Over the last eleven years, I have worked with brands, creative agencies, production companies, and other music agencies to deliver the best music for brands’ advertising and marketing projects. While each entity has a unique and important role in the development of a brand and how that brand is communicated, there is something very important that I have come to know: Music is not optimized to bring the most value to a brand if the Brand Company itself does not have an intentional point of view on how music fits with the brand.
Have you been in the position of finding music for your company and thought, “Gosh, I can’t believe how expensive this music is. We don’t really have the budget to spend on this, but it’s the piece we’ve found that works best and we’re out of time, so I guess we’ll pay it.” If so, I’m excited you’re reading, as I want to show you a better way to have music work as a powerful influence for your brand.
In this article, I share what it’s taken me years to learn as a music for brands professional. In particular, I want to share with you the framework and guide I use for every project I work on to assure my clients get the most out of their music choices. You’ll leave with some practical “do’s” and “don’ts” to put in practice, to help you cultivate the impact you’re looking for as you build your brand through the use of music.
The Brand Company is the Owner of the Brand’s Purpose and Personality
While it takes a village to raise a brand – including creative agencies, production companies, directors, music agencies, et al. – the Brand Company (what we will call in this article the actual company/business entity of the brand, often referred to as “The Client”) is ultimately who OWNS 1) who the brand is and 2) how it’s communicated to the consumer.
I call these two pieces the brand’s Purpose and Personality.
The marketing team at the Brand Company exists to consistently be looking at the wants and needs of their consumers and then creates opportunities to connect with them in a way that has that person say, “This brand is for me.”
Of course, if the brand has an extended agency team, that team is paramount to bringing a brand to life. These large-scale campaigns are not possible without their tireless hard work, imagination, and passion. But their responsibility is not necessarily to assure there is consistency from one creative execution or “campaign” to another, that it speaks to the personality of the target consumer, and that it fits with the overall strategy of the brand. While often they take that on for the success of their clients, it’s ultimately the responsibility of the Brand Company.
This point – that the brand’s Purpose and Personality is owned by the Brand Company – is the primary reason the Brand Company should, at minimum, be clear on how music fits into the overall brand picture.
When it comes to choosing music for a project, agencies (as a generalization) are hired to respond to a brief. And that brief may or may not include a point of view on music and it may or may not take into account the project’s objectives as it relates to music. Therefore, if your Brand Company has not established a POV on music and that’s not present in the brief for your agency teams, you run the risk of choosing “something that works” or “a really cool song”. This may work out fine but more likely you are missing a huge opportunity to move your brand forward.
Brand Purpose in Action: When we know how music fits with the brand, strategically, music helps grow the brand.
One of my favorite clients is Maker’s Mark Bourbon. The second conversation I had with the brand was with their Integrated Communications Director, Janna Reddig. In this conversation, she told me all about where the brand had been, what insights they had captured through a lot of research and years of listening, and where the brand was going. None of that conversation had to do specifically with music.
The next day I got a project brief, to deliver music for the brand’s next 1.5 years manifesto films. Actually, these commercials had been on-air for several months already with another piece of music and my task was to use music to connect with a younger, more multi-cultural bourbon drinking community. The brand rightfully saw voiceover and music as easy, effective ways to bring up the energy and be a little “younger and cooler”.
Within a week or so, my team and I had delivered several songs that aligned with the brand’s objective of connecting with a different audience and bringing up the energy levels, and we licensed one track for many films, under budget. The next quarter, with VO and music on the same commercials, the brand enjoyed a 10% increase in sales effectiveness in the US market.
Had I, as their music partner, not gotten the crucial information about who the consumer is, what’s important to them, and where the brand is headed, I would not have delivered music options that were outside of what the team had previously considered and most likely would have missed the point of bridging the gap between their tried-and-true audience and a new one. If audio didn’t bring us closer to the newer generation of bourbon drinkers, the brand could have found themselves in a very different situation. Instead of connecting with their now-expanding audience, boosting sales internationally and effectively competing in their industry, they may be busy solving the problem of shrinking market shares.
We made a simple, intentional change in the execution – switching out the former music for a different track – which supported the brand’s Purpose in a major way.
Brand Personality in Action: When Music is Used to Consistently Deliver the Personality of the Brand, Consumers Have a Higher Chance of Saying “This Brand is For Me”
Over two years ago, an incredibly talented composer and I had the pleasure to compose an original piece of music that would air in two TV commercials for Ariel laundry detergent, a Procter & Gamble product and arguably the primary detergent brand for Latin America.
Despite it being “just a laundry detergent,” the piece of music was beautiful and it really captured the essence of the message. So much so that that brand re-licensed the piece from us again after the first 6 months term… and then again… and then for another series of commercials… and eventually now the first 7 notes of that song has become the “audio logo” for the brand in LATAM. Homemakers across Latin America recognize those first few notes as soon as they come on-screen.
While Ariel’s 7 notes may not have been a well-thought-out part of the brand’s strategy to build brand recognition from the start, we have seen through the success of those ads (and the licensed music) that the consistent use of that audio has consumers recognize Ariel within split seconds. This seemingly small piece has proven to make a big difference for busy parents who can hear those chimes on the TV from anywhere in their home. And I’ll tell you as someone who lives in Mexico, Ariel IS the preferred brand by homemakers, without question.
This is a potent example of how your subconscious mind makes more choices for you than you think. How a brand looks and feels – including music that cultivates feelings – is VERY powerful in calling a consumer to action.
And when music is not used in an intentional and consistent manner, consumers are confused about whether the brand is right for them.
To further develop my claim, I had the pleasure of interviewing highly accomplished and experienced Brand Strategist, Author, and University-Trained Psychology Researcher, Daryl Weber, on my podcast and he shared in-depth how our subconscious minds relate to brands. Listen to that podcast episode here.
[Free Practical Guide]
Being intentional and consistent in how you communicate a brand’s point of view (Purpose + Personality) doesn’t take much.
I use this guide for every project I work on to assure we get the most out of our music choices, and I’ve decided to make it available for you.
How to Write a Music Brief – DOWNLOAD HERE
You Can’t Communicate a Brand’s Purpose Without Personality
I mention music as part of the brand Purpose and Personality as if they are separate, but they are inextricably linked.
You can’t communicate a brand, musically, without personality. And you really don’t have a music strategy if there’s no intentionally defined and commonly adopted point of view on how it fits with the brand. So think of the Brand P+P as one entity that and how the many “spokes of the brand wheel” all relate to each other and live in our minds as one.
Let’s Review:
- When the Brand Company is clear on the brand’s POV on music and its Purpose and Personality, music becomes an asset and helps achieve the objectives of the brand.
- You must ensure the Purpose and Personality are present in the conversation with anyone working on strategy or execution for your Brand.
- It doesn’t require a lot of extra time or money to integrate music to make an impact for your brand. Use the How to Write a Music Brief tool as a preliminary guide.
By now you may have realized how important it is to have a music-specific conversation with key team members, to get clear on the musical POV, Purpose, and Personality of the brand. Once you do, everyone will be clear on the role music will play for the brand and project, and music will be a natural part of future conversations. This little bit of up-front intentionality will make briefing the music team – and future rounds of feedback – much quicker and easier. Not to mention, save you A LOT of time and money AND drive long-term equity into the brand.
Ideally you work with a dedicated music partner to really know what all possibilities are with regards to music and what’s feasible and makes sense for YOUR particular brand/goals. However, even simply having music present in the conversation and using the guidelines in the How to Write a Music Brief guide will give some focus and continuity to music in your communications. By creating a web of communication amongst the Brand Company, Creative Agency, Production Company and my team, I’ve found we can come to the Brand together with a full, thought-out picture of how music fits with all other elements of a project. By doing it this way, you’ve cultivated a super-agency team, which can take a serious load off the Brand Company, saving you tons of time and giving you the impactful growth results you’re aiming for.
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About the Author
Samantha Parvin – Owner, Parvin Music
Over the last 13 years, Samantha Parvin has built three successful music for brands companies, has created and licensed music for the most recognized brands in the world, and has redefined what’s possible by connecting some of the world’s best musical talent with brands, globally.
Her work in one of the best audio recording facilities in the US (Doppler Studios) and in Sales and Marketing at an international software company (Blackbaud Inc.) prepared her to accept a position as Global Music Consultant for The Coca-Cola Company at their headquarters in Atlanta, GA, where she helped “The Most Recognized Brand in the World” understand what’s possible with music, across the globe. Since then she has built two successful music licensing and original composition companies, has won over 30 internationally-recognized awards including two Cannes Lions, and has had the pleasure to support brands like GMC, Corona, Dos Equis, Maker’s Mark, Procter & Gamble and more.
Now as Owner of Parvin Music, a music licensing and composition agency, Samantha is focused on working very closely with a small roster of clients to elevate creativity, advocate for the rights of independent musicians, and provide opportunities for the best talent to create art with brands.
See recent work and much more at www.parvin-music.com.