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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
IMC PERSPECTIVE 9-3
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
9. Creative Strategy:
Implementation and
Evaluation
Advertisers Marry Music with Their Products
While music has always been an important part of television
commercials, more and more advertisers are
using popular songs in their ads that resonate with
consumers and help keep their products and services
top-of-mind. Songs from artists and rock groups such
as Madonna, Sting, Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, the
Rolling Stones, and the Beatles serve as the backdrop
in commercials for just about everything, including
cars, beer, fast food, computers, and insurance. Nike
pioneered the commercial use of music from major
artists in 1987 when it featured the original recording
of the classic Beatle’s song “Revolution” in ads for its
shoes. Cadillac recently struck a multimillion-dollar
deal with Led Zeppelin to use the legendary band’s
song “Rock and Roll” in its commercials. Service companies
are also using popular songs as part of their
ads as well. Tax preparation firm H&R Block recently
used the words and music to the Beatle’s tune “Tax
Man,” while AllState Insurance uses the famous
group’s “When I’m 64” to help sell life insurance.
There are a number of reasons why companies are
paying large sums of money to use popular songs in
their commercials. Music plays an important role in
setting the tone for a commercial and can be used for
entertainment, to target an audience, and/or to create
an emotional or nostalgic connection with the viewer.
When advertisers marry the right song with the right
product, they can strike a responsive chord with consumers,
which gets them to attend to the commercial
and can help differentiate the company or brand. For
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Companies, 2003
example, ads for Chevrolet trucks began using Bob
Seger’s hit song “Like a Rock” in 1991, and the agency
made it the tagline for one of the most successful and
long-lasting campaigns in automotive advertising. The
manager for Chevy trucks says, “It is not just a marketing
campaign. It captures the soul of the brand. It is
how to build a truck, it is how to run a company.”
Other companies have also used the lyrics of a song
to help deliver their advertising message. Microsoft
paid a reported $12 million to the Rolling Stones for
the use of its song “Start Me Up,” which was featured
in ads for its Windows 95 operating system. Six years
later the company used the song from another megastar
when it tapped Madonna for a multimillion deal to
use the Material Girl’s Grammy Award–winning song
“Ray of Light” to introduce its new XP software. The
creative director at McCann-Erickson, in San Francisco,
which created the ad campaign, noted that the
lyrics of the song were exactly what the agency was
looking for to use in commercials for a technology
product like the XP software. The upbeat electric song
uses phrases like “faster then the speeding light she’s
flying.” He also noted that the agency wanted music
from an artist with some weight and star power and
Madonna fit the bill because she still remains relevant
and cool without being trendy.
For many years, many popular singers and rock
groups would not allow their songs to be used in commercials.
However, artists have learned that the benefits,
exposure, and money often far outweigh an