Branding with Music

One of the aspects of branding that doesn't get a lot of attention but seems like a no brainer is music. I say this and a couple of things come to mind: movie trailers, commercials and events. While there are obviously other areas that use music in their branding these are the three that I'd like to focus on.

I'll start with events. I went to a Supercross event and had to admire the branding that went on from top to bottom. Monster Energy drink let you know they were the sponsor of the event and they did it in more ways than one. The first thing I noticed when I was walking to the stadium was the incredibly loud metal music that could be heard from two blocks away. It was easy to see or rather hear who they were targeting. When I got closer to the stadium there were a plethora of baggy shorts, ear ring, splash t-shirt wearing no bend in the bills of the hats, tattooed lip ring punk 18-28 year olds with their no clothes wearing girlfriends with the fake bake tans. If you were to do a market research project (which I'm sure Monster did) you would find that that is exactly who drinks your drinks, and who attends Supercross... and listens to the speed/progressive metal music. So naturally they married the three and boom... you have a branding experience from the three monkeys... hear, speak, and see.

I also recently went to a ballet. I think I don't need to expound on that but suffice it to say that if the metal would have been playing in the parlor or prelude music was something other than classical the whole aura of Swan Lake would have been thrown off. There are progressive or rather heavy ballets that do use heavier music but those tend to be more dancing, more about the story and less about the art. Obviously you have to meet your audience with the feel that you desire.

Commercials. These are pretty simple when you think about them. Next time you watch a commercial, listen to the music in the background, think about how the commercial would change if the music were different. I looked up some video game trailers to compare and contrast the different feels that you get with the differing music. Look at the Monster Hunter game trailer. Now look at Shadow of Colossus. What a stark contrast and not just the imagery, the fun almost Mediterranean music of Monster Hunter vs. the sad epic music of Shadow. Car commercials like with Cadillac vs. Lincoln. Think about the target markets for each of these commercials. Cadillac knows that the Zeplin listeners are at the age where they can and want to purchase the Cadillac, using legacy equity they are leveraging music in order to boost sales. Lincoln has a sleek, almost out of this world type of commercial. The target market is younger, possibly hipper... that is what they want for their brand and they have done a great job of it with the music.

Now movie trailers. Gladiator is an example of an action movie that stays true to its laurels with its music. Listen how the score maintains a high level of energy throughout the whole trailer. The idea is to brand this movie as a high action, fast moving movie that keeps momentum the whole way through... conquering battlefields and hearts along the way, the music used is conducive to the brand. The Book of Eli is an example of another use of music in branding. The slow, eerie sounds crescendo when action comes... then using industrial sounds in music it stays true to the scenery and the feel that the producer desires... a drab, lonely and ultimately final feeling. I compare both of these to the light hearted, feel good, family feel of Toy Story 3. The feel of all of these trailers are completely different and the underlying driver is the music in the trailers.

I used to joke around with my brother in law that I needed a sound system to constantly follow me and I would have a soundtrack for life playing all the time depending on the mood that I was in. Well, thanks to an ipod and playlists this is pretty much true. Music can really change, make, emphasize, or amplify your brand. Think of all the moods that music invokes and what music can do for any product. In the end, we are subject to our senses so why not use our hearing to better move our brands?

Branding your literature.

I actually find this subject very interesting. I take a magazine called Outside Magazine. The name alone virtually sells itself to its subscribers. This alone is the first wave of branding then next comes the cover. The images of vistas, rivers, waves and mountains mixed with the ruggedly good looking outdoors-man (not to be confused with the Cabela's version of an outdoors-man) all make for the idea that the content inside is going to be right down your alley and make you feel like you've accomplished the hike in Zion Canyon or the river rafting trip down the Salmon. I'll hand it to them, they really know how to get the reader in there.

The trick now is to match the content to the expectations. Magazines have been doing this for a long time now by putting the contents right on the cover. This too is all part of the branding for the magazine. Where it gets complicated is in the stories. While trying to toe the line of a liberal magazine without saying it, there is a very eclectic taste of stories from one month to the next in Outside. Ads from the Sierra Club mixed with 4wd expeditions seem to be contrasting in taste and goals. So how does the magazine avoid the appearance of being too far one way vs. the other? They let the target market determine it. The magazine has a very good idea of who is reading the magazine and then divulges that information to the would be advertisers. If the advertiser feels that they want to capture that target market that adheres to what the magazine writes about then they purchase space. This is typical and is likely not to change anytime soon. Why is this relevent? Because of the branding, the magazine has a desired image/feel that it wants to maintain and the advertising can sway that one way or another. The articles are the other determining factor in that image and ultimately there is a balancing act between articles and images to keep that delicate image that the magazine has established or wants to establish in tact.

One interesting story that I came across was from the website and more specifically their blog site. It talked about barefoot running and how it was the to one man the ultimate in running. The author (Christopher McDougall) of a book called "Born to Run" runs with some natives on the rim of Mexico's Copper Canyons. He tells of how these people run barefoot and are amazing distance runners and do it through inhospitable terrain and smile and laugh the whole way through.

This was an interesting point of view and probably could only be found in the blog section. The way the piece was written talked about being free to run whenever and wherever. 3-4 hr runs were normal for this group of followers... it kind of makes one think, where did they get all of their time? The point to this is that the article induced thoughts of freedom, exploration, liberation, breaking away from Corporate America etc... This was all part of the branding and the thoughts and feelings the magazine (or company in whole) was trying to induce. It's like heroine (although I've never touched the stuff, I can only imagine), when it gets in your veins that there is freedom out there and that adventure is available just outside the office doors, you want more so you read more... it takes a certain kind of person to want that and that's who the magazine wants.

At the end of the day with the cover, images, advertisements, articles a magazine can brand itself very effectively. Outside Magazine is just on of those that does a great job of it. Men's Journal, Men's Health, Redbook, Better Homes and Gardens all do it and do it well. Outside is just a unique example of branding itself with a slightly different angle compared to its competitors. I must say, I drink the juice, I believe that adventure is just outside my door and that running 3-4 hrs a day is normal (I would never do it though... where is the time?). My hats off to the editor and brand manager of the magazine, well done.