How To (And How Not To) Use Music In Ads
Bruce and I were talking the other day about great songs in commericals, and he sent me a link to this new Nike spot that uses the song “Ali In The Jungle” by the British band “The Hours”.
Human Chain from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.
This is a beautiful spot to begin with, but the song is what pushes it over the top to become a truly great ad. The song gives the spot a level of emotion and meaning, with the line “Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?” repeated throughout. It’s as if the song was written for this campaign…but it wasn’t. That means someone brilliantly chose this song to help bring the message of the ad to life(or they got lucky and just stumbled upon the song and had a “Eureka!” moment. Either way, it’s a great example of how music and image can combine successfully to stimulate an emotional response to the product/service being advertised. (Note: Bruce has a great white paper on the use of emotion to change behavior, available to download here.)
If the Nike “Human Chain” spot is an example of how to effectively use music in advertising, then the Radio Shack(oops, I’m sorry, “The Shack”) “Chemist” spot is an example of when music and message just don’t seem to work, and the ad ends up failing.
Seriously. Oingo Boingo’s “Weird Science”? And what’s with the cheap, Monty Python-esque animation? And what was it you were actually advertising? Oh, the fact that you sell phones…and that you…wait for it…have it down to a science! LOL! Like so many ads, by trying to be clever, they end up totally confusing me, and I most likely won’t remember what it was they were trying to sell…which is kind of the point of advertising…isn’t it? Compare it to the Nike ad, where the song and the visuals tell you right away what it’s about, and they keep you engaged right to the end. Maybe “The Shack” (speaking of terrible rebranding) should’ve tracked down Kelly LeBrock…or at least Anthony Michael Hall to do an endorsement.
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contemporary dance music (sort of)
February 10, 2012 - 9:44 am
Tags: adam levine dance music, addictive songs, amazing songwriter, architects of fate, articulation skills, attitudes, be who you are, brand, character, choices we make or do not make, communication, contemporary dance, creation means destroying something, creative innovators, dance electronica, dance pop, Dev, embellishment, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, fear, fear of choices, Flo Rida Feel Good, gain some new identity aspects, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good people, identifying who you are, ignore at your own peril, influence of internet, influencing thinking, intentions, just this once, katy perry dance music, lacking hope, leadership, learning, lessons, lies, life, life lessons, managing perceptions, music, next generation of dance music, personal creative destruction, Pitbull, quotations, quotes, rap hip hop dance, relationships, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, role of internet, see your own reality, self truth, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, Stuff I Like, Taio Cruz, there is no formula for good choices, trust, truth, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, words, young influencing everyone, young people are smarter than you think, youth can surprise us
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Well. I have always loved good dance music. Club, house, electronica … not sure what you call it but something with a good hook (it could just be smooth refrain or a looped backbeat) with a slightly below frenetic pace but fast enough beat that it gets the heart pumping and you drive a little [...]
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February 9, 2012 - 7:22 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, discovery, dreaming is not just for kids, education to enlighten, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, exploration not ROI, facebook, failure of imagination, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, freedom of choice, generation of measurement, generational ideation, generations, global collaboration, global respect, Hubble, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagination, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, insights, insights are about truth, insights don't exploit, it has become uncool to do simple things in business, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, making the simple complicated, marketing, maslow and marketing, maslow needs, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, meeting the challenges of concentration, more honest online, most people cannot recognize simple solutions, most things in life are not black or white, mtv europe awards, NASA, NASA budget shrinking, net enabled education, no one believes in simplicity anymore, online friends, only few find the way, organizations, predictions, project global generation, pursuing the way, quality versus quantity online, quotes, rare to make complicated simple, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, ROI versus imagination, self actualization, short term concentration capabilities, simplicity has gone the way of the dodo, simplicity takes remarkable effort, six impossible things before breakfast, social media, strategy, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, Stuff I Like, success of ROI, telling the truth, that i will be tomorrow, there are a lot of insights, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, to slay a dragon you need to believe in dragons, trendwatching, truth, truth in marketing, truth should be simple, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, use your imagination, web based global education
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
So. Every once in awhile in the ad/marketing business we talk about “what’s the insight that will help us create the big idea?” Ok. Not every once in awhile. Actually ad nausea. So often your head hurts. In fact it may be the reason why people in the industry drink as often as they do. [...]
friends, feedback, influencing & a new economy
February 7, 2012 - 8:37 am
Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, careful tweeting, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, character, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, educating using the net, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, facebook, freedom of choice, generation after millennials, generational ideation, generations, global collaboration, Global generation, global generation sociological platform, global respect, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life lessons, marketing, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, media, meeting the challenges of concentration, mobile technology impacting education, more honest online, mtv europe awards, net enabled education, new economic model, nietzsche, online friends, online has quality communication, peace on facebook, pop up schools, predictions, project global generation, quality versus quantity online, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, short term concentration capabilities, social media, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the economist e-communication and society, the f-factor, this i am today, trendwatching, truth, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, using cell technology for education, web based global education
Posted in Business Thoughts, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. My thoughts on this topic were inspired by a trendwatching’s briefing called “The F-Factor.” Their briefing (another excellent one by the way) discusses focuses how the impact of influencers’ on purchasing has increased because of the web (and the dynamics associated with the web). By the way. Trendwatching has another excellent briefing called Crowd [...]
wonder of birds
February 3, 2012 - 8:43 am
Tags: addictive songs, bright as yellow, fragile music, fragile voice, great listening music, husband and wife musicians, karen peris, life lessons, music, songs that are nice to listen to, Stuff I Like, the innocence mission, wistful alt pop music, wistful storyteller, wonder of birds, write songs like conversations
Posted in Music, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. I just heard another song and it made me think about “couples bands” … like Over the Rhine or Weepies (a post to follow on their new cd) … and going back maybe K’s Choice (brother & sister) … but the song I heard made me want to spend a minute talking about the [...]
confessions of an ad man
January 29, 2012 - 7:25 am
Tags: a business consultant, account management in ad agencies, action and consequences, advertising, affecting organization thru actions, agency, alignment, architects of fate, be still in midst of activity, brand, brand ambassadors, builders versus renovators, building a culture, business, Business Thoughts, character, chemistry, client, client services, communication, company of adventurers, corporate values, creating positive touchpoints, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, dynamic beyond our own purposes, employees, employees have ability to create impressions, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, fairness, fun, leaders and character, leaders are still and active, leaders have strength of character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life lessons, managing people to be successful in life and business, managing perceptions, managing transitional moments, marketing, one foot in history one foot in future, organizations, partner, partnership, quotations, quotes, relationships, respect, responsibility, restless consistency, seek out events without fear, smallest actions contribute, strategy, Stuff I Like, transformational people, truth, unique person in an ad agency, vibrantly alive in repose, what we are seeking explanations, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | 1 comment
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rat girl thoughts
January 27, 2012 - 8:03 am
Tags: addictive songs, amazing songwriter, architects of fate, articulation skills, attitudes, be who you are, books about musicians, boundlessness of friendship, brand, branding, business, Business Thoughts, character, choices we make or do not make, cognitive thinking, communication, creation means destroying something, creative innovators, destroying the personal baggage you carry, embellishment, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, fear, fear of choices, gain some new identity aspects, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good books, good people, hope, identifying who you are, ignore at your own peril, inaction, influence of internet, influencing thinking, intentions, just this once, kristen hersh, lacking hope, leadership, learning, lessons, lies, life, life lessons, managing perceptions, motivated by a desire to achieve, music, organizations, personal creative destruction, quotations, quotes, rat girl, real ramona, relationships, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, role of internet, see your own reality, self truth, serious life decluttering, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, smallest actions contribute, strategy, Stuff I Like, the next generation of thinkers, there is no formula for good choices, throwing muses, tonya donnelly, trust, truth, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, tweens, words, young influencing everyone, young people are smarter than you think, youth can surprise us
Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
So. I wrote about Rat Girl (Kristen Hersh) awhile back … and have been meaning to come back to the book and some quotable/comment-able thoughts from Kristen and her book. Let me say this upfront. Rarely have I found so many quotable thoughts from one book. Anyway. There is no particular order for these thoughts [...]
hard choices
January 25, 2012 - 8:55 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, astonish people, being soft in business, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, character, communication, decision making, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, enlightened conflict, generations changing behavior, hard choices, hard decisions, knowing what is right is not enough, kodak, leadership, learning, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, life, life lessons, making changes personally, making the hard choice, marketing, moral fiber, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, quotations, quotes, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, right is right, soft choices, strength of character to make change, that i will be tomorrow, this i am today, truth, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
Ok. Let’s talk a minute about Kodak. And the fact that their demise had nothing to do with lack of foresight or inability to innovate (because they actually invented the digital camera). Kodak is about leadership, or the lack thereof, and people and decisions (or the lack thereof). When an iconic company and brand like [...]
jeep & robert frost
January 24, 2012 - 7:59 am
Tags: advertising, agency, business, Business Thoughts, campaign, good Jeep tv ad, good tv advertising, hard to say something different, jeep wrangler arctic and robert frost, marketing, messaging, poetry and tv ads, say it differently, say it differently to be distinct, smart tv ad, stopping by woods on a snowy evening jeep ad, Stuff I Like, using the real author as voice over, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | 1 comment
Ok. It is very difficult in the car advertising business to make your advertising stand out. Car manufacturers spend zillions of dollars (ok … only billions of dollars) and it is difficult to find something truly new and relevant and interesting to say. So sometimes you just have to find a different way of saying [...]
facts and creation
January 23, 2012 - 8:34 am
Tags: advertising, agency, alignment, being interesting and relevant, branding, business, Business Thoughts, campaign, campaign strategy, communication, content matching value proposition, conversation in marketing, creativity, creativity overcomes clutter, creativity process, credibility, decision making, dialogue, differentiation, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, energy, enlightened conflict, fear, fearlessness, hurricane london social marketing agency, ideas, it isn’t process it is the work, leadership, lessons, management, marketing, messaging, nothing is original, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, process is a means to an end, productivity, respect, simplicity seems too chaotic, social marketing, springwise, strategy, Stuff I Like, the myth of original, the myth of the proprietary process, truth, words, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it
Posted in Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Stuff I Like | No comments
“Without the hard little bits of marble which are called ‘facts’ or ‘data’ one cannot compose a mosaic; what matters, however, are not so much the individual bits, but the successive patterns into which you arrange them, then break them up and rearrange them.” – The Act of Creation I find it tragic to watch [...]
christian music musings
January 22, 2012 - 12:18 pm
Tags: addictive songs, amazing songwriter, articulation skills, attitudes, be open minded, books about musicians, character, christian crossover, christian music, christian musicians, cognitive thinking, communication, creative innovators, dear god xtc, flyleaf, ginny owens, good books, good message in the music, ignore at your own peril, influence of internet, influencing thinking, inspiring people through music, kristen hersh, learning, lessons, life, life lessons, mainstream christian music, music, music is a powerful medium, mutemath, POD, quotes, rat girl, real ramona, respect, responsibility, role of internet, skillet, Stuff I Like, switchfoot, the great commission and music, the Letter Black, the next generation of thinkers, throwing muses, tonya donnelly, truth, tweens, words, young influencing everyone, young people are smarter than you think, youth can surprise us
Posted in Music, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
It’s Sunday and I thought I would write about church-going music. So let’s begin with a song my mother heard on the radio and a quote from my mother when she heard it: “did they get kicked out of the church?” – my mother The song? Flyleaf “Again”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbdCeWoEH1U&ob=av2e (little lead singer with a huge [...]
February 19, 2010 - 5:15 pm
That Nike ad is cool….I did get a little motion sick though (hehe).
February 19, 2010 - 6:56 pm
i do love the Nike music to visuals. comparable to Jet “are you gonna be my girl” and i-pod.
and while i agree Radio Shack needs to spruce up their image i thought their choice of production style and music was horrible (it won’t make anyone think of Radio Shack differently … or certainly not good). and while i don’t get the whole “science” thing if they were going to use an old song why not “she blinded me with science” but what would have kicked ass (on the science theme) would have been They Might be Giants “the sun is a mass of incandescent gas.”