Songs with a brand: 5 examples of artist/brand collaborations

Recently I was trying to hunt down some info on Noel Gallagher’s upcoming debut album.  So to YouTube I went and moments later I was listening to the song, but also watching a car ad for British company Vauxhall.

What is it with musicians these days?  More and more artists and companies are collaborating to promote both their songs and their brands.

Although not a new phenomenon, through various placement and collaboration strategies, the integration between brands and musicians has certainly become much more noticeable in recent times.  But are artists “selling out” by looking for new revenue streams or is it a strategy where both parties can win?

And what about product placement so overt where song becomes practically an infomercial for the brand?  Does this cross the line for both the artist and the brand causing damage to both?

Well it can work wonders or fail miserably.

Let’s take a look at 5 examples.  How did we rate the song, the sell-out factor and the benefit to the brand?

Julian Casablancas, Santogold and Pharrell ­– My Drive Thru

The first entry on this list sees three diverse artists collaborate to promote Converse (as part of their Century campaign).  Indie-rock, style icon and all round nice guy (trust us we know) Julian Casablancas, hip hop/electronica star Santogold and super producer Pharrell (also of N.E.R.D and Neptunes fame) produce a catchy tune, which although doesn’t name drop Converse, was hugely successful.

The video is essentially a 2 and a half minute ad for Converse; however the slick production makes it a joy to watch.  Released as a free download and with over a million views on YouTube, both the artists and the brand win with this collaboration.

Song Rating: 4/5

Sell-out Rating: 2/5

Brand Benefit:5/5

Jack White – the Coke song

If any artist seemed against doing a blatant advertisement for a multinational corporation it was Jack White.  Indie, blues and lo-fi hero, Jack White has been harshly critical of many aspects commercial life.  However in 2005 he teamed up with Coca-Cola penning “What goes around comes around”, which accompanied a pretty Coca-Cola commercial.

Although Jack probably wrote it in 5 minutes, the song isn’t terrible.  An uplifting yet easy-going tune, it complements the Coca-Cola brand well and probably wouldn’t sound out of place on the “Get Behind Me Satan” LP.

Song Rating: 3/5

Sell-Out Rating: 3/5

Brand Rating: 4/5

Bruce Springsteen – Cadillac Ranch

For years rappers have been overtly flaunting and promoting their cars (it’s a well known fact that Jay-Z owns 23 Rolls Royces, a Lexus and 47 Maybacs).  However, even Bruce Springsteen, one of the pillars of classic/homeland rock loves his wheels and makes this list with his love letter to Cadillac Ranch.

Name dropping Cadillac over one of his weaker tunes, this wasn’t The Boss’s finest moment. It probably worked wonders for Cadillac though.

Song Rating: 2/5*

Sell-Out Rating: 3/5

Brand Rating: 4/5

(*This rating was based on the album version. This live version is easily a 5/5)

Dire Straits – Money for Nothing

In another contribution from the classic rock genre and in one of the first computer-animated music videos, Mark Knopfler and co. deliver a blatant advertisement for MTV.  With the “I want my MTV intro”, some nonsensical lyrics, and fluorescent headbands this it isn’t Dire Strait’s finest moment (seriously nothing even comes close to Sultans of Swing).

However, the song was majorly successful in promoting the music video industry and does have a pretty awesome Billy Gibbons inspired riff.

Song Rating: 3.5/5

Sell-out rating 4/5

Brand Rating: 5/5

Nelly – Air Force Ones

To wrap up this list we look at something truly awful.

Nelly and his crew spend the entire song rapping about how awesome these Nike shoes are.  After 4 minutes of lyrical virtuosity you know: what styles and colours they come in, how they make Nelly irresistible to the ladies, and how Nelly has literally killed people who touch his shoes.

If this isn’t enough, Footlocker is name dropped, so if you were unsure of where to pick up a pair you now know where to go.

Cringe worthy.  We recommend listening to this song on mute.

Song Rating: 0/5

Sell-out Rating: 5/5

Brand Rating: 0/5

…

Did we miss any of your favourite or despised musicians/brand collaborations?

Sound off in the comments or send us a tweet.

// Alec Schumann

Make A Milli from co-branding: A Blueprint to make your brand Stronger

Have you ever considered a co-branding strategy for your brand?  No?  Well grab your Rocawear, Nike Airs, mean bucket, an Armadale in the club, couple o’ duckets and couple chicks by your side and read about how hip-hop can help guide a co-branding strategy for your brand.

Co-branding commonly involves combining two or more well-known brands into a single product, which has the potential to achieve a “best of both world’s synergy” by capitalizing on the unique strengths of each contributing brand (Leuthesser et al. 2003 p 36).

Co-branding is an extremely popular method of promotion and product design in the hip-hop industry – typified by 2011’s two most hotly anticipated releases: Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV and Jay-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Thorne.

Weezy’s new LP for instance, does not just promote the Lil Wayne brand.  Rather it is an impressive exemplification of co-branding, featuring guest appearances from a who’s who of up-coming and established hip-hop ‘brands’: Cory Gunz, Drake, T-Pain, Rick Ross, John Legend, Jadakiss, Bun B, Nas, Shyne, Busta Rhymes, Bruno Mars, Kevin Rudolf and Birdman.

Lil Wayne: his brand value is so high it can vomit on a comet

However, co-branding is not embraced in a lot of industries.  You simply can’t walk into KFC and buy a Big Mac or phone Dell to purchase an iMac.  Evidently a lot of firms seem focused on promoting their own brand whilst attempting to devalue so called competing brands.  (Does this sound your your company?).  Do you think of other brands in your category as competitors, or possible collaborators?

Jigga and Yeezy are hip-hop’s two self-proclaimed, obscenely-talented kings.  However, if they were Microsoft and Apple or Coca-Cola and Pepsi, collaboration would be the last thing on their mind.  They would continue to proclaim their sheer awesomeness, but ground such assertions on distinct differences, and attempt to grow their brand and sales relative to the other.

However, it is likely that both the back catalogues of Jay-Z and Kanye will experience a surge in sales due to the success of Watch the Throne.  Thus, their collaboration is an opulent demonstration that two brands, which would be thought of as competitors in most other industries, can combine to successfully and grow both the broad hip-hop category and their personal brands simultaneously.

Hova and Yeezy: Not businessmen, they’re a business… man.

It is likely that most hip-hop fans don’t buy only Jay-Z or Kanye albums.  Rather, it is likely that the buy both.  Furthermore, people don’t simply buy McDonalds OR KFC, Coca-Cola OR Pepsi or Apple OR Microsoft products but likely buy both.  Although unprecedented, all of the brand in these examples may benefit from an effective co-branding strategy, which would grow the category and the specific brands.

Thus, co-branding could be an effective method of promotion and/or product design for your brand which, in tandem with a competitor, could help grow both the broad product category and your brand.

Let us know if your interested in using hip-hop to guide some outside the box thinking to make Mo Money* for your brand.

// Alec Schumann

*which may lead to Mo Problems – but that’s another issue for another day.