of the best music wasn’t actually taking place on stage at all.
Artists such as the Black Eyed Peas, Pearl Jam, Nick Jonas, Shiny Toy Guns and Eric Clapton all made appearances across ads from Mastercard, Lincoln, T-Mobile and Target during the broadcast. In fact a GreenLight Ad Gauge of the event highlights how 15% of the Grammy ad breaks saw brands utilising celebrity endorsements, up a massive 150% on the previous year. Around 22% of these advertisements made use of licensed music (around the same as in 2009), with only 3% of brands using jingles (McDonald’s and Outback Steakhouse, to name two). “Last year, we saw brands cut costs by focusing mostly on the licensing of pop music to maintain some celebrity presence in their ads,” said David Reeder, Vice President, GreenLight. “This year, we’re seeing brands again use music to connect with consumers, but they’re also signing music acts and other stars to maximize the reach and impact of their message”.
Interestingly it was commercials from the auto industry that made the biggest use of endorsements, with 26% making use of celebrities and/or music. One such brand, which looked to make a sizeable impact with music during the Grammys, was Ford. The auto brand is a regular partner with music in the US, having sponsored American Idol for a number of years (with campaigns such as the Ford Music Video Sweepstakes). Ford’s Lincoln car brand used its advertising slots during the Awards to showcase a series of commercials – for the Lincoln MKZ, MKT and MKS – featuring US band Shiny Toy Guns performing their version of the 1983 Peter Schilling track ‘Major Tom (Coming Home)’. Visitors to a dedicated website could also see exclusive live concert footage of both Shiny Toy Guns and Australian singer Sia (who also sound-tracks one of the new Lincoln ads). In addition to the current ad campaign, those frequenting the site are also being encouraged to participate in a crowd-sourced campaign which will see them voting for one of four emerging bands to perform a song to accompany the next Lincoln ad. There is also a sweepstakes to win one of the vehicles and a chance to see Shiny Toy Guns in concert.
So is it working? Is the car brand’s use of music having the desired effect? The Ad Gauge report suggested the brand arrived “a day late and a dollar short to the American Idol phenomenon” – an odd choice of word’s given Ford’s commitment to the long-running talent contest. The truth here is that Ford’s ongoing bid to utilise younger consumer touch-points is apparently impacting sales. From 2005 to 2009 Lincoln’s share of the luxury segment rose by a sizeable 30%. During this time their ads have feature music by Daft Punk and Cat Power (who cover Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ in 2008). If that isn’t enough Ford itself has also just announced a 25% jump in sales in January 2010 over 2009.
