Archimedia Studios

Music and Brands: the perfect marriage?

Celebrity endorsements by film , television stars and athletes of  brands is hardly a new phenomenon, however, lately, there has been a  significant rise in the number of well-known recording artists lending their names, music and public persona to brands and  brand-name designers’ promotional campaigns. We have little doubt that this trend will continue to rise.

Look at the Stats

  • 22% of 2011 show ads featured celebrity endorsements, a 47% increase from last year, and returning to pre-recession levels
  • 23% of ads featured licensed pop music, roughly flat for the past three years
  • 35% of ads featured some kind of entertainment element (either a celeb endorsement or licensed music), up from 26% of ads in 2010
  • Star-powered brands included Ford, Chevy, Dodge, HP, CoverGirl, Olay, Target, Nintendo and Apple
  • Star-studded ads featured the likes of Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Lopez, Nelly, Eminem, and Queen Latifah

source: GreenLight Ad Guage 2011

The reasons that these personalities are used in brand communications include making the brand’s message stand out among the clutter of advertising from competitors and convincing customers of the credibility of the brand’s offerings.

Why Celebrity endorsements are important to Brands?

  • Celebrity endorsement is a great brand awareness creation tool for new luxury brands.
  • Endorsement by celebrities helps to position and re-position existing brands.
  • Celebrities contribute to sustaining a brand’s aura.
  • Celebrities are used to revive and revitalize staid brands.
  • Celebrities generate extensive PR leverage and opportunities for brands.
  • Celebrities are used to create global brand awareness.
  • Celebrities promote a brand’s products and appeal.

What’s driving this trend?

Not too long ago, musicians made the bulk of their revenue from record sales and tours, with little worry about generating additional streams of income. At the time, partnering with a brand might have labeled the artist or band a “sell out.” With the advent of music downloads and  peer-to-peer sharing networks, the game is changing  for many musicians, forcing them to look at alternative business models. Meanwhile, most artists have awakened to the reality that every product they use and location they frequent becomes “endorsed” by them by default in the eyes of their fans.

Today, such partnerships manifest in musicians even crafting an original soundtrack to support a brand launch or multimedia campaign. For example, Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” provided the soundtrack for Michael Kors’ Very Hollywood fragrance launch before she became an international sensation.

For musicians, partnerships with luxury brands can help raise an artists’ profile and expose them to an entirely new audience demographic than they may have otherwise been able to reach (the same is true for the brand, as well). It also provides much-needed support for cultural and creative development with brand partners in essence becoming the benefactors to finance the creative process.

As with any good marriage, the musician-brand relationship requires an appropriate pairing. This involves a mutual respect for and understanding of the opportunities each brings to the table. After all, it is a business.

These partnerships can aso be a risky proposition given the public’s fascination with celebrity scandal. Remember Tiger and Kobe?  The right pairing, however,  can be an immensely effective blending of two very different worlds to achieve common goals and  a lasting, lucrative relationship.

Here are some ads of music celebrities that have partnered with some very well known brands.  Archimedia is especially excited about the new relationship between London Fog and recording star  Nicole Sherzinger!

How many mistakes have you noticed in movies?

Read through the end-credits of any blockbuster movie and you’ll see hundreds… sometimes even thousands of names roll by. Everyone from the top tier directors, producers and actors to the truck drivers and craft services get their name on the big screen.

But do you know the  film crew member(s) among these names  who is  responsible for guaranteeing that everything in a scene was in the exact location and laid out in the same manner take after take, even if the shooting schedule covered days or weeks at a time?

The responsible film crew member is  the Script Supervisor, also  known as the continuity person. 

The Script Supervisor keeps track of what parts of the script have been filmed and makes notes of any deviations between what was actually filmed and what appeared in the script. They make notes on every shot, and keep track of props, blocking, and other details to ensure continuity from shot to shot and scene to scene. The Script Supervisor’s notes are given to the Editor to expedite the editing process. The Script Supervisor works very closely with the Director on set.

Keeping continuity straight can be difficult. Consider that the crew might shoot an outdoor winter scene for a Christmas movie in the spring, then they discover that they need to go back for some pickup shots in the fall, long after the movie has wrapped. Not only does the fake snow need to look real, it needs to fall with the same consistency as the fake snow in the scenes shot months earlier, and all the props around the scene need to lie in the same way. It’s nearly impossible and directors and editors will often use cutaway tricks to mask the break in continuity.

Even with all the diligent efforts of the Script Supervisor,  all the  hundreds of photographs of a scene and thousands of notes on detail, light placement, actor marks, etc.,  accidents still happen.

Are you curious as to what these mistakes are ? 

But of course you are.

Have you personally noticed mistakes in movies?

Probably.

Well, there is a website devoted to these “accidents”   www.moviemistakes.com where you can see the continuity mistakes from all of your favorite movies.

 

Where do most teenagers listen to music?

There appears to be a significant divide between teenagers and adults as to their choices of music services.

According to a recent survey conducted by Nielsen Co, nearly two-thirds of U.S. teenagers under the age of 18 say they  use Youtube, more than any other medium, to listen to music.

 

In addition to treating YouTube as a de facto free music service, young people said they are less inclined than those 18 years old and up to listen to CDs or the radio.

Neither age group reported making much use of Spotify AB, Rhapsody International Inc. or other on-demand streaming music services, though Pandora Media Inc.’s custom online radio service was among the five most-popular methods for both groups.

Among adults, the most popular ways to listen to music were radio (67%), CDs (61%), YouTube (44%), Pandora’s custom-radio service (32%) and Apple Inc.’s iTunes (29%).

Among 13-to-17 year olds, YouTube was the most popular way to listen to music, with 64% using it. Radio was next, with 56%, followed by iTunes (53%), CDs (50%) and Pandora (35%).

This all translates to the many challenges facing record companies as they continue to transition into the digital world.

 

There is very little revenue to be realized for the record companies from a Youtube stream.

Record companies and music publishers typically realize some revenue from advertising that appears with their videos on YouTube. But it is only fractions of a cent per play.

The YouTube app on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch runs no advertising, meaning it generates no revenue for record companies. Although, Apple recently said it would do away with the app.

The massive popularity of YouTube, show that record companies will need to stay nimble in the ever changing world of music monetization.

The 12 Most Persuasive Words in Advertising

The psychology department at Yale University studied consumers’ reactions to certain words in advertisements. The results were compiled to create the 12 most persuasive words.

So what was the top word?    You.  ( You’re more likely to get your target audience involved if you address them directly.)

The others:

Money, save, new, results, health, easy, safety, love, discovery, proven and guarantee.

“You” was listed as the most persuasive word in every marketing study performed by the researchers.

 

Ok, as an example, lets attempt to create an ad that incorporates as many of these persuasive words as possible.

(fictitious ad)

You can discover an easy and proven way to save money and help guarantee your future health and happiness. Buy a home in the new Meadows Community . You will love the results!

 

 

 

The top 7 mistakes made in a Sales Pitch

The “Pitch” is  an argument or other persuasion used in selling,  When an agency “pitches” their services or solutions to a potential client/buyer there is a minimal amount of time to compete for the clients attention, presenting only the concise information the client/buyer needs to discern differences and make a sound decision or judgement.

The “Pitch” is truly the “art” of communication. Sadly. regardless of  the slick visual presentation and excellent  handouts, a “pitch” communicated badly will cost you your audience.

  • Words Matter!
  • Information is often confused  with communication.

The most common mistake made in the “pitch”  is, rather than choose their words carefully, the presenter will inundate their listener with everything they know— often speaking more from their point of view rather than from their client’s vantage point and doing it far too casually. They put their buyers to sleep.

How often have you encountered, for instance, one of these “Sorry Seven”? (How often have you been one of them?)

1. Stuart Allstylenosubstance: Let me wow you with my fancy visuals as I tell you how you’re gonna love this!

2. Virginia Valleyspeak: “Like, this product is really good, because, like, it saves you all kinds of time and things, and like, you know, it’s competitively priced, uh, and also, you know, it’s, uh,…”

3. Bonnie Bubblegum: “Our programs are so great! And wait until you meet our team. They are just awesome. And our design is soooo cool. And our process is really neat.”

4. Wally Wallpaper: “We offer quality service, proven experience, and innovative thinking.” (No one ever says, “Our service is about average. Our experience is mixed. And, sometimes we come up with a good idea, but not too often.” Now, that would get a client’s attention!)

5. Donna Data-Death: “On this page is a pie chart showing our distribution of accounts by category. Thirty percent are in pharmaceuticals. Twenty-four percent are in travel. Sixteen percent are in real estate. Fifteen percent are in financial and fifteen are miscellaneous. On the next page are these categories by revenue. Thirty-five percent pharmaceuticals, twenty-five percent financial, twenty-five percent travel, twelve percent real estate and three percent miscellaneous. And on the next page is another page about this breakdown.”

6. Willie Windbag: “We will provide you with an integrated, digital, functionally parallel, global knowledge databank that synergistically empowers your network while incrementally enhancing your client relationship initiatives without negatively impacting your geographically dispersed human capital.”

7. Darren Doublespeak: “We’ve entered a period of retrenchment that will necessitate continued downsizing and greater efficiency in our human resource capacity.” (Translation: Business is bad, people are getting fired, and everyone still left with a job will be working overtime to keep it.)

Delivering Customer Experience Excellence

Let's give em' something to talk about!

Contact Us