December 29, 2008
Jon Pareles' recent piece, "Songs From the Heart of a Marketing Plan," should give everyone pause, particularly marketers who use music for brand campaigns.
December 18, 2008
Colleague and resident Ad Age music nerd Andrew Hampp spoke with Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik about the permutations of his song "World," including the recent inclusion in a Sears spot that we -- ahem -- weren't too kind about.
December 15, 2008
We have a pretty loose criteria for our "Best Ad Songs" list, but taste and creativity rank pretty highly, and we give bonus points when brands help to break artists we like. Yet there were still plenty that didn't make the cut for various reasons, most of which are unarguably idiosyncratic, so we've put together the runners-up who just barely lost out and some of the things we've said about them in the past.
December 15, 2008
For an integrated campaign for the Palm Centro, Seattle-based agency Creature recruited Rondo Brothers, a Bay-area duo with as many remix credits as they have ad soundtrack credits, who provided a remixed Santa Claus with a suitably remixed soundtrack.
December 13, 2008
While the rest of the video game industry seems to be prospering despite the tough economy, two rock-branded game franchises that once promised to broaden the market have unexpectedly fallen behind their competition. Is the tour winding down for "Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero" ?
December 10, 2008
Verizon Wireless has created Verizon New Music, an HD2 channel that will exist alongside 21 Clear Channels nationwide.
December 08, 2008
Here it is guys: "Just Like Honey" by Jesus and Mary Chain, in an ad for Hugo Boss's Femme perfume. How did you think they were paying for that new album, with decades of goodwill?
December 05, 2008
U.K. trend-spotter and researcher Ruby Pseudo recently set about asking kids what brands they felt had the tightest lock on music.
December 04, 2008
Madonna has taken on a new high-profile job as the face of Louis Vuitton's spring/summer fashion campaign.
December 03, 2008
With the help of Ogilvy and former Human League band member Martyn Ware, Fanta thinks it's figured out a way to tap into tones only kids can supposedly hear.
December 03, 2008
A great example of how passion for music and the business of music and entertainment can fit together so well has just popped into the SFS mailbox courtesy of Ticketmaster, with an offer for customers to download a free new album by JD and The Straight Shot.
December 03, 2008
Ozzy Osbourne hits the screens in two separate endorsements this month for Samsung and Blizzard's "World of Warcraft" game.
December 02, 2008
This Nike basketball spot features Lil Wayne reveling in airborne chalk and then wisely wiping it off his kicks.
November 28, 2008
England and LA Galaxy soccer star David Beckham has joined a diverse group of other stars including Katy Perry, Estelle and Missy Elliott for a new Adidas commercial that's essentially a 60-second house party snapshot.
November 28, 2008
Whilst we've had misgivings about the relevance of some of the recent fashion and music collaborations, Bloomingdale's has put together a neat tie-in with Sony in aid of the charity Musicians On Call, which brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in health-care facilities and promotes the use of music to complement the healing process for them, their families and caregivers.
November 24, 2008
This mash-up of Toyota's "Saved by Zero" jingle and "The Ring" captures our current economic horror almost as well as the ad for the Pembroke Pines, Fla. Dodge dealer offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal on Ram trucks.
November 21, 2008
The Fray are back with ABC in a partnership that pushes the boundaries of TV program tie-ins to new levels.
November 18, 2008
Luke Bryan can now accompany more guys like you in their drinking, because Miller Lite has arranged to have his single, "All My Friends Say," sold alongside the low-cal brew in stores for the next year.
November 18, 2008
I've just returned from NARIP's "Bands, Brands & Beyond-Expo" in Los Angeles, where I presented a keynote speech. Here's a sampling of the thinking I encountered down there ...
November 18, 2008
I'm willing to cut Microsoft some slack with its "Mojave Experiment" because they've made one of my favorite songs as of late, "Oh Mojave" by Ruby Suns, the theme song for the campaign.
