With news that a recent poster campaign for the movie The Last Exorcism has been banned by the ASA after a series of complaints, marketers may have to tread a little more carefully when it comes to promoting horror films. However, the use of horror is now not just the remit of the next video nasty any more, as innumerable brands step up to stake a claim on the safer side of scare factor marketing. Read more »
Some would argue that music-based talent contests are nothing more than a production line for pop stars. We’ll they’d be wrong – they also make cars too.
American Idol is one of the prime resources for embedded brands in the US TV market, ranking amongst the most coveted and active product placement media channels available. At a time when marketers are culling ad spend the role of embedded media is upping its presence. One such brand pushing its AI integrations hard is Ford, which has announced that the top 12 contestants will now feature in a segment which will see them designing and customising 2011 Ford Fiestas. Yes, you heard right, Casey James (vehicle design pictured above) and other finalists will be part of the Ford production line. “This year, the Idols will get a closer experience with our vehicles as they interact with our designers and customize a Fiesta design that reflects their own personality,” said Connie Fontaine, manager, Ford Brand Content and Alliances.
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.
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