TAKING THE RISKOUT OF MUSIC
Brands and bands have been bedfellows forgenerations, sometimes uncomfortably. We speak toSarah Tinsley from our Heartbeats network to ﬁnd out
how we can de-risk working with music by applying amore rigorous insight and planning process.

Sarah Tinsley, Heartbeats
International Network

For years brands have been using music in their marketing communications in a myriad of different
ways with varying levels of success, but the current economic climate is forcing both brands and talent
to reconsider the way they forge relationships. “It’s about effectiveness now” says Sarah Tinsley,“brands now need bang for their buck. They want impactful integrated multi-media campaigns
that connect and resonate with their target audience. They also want reasonable campaign costs &clearly demonstrable ROI. Music has not typically been able to deliver in these conditions & this has
left may brand owners disillusioned or frustrated.”

THE CHALLENGES IN WORKING WITH MUSICMusic can be a mineﬁeld. On the surface music rights can seem a difﬁcult landscape to navigate
with various stakeholders for each individual artist often seemingly pulling in different directions.
Creative talent can prove unreliable to build multi-million campaigns around and more often thannot, brands end up simply not getting what they want. “Brands frequently feel short-changed bytheir experience of working with music, either because they can’t secure the artist or the necessary
rights that they require to deliver more integrated campaigns’. This often results in frustration &wasted time and resources“Music stakeholders can often push their priorities onto the brand without understanding what thebrand objectives are, meaning that brands often end up working with the wrong talent simply because
they have a record or a tour to promote” says Tinsley “and typically not all the key stakeholders areindentiﬁed and consulted with at the outset which proves a costly oversight as they have far greater
negotiating power once a campaign has been launched. It is critical that brands understand theirobjectives and campaign requirements prior to entering into negotiation with music stakeholders toensure that all their needs are met and budgets are well managed”

THE NEED FOR PROFESSIONALISM
It’s not just the music industry that lacks objectivity when selecting suitable campaign partners.
“Science often goes out of the window when it comes to talent selection; artists are chosen simply
because stakeholders within the brand or their agency like them with little or no understanding ofwhether the artist connects with the desired target” says Tinsley, “not naming names, but there’s beensome high proﬁle campaigns lately that have got this spectacularly wrong”.
Brands can often be seduced by the fame of an artist “Celebrity can be an incredibly powerful device,
but so can working with emerging artists. Newer talent can often be better rights enabled and more
willing to assign labour. Before deciding which route to adopt a brand should ﬁrst understand theirobjectives and their consumer’s relationship with music and then decide on the what type of talent
they work with. If you get it wrong it can be costly ﬁnancially, but also to detrimental to your brandas consumers and fans will see it as a brash commercial enterprise. Their needs to be a strongpersonality ﬁt between the artist and the brand for the partnership to be viewed as acceptable in
the eyes of the consumer”.

BACARDI & GROOVE ARMADA

Brands are becoming increasingly aware of the positive effect music can have on their brand image.
This was demonstrated most effectively by the recent partnership between Groove Armada andBacardi, of which Tinsley was a key protagonist during her tenure as Global Marketing Manager
at the brand. “Research demonstrated that we achieved 33 percent awareness and 77 percent
positivity scores amongst our target audience.
What was even more remarkable was that we were able to generate these results without any
paid for media investment. The perfect ﬁt between both partners enabled us to create stories in themedia which were intrinsic to both brand’s DNA; as this innovation story was compelling for media,
we were able to broadcast the message across multiple channels thus driving awareness of thecampaign. Ultimately, we were able to achieve an equivalent media value of more than 1000% of
the initial budget & therefore delivered substantial return on our investment.”

A NEW WAY FORWARD FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
It’s not just brands that beneﬁt from brand and music partnerships, so says Tinsley. Even before thecredit crunch the record business was in crisis, so artists are looking for ways to compensate forfalling record revenues. They’re also looking for new ways to reach new and existing audiences asmarketing budgets are slashed.
“A good manager knows how to monetise an artist’s fans, and many brands have marketing clout
and collateral beyond that normally available to traditional labels”. An artist forming a partnershipwith the right brand can reap huge beneﬁts, not only in terms of raising awareness (try searching
Groove Armada in Google Analytics), but also in achieving their broader strategic and creativeobjectives. “The value that a brand can provide an artist with should not be underestimated oroverlooked” suggests Tinsley “brands should clearly articulate the beneﬁt of the campaign to theartist stakeholders in order to achieve more favourable terms and fees”.

TAKING THE RISK OUT OF MUSIC
So how do you harness all the opportunities music affords
without encountering the pitfalls? No matter in what capacity
you intend to utilize music you need to ﬁrst consider thestrategic role of music in brand communications and to clearly
establish objectives at the outset. Secondly, brand owners &agencies should clearly deﬁne the sonic personality of thebrand and ensure any music ﬁts perfectly to this DNA &appeals to the target audience.

HOW CAN YOU DE-RISK
WORKING WITH MUSIC?
; Clearly establish objectives atthe outset; Understand the requirementsof the campaign prior toentering artist negotiations; Know the artist audience“Taking the risk away is isn’t rocket science” says Tinsley“in order for a partnership to be successful you ﬁrst needto understand what each party’s objectives are. You canthen design a campaign and negotiate a contract with theseobjectives at its very heart at the same time, understandingin advance what metrics you’re going to apply to ensureeach objective is met and hey presto, you’re on your way
to success”.

proﬁle & ensure it matcheswith the campaign objectives; Ensure a strong personality ﬁtbetween the artist andthe brandABOUTHeartbeats International is a brand communication agency specialised in helping brands
connect with audiences through music. From their ofﬁces in Stockholm, Tokyo and New
York they are on a mission to make hearts beat everywhere.
Sarah Tinsley is the former brand experiental manager of Bacardi and overall responsible
for the Groove Armada project. Before that she was working as brand manager for Redbull. Sarah is a part of the Heartbeats International network of professional creative’sfrom around the globe.
For more cases and work from Heartbeats visit: www.heartbeats.fm
To learn more about music’s role in branding visit: www.soundslikebranding.com
For business enquires, interviews and more information please contact
lukas@heartbeats.fm or call +46 (0)8 501 189 90.

Heartbeats International AB
Head ofﬁce + 46 (0)8 501 189 90
e-mail info@heartbeats.fm
www.heartbeats.fm

Box 30210, 104 25 Stockholm, Sweden
Visiting address: Warfvinges väg 45, 4th ﬂoor
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