Marketing

VIDEO: Coca Cola + Mark Ronson = Olympic Gold? 2

by Fredara Mareva • Marketing, Uncategorized • Tags: , , , ,

There is a lot of discussion about the growing number of  alliances between brands and artists. Here’s an interesting MIDEM talk with Mark Ronson and Wendy Clark of Coca-Cola Music. In the video Mark and Wendy discuss their creative partnership for Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Coca-Cola’s goal was to create an ad campaign that combined sports and music. CC approached Mark with a cool proposition: travel around the world recording the sounds that Olympic athletes make while performing their sport and make a banging track out of it.

I gotta admit. I never thought a runner’s heartbeat, an archer’s bow, and hurdler’s stride could sound that fresh. Dope music aside, this talk is shareworthy because it gets to the heart of what brands like Coca-Cola are thinking about in these kinds of partnerships. Wendy explains in this video that as a brand with over 37 million Facebook fans, Coca-Cola is now not just the provider of syrupy sweet caramel-colored beverages, but they are content providers as well. It’s CC’s responsibility to partner with “master storytellers” to create entertainment that Coke’s fans value.

For Mark’s part, he sees this partnership as as the biggest global exposure he’ll probably ever get. His track is at the center of Coca-Cola’s Olympic campaign campaign, which they plan to activate in over 100 countries.The campaign will include a release of the single, a long-form documentary ont he making of the song, and countless commercials.

The global scale of this partnership is hard to match, but there are two important takeaways: (1) brands now see themselves not only as product providers, but as content providers and (2) if the music is great most people don’t care that it is associated with a brand.

Here’s the MIDEM talk:

Here’s a short video about the track Mark Ronson created:

 

Indie Rap Income Chart 4

by Langston • Marketing • Tags: , , ,

In an article for Huffington Post UK, MC Lars discussed the impact of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) on indie artists. The most interesting part of his article, however, is the commentary on indie rap revenue streams. According to his chart, posted below, only a small percentage of his earnings come from music sales. He also notes the importance of being creative with music distribution methods:

“What this means then is that in order for artists like me to survive, I must be creative with how I let people hear my music. A primary means of distribution in 2011 was my USB robot, a two-gigabyte hard drive keychain that housed all of my albums digitally. I also sell t-shirts with cartoon characters I draw myself and I try to print on shirts manufactured domestically when I can. 47% of my income comes from merchandise, 40% from ticket sales, and 13% comes from iTunes, Spotify or other paid music services through the internet. I used a crowdsourced funding site called Kickstarter to produce my last album, with added bonuses of drawings and personalized songs to the highest contributors.”

Read the full story here.

*Note* Check back soon for an article on creative distribution.

When Corporate and Indie Collide 1

by Langston • Marketing • Tags: , , , ,

Andrew Hampp ( @ahampp ) of Billboard Magazine recently authored an article about corporate America’s increasing interest in underground/indie music. Check it out here.

I have recently attended a couple of corporate-sponsored Independent hip hop shows. The first was the Swisha House Records Christmas Party sponsored by Swisher Sweets. This $10 concert featured a number of lesser-known Swisha House artists along with some of Houston’s burgeoning hip hop talent. Concert goers were given a number of free products including cigarillos, lighters, and condoms in exchange for their email addresses.

The second, the Red Bull Skooled Tour, followed a slightly different model. This tour was organized by Austin-based DJ/writer Matt Sonzala and sponsored by, obviously, Red Bull. The tour features a collective of up and coming Texas artists and each stop of the tour is headlined by a particular rap legend (in Houston it was Mannie Fresh). The idea is that these up and coming artists will learn from the veterans by travelling and performing with them. Although no products were given away, the show itself was free.  It was a smart move on Red Bull’s part as their investment in indie music helps cement their relevance among that particular consumer base.

While I don’t know the financial details of these corporate shows, I can’t help but think that participating artists benefited greatly . The exposure alone is worth any possible drawbacks.

Check out the article and let us know what you think.

-Langston