For midem marketing competition, a showcase of the best music marketing campaigns & music in advertising, BMG’s SVP Licensing & Marketing International Patrick Joest answers three questions to advise agencies & brands which would like to apply to the midem marketing competition.
Why is associating the right track with a given ad crucial to the campaign’s success?
Music touches us in a way that can't be compared to anything else. It evokes emotions, memories, moods. Much like in a movie, it can compliment and strengthen the story, the emotions and the message a campaign aims to convey.
And what's even better: A great and suitable music will stick to our mind and hearts, long after the images may have faded, and therefore prolongs the effect of the campaign.
Incidentally, a real song by real artists which evokes real emotions and memories tends to do this job much better than a sound-alike...
What for you are the key qualities that make a sync successful?
First and foremost a successful synch obviously is one that helps the brand. Usually that can only happen if the combination of brand/campaign/song feels natural and makes sense. If a campaign is good for the artist or the song, even better, as another important aspect of our work is to create platforms for our artists in advertising and other media.
Our job as rights managers in the world of sync is to bridge the gap between advertising clients and artist clients, thus creating added value for both sides. And we naturally love to help our advertising clients to find new and upcoming songs or hidden gems from the past that can surprise the audience, which often helps to increase the success of a campaign.
It's important to always be able to think from the licensee's/advertising client's perspective. That's the only way how we can establish a trustful work relationship in the often rather complex world of finding and securing the right music, and this ultimately also helps us to deliver a better service for our artist clients.
Which sync has most impressed you of late, and why?
Obviously I can only be a bit biased here, but apart from many other great synchs we have seen recently, two of my favourites are: The use of Gossip's "Heavy Cross", with Beth Ditto's fabulous voice and the enthralling guitar perfectly fitting the opulent visuals of the commercial for "J'adore Dior". And Heineken's fantastic co-operation with our band The Asteroids Galaxy Tour that worked brilliantly both for brand and band, with the artists also appearing in the commercial in a very cool, natural and subtle manner.
If you want to participate in the midem marketing competition, apply here!