18 Music Week 15.08.14 ANALYSISMUSIC AND ADVERTISING SOUND AND VISION
In the music industry, sync is becoming an increasingly important revenue stream and promotion tool. But, on the other side of the fence, at brand and advertising agencies, the role of music in campaigns isn’t necessarily being fully recognised
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SYNC n BY TOM PAKINKIS
D
espite the powerful role that music and sound now play in advertising campaigns, it’s a resource that is often unmanaged,
unmonitored and under-funded. That’s one of the key findings in a recent study
of how brands and their agencies are using music across the campaigns. The ‘Music Matters’ report, commissioned by SoundLounge and McKinlay Consultants, and carried out by marketing consultant Clare Crean, sheds a light on the role of music and sound in marketing brands and the process of choosing and sourcing music for campaigns. According to data from brand and advertising
research agency Millward Brown, 58% of consumers identify visual aspects as important in communications and product experience, while an almost equal number (42%) say the same about sound. However, the same research reveals that 84.2% of the marketing expenditure spent on communications and product experience by Fortune 500 companies is allocated to visual aspects, compared to 12.5% on sound. The Music Matters report aims to identify why
brands are allocating such a small proportion of their marketing spend on music and sound when it is so fundamental, as well as understanding why the process of finding, selecting and licensing music for campaigns can be difficult for advertisers. Most importantly, it then advises brands and advertisers on best practice in some key areas of synchronisation. The study involves interviews with a cross
section of nationally known brands and their agencies as well as music industry experts. It highlights agreement between key players across industries about the importance of music but also the difficulty in working with it effectively, seemingly because of a lack of unification in the process of obtaining it. “Music and sound is the poor relation to the
visual and verbal aspect of communication,” says Steve Mullins, content director, Brand e biz, “probably because there is no one with specific responsibility for it.” “It’s like the Wild West,’ adds Carol Powell,
senior TV producer at Abbott Mead Vickers. “There are no hard and fast rules. Anyone can contribute; it’s very subjective, very emotional and very personal. It’s all just based on instinct. “People don’t like process, they feel it’s too clinical, but it’s the only way out of the swamp,”
Powell suggests. There is a growing chorus of voices across advertising highlighting the importance and impact of music in campaigns. Sir John Hegarty, worldwide creative director and founder of advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, says, “This study gives me another opportunity to repeat again that we need to slow down and take more time to let our ideas evolve, and get all the ingredients like music exactly right, to create truly inspiring and effective campaigns.” But as Graham Staplehurst global director at
Millward Brown points out, brands will probably need to do more research if they want to manage music more effectively: “Brand managers aren’t aware of where sound is causing a problem, or in fact what impact sound is having positive or negative because it’s not being monitored.” Here, Music Week has teased out the key recommendations offered by the Music Matters report to brands and advertisers looking to make a bigger impact with music. “We believe the findings of this study will enable
brands and their agencies to take some easy steps to ensure that they use music even more effectively and in the process save themselves considerable amounts of time, stress and money.” says CEO and Founder of SoundLounge, Ruth Simmons.
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