Enhancing Your Brand Through Music Marketing - GUEST BLOGGER Rayne Gasper

Brand involvement in music and new media can be a tricky proposition. Nobody enjoys the pre-roll ad before his or her favorite artist video, but it’s a necessary evil to keep the ship afloat. Still, the ideal collaboration between brand and music should enhance the consumer experience rather than interrupt or cheapen it. With the developments of Web 2.0 and the music industry exploring new ways to do business, brands are looking beyond pre-roll ads to engage users through music in more dynamic ways.

Take Playboy for example. To celebrate the holidays in 2008 the magazine commissioned French producer, remixer, and DJ Don Rimini to put together a 23 track mix tape simply titled “Playboy DJ Mix.” The mix was available for download on the Playboy website (http://www.playboy.com/magazine/music-reviews/index.html) and the hipster dance scene blogs picked up the story driving traffic. Now followers of Don Rimini might view Playboy in a new light, perhaps asa digital venue for new music, creating a more positive brand association.

Nike is another brand that uses mixes and playlists to enrich the consumer experience. In the Nike Sport Music section of iTunes users will find everything from a distance run set to a 45 minute original album by The Crystal Method to an interval work out driven by Queens of the Stone Age, Weezer, and Beck featuring motivational tips and instructions by Lance Armstrong. Nike capitalizes on the motivational strength of music while providing the consumer with something they want, click and go playlists designed specifically for their workout.It’sgreat because its so natural. I’m going to purchase songs on iTunes and I’m going to use my iTunes to create a playlist for the gym, so why not let Nike, masters of the athletic universe, pick just the right tunes to keep me going.

Brands are thinking creatively in and out of the box. Some are taking advantage of advertising space as opportunities for consumer engagement and interaction. Take Epson’s current campaign on www.pandora.com. An interactive sidebar asks visitors to discover their “Epsonality” by selecting their preferred levels of funkiness, popularity, and BPM in a song. Upon completion a station tuned to their preferences is automatically generated along with the type of printer best fitting their Epsonality (I’m an NX, what up). I love this campaign because it doesn’t hinder or distract me from my original purpose for visiting Pandora, listening to music. In fact it enhances the experience by creating new stations for me and providing hours of entertainment (ok, maybe I’m easily entertained…).

At the end of the day there are countless ways for brands to reach consumers in the digital space and through music, but a focus on enhancing the consumer experience will start them on the right path. The opportunities are limited only by their creativity and vision, which makes this a very exciting time to be working with music, brands, and the new media.

Guest Blogger Rayne Gasper lives in Los Angeles and works in the music industry, focusing on brand relations with a diverse group of musicians in a variety of genres. She is a pioneer in her industry, connecting brands and bands through event and new media marketing. She works closely with Starfish Creative Events on multiple projects.