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In The City 2010: When bands meet brands

By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 14 October 2010

Brands are keen to work with musicians because of the audiences they reach, the ‘conversations’ they can instigate with consumers, the content they can provide to enhance a brand’s own website, and the coolness the association may deliver. But that doesn’t just mean the brand will write a big cheque, and it doesn’t mean bands should be on the phone bugging sponsorship managers at big corporations.

Those were the key messages from the Brand On The Wall panel, chaired by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke, at In The City in Manchester yesterday.

Although at least one of the brands on the panel was willing to invite bands to get in touch. Tom Carson, who heads up Jagermeister’s eclectic and impressive music sponsorship programme, said: “Bands usually approach us. They like our product, and they want to work with us. And if they are the right band and they have the right idea, we’ll get involved. There’s no one way for us to work with acts, we work out each relationship on its own merits. For us, we’re looking for original ideas of how we can work together, and what we get out of it. So, not just a logo on a flyer, but an interesting idea where we get a benefit too”.

And if that sounds too good to be true, Janine Smith of agency Que Pasa, who works with Red Bull on their music activity, added: “The Red Bull and Jagermeister stages were close by at a number of festivals this year, and I know of three bands who were working with us who are now working with Jagermeister as well, just by meeting their music team back stage”. Most brands probably don’t want bands just phoning them up out of the blue, though some do welcome submissions through their websites. One of Red Bull’s programmes – Red Bull Bedroom Jam – discovers its new talent that way.

But as for direct approach, Tom is probably in the minority, or at least some of the brand agencies on the panel thought so. Of course, they are a little biased, they make their money being the middle men between brands and music people, but Steve Smith, MD of Ear To The Ground, sounded convincing when he said: “Yes, a handful of brands may employee people like Tom who work directly with bands they like, but most brands want to utilise music – and maybe support music – but without becoming actual players in the music business. That’s why they come to people like us. We’ve got the music business experience and contacts, we can do the leg work to help them achieve what they want to achieve”.

So should bands and their managers be sending him demo tapes instead? “Not really”, he advised. “To be honest, when we need bands, we’ll come to you. We know the managers, the agents, the promoters, and through those trusted relationships we’ll select the right artists for the right brands”.

But if you are lucky enough to strike a brand partnership, will the money then just come flooding in? “A lot of what Red Bull offers is practical support, we help bands record their music, or give them a platform through which to reach an audience”, Smith observed. “And as brands become more established in the music space, as they form their own communities of music fans, they’ll look to leverage the value that brings to the artist as well as providing money”.

Stephen Campbell from sports firm Umbro, who works on their music initiatives, concurred. “On our Kasabian tie up for the England away kit, by far the biggest spend was on media. On advertising with conventional and outdoor media. That’s not cash for the band, but for them and their label, Sony, it delivers an incredibly high profile ad campaign they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford”.

So, brand partnerships are out there to be had (assuming you want such a thing), though getting one might involve quite a bit of networking, and once you’ve got it you can expect as much in kind support as cash.