The Sound of Music

I'm a big music fan. The fact that The Who's Peter Townsend graces my blog's banner makes that evident. However, every advertiser should be a big music fan and have the ability to really analyze the feel of a piece of music.

Why?

Because music can make or break an ad. On a little larger scale, let's look at Star Wars. When George Lucas first pitched his "space opera," he was lacking in one critical area: the music. The music that he had in the first edit of the movie did nothing to set the scene. In fact, it was reportedly very simply lame, almost cliched and lacking. Enter John Williams, now one of the world's foremost soundtrack scorers. When Lucas combined his film with Williams' score...then the studio execs got excited.

Now think about music in advertisements. We'll look at a couple examples: the good the bad. First, let's look at the good -- Gatorade and their "That's G" campaign. The G campaign essentially reinforced the athletic focus that Gatorade puts on its product. However, the ad also made efforts to associate Gatorade with not just professional or organized sports, but instead with all levels of athlete -- from a pickup soccer game on the streets to the NBA playoffs. The song, "Lock It Up" by Kenna featuring a variety of guests, is a perfect musical choice. The song itself features what sounds almost like a group war chant, and that's exactly the type of mood that Gatorade wants to continue to be a part of. Here as in Star Wars, the music set the mood for an epic presentation. That "epic' feeling perfectly captures the essence of sports at this point in time and makes Gatorade's ads all the more exemplary. "That's G" is below...



Now for the bad. The most recent ad for the Kia Sorento features "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy. Let me say this right off the bat: I love this song. I put the volume all the way up and rock out. Watch these guys, they're gonna be big. That being said, Kia's agency didn't make the right choice here. The ad's theme is essentially aimed at getting across that you don't expect to have a push-button start in a car from a brand not historically considered luxury. The song sets a tone that makes Kia look like it's saying, "what now?!" to companies like Mercedes Benz and BMW. The problem is that this tone is completely incongruous with the demographic that would purchase a luxury car. Targeting a luxury audience is about conveying that air of elegance, not metaphorically sticking your tongue out at the competition. It's a level of near-childishness that is a major turnoff in the luxury demographic. Additionally, The Heavy's rock vibe (again, I love 'em) is also incongruous with this demographic. The short version is this: the lyrics are acceptable, if not somewhat childish, but the mood it sets isn't in keeping with the target segment. The Sorento ad is below. Below that is a live version of "How You Like Me Now" From Letterman. Yeah, they're that awesome.