The Power of Music
Music was a large part of my life, way before I began looking at it from the perspective that now drives my business, “branding.” When I was a kid in high school, I would bum food off my friends, so I could save my lunch money to buy a new album every week. When I broke my leg during a high school football game and was laid up in bed, my friends decided to take up a collection (they obviously knew I wasn’t getting lunch money while home), and ease my pain with cash. I was surprised and thankful to say the least, not to mention excited as hell that I had just been handed several months worth of lunch money, in a fraction of the time.To show my appreciation, I thanked them all personally, then bought a Technics receiver, turntable and a pair of Bose speakers. Holy shit. For the first time, I actually heard the music.Every tap on the cymbal, every finger change on the strings, every breath between lyrics.But more importantly, it stirred emotions deep within me, I didn’t know were there.The power of music stepped into my life.Fast forward to today. The power of music has stepped into the life of brands. Sure, you could say it’s been there for a while and I wouldn’t disagree. The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin, and countless others have attached their names and tunes to everything from cars to shoes over the last ten years. Big brands with big budgets buying big bands to help build a bigger share.Bigger is better, right? Wrong.The landscape has changed. It’s actually still changing, right now, as you sleep. And a lot of that change is being driven by small, agile, innovative companies with fresh young brands.Brands that are still finding their voice and the new music to back them up. The hunt is on.Creative Directors, Art Directors, Producers; we’re all out there with our radar, listening, looking, on the web, independent record stores, concerts and festivals. Throw a rock at SXSW and chances are, you’ll peg someone in the marketing biz. Every time I run across a new band with a fresh sound, two thoughts go through my mind,”Where can I get their music?” and “Do they fit with one of our brands?” A few years ago, I asked myself those same questions when I ran across The Black Keys, Rock and Roll Soldiers and picked up an EP from some fellow southerners calling themselves, Kings of Leon. It wasn’t long before I saw a spot on TV using their tunes. Good for them. Change is happening. And it’s not just the big boys who’ll be riding the airwaves.
