In the News - Independent Thinking

MARKETING October 15, 2007 Independent Thinking

By Bryan Borzykowski

Classic hits have been replaced by an indie vibe as the soundtrack of choice for TV ads

"You coming to bed?" asks a woman, wondering if her husband is ready to stop watching the hockey game that's playing on their large plasma TV. "I'm just going to catch the end of the game," he responds, moments before his young son appears saying he can't sleep. When the father uses his PVR to show his restless boy a stellar goal and the two enjoy a spontaneous moment of father-son bonding, the warm, bluesy voice of 26-year-old singer/songwriter Brett Dennen starts to play over the dimly lit scene. Duncan Bruce, senior vice-president and executive creative director at Publicis, the agency responsible for this Rogers PVR ad, chalks up the spot's success to the Dennen song, and it's hard not to agree. This quiet, heartfelt love song is perfect for the family-oriented commercial. But the agency gambled by using Dennen, then an unknown Oakdale, Calif.-based musician, to score a big budget ad. Fortunately for Rogers, the gamble paid off. "People liked what they heard in the commercial," he says. "And they continued to investigate. Rogers got the halo effect of customers' affections." However, using "The One Who Loves You The Most" as the anchor for the PVR spot, which ran from last October to February of this year, wasn't the original plan. Rogers wanted to shell out the big bucks, $500,000 to be exact, for the rights to Eric Clapton's "Change The World." "They were on that ship of the big song," says Marco DiFelice, the music supervisor at Toronto-based music house Silent Joe and the man responsible for finding the song that Rogers would eventually use. "I was grumbling, 'why do they want another big song?' " Before negotiating the rights to the Clapton tune, DiFelice decided to pore over thousands of other lesser known tracks, hoping to find a cheaper, yet more fitting alternative, to the "big fat song." And that's how they came to Dennen. "Brett Dennen was so clearly the winner that when you saw it up against the picture, it was undeniable to everybody," says DiFelice. Passing on a legendary star like Clapton would have been unheard of in the 80s, when everyone from Michael Jackson to Carole Pope was getting their songs placed in ads; but today it's unknown independent acts like Dennen who are providing commercial soundtracks. "Using the big, traditional rock songs, what you're saying is 'hey look at me, I'm a big corporation that doesn't know what's cool and has the money to buy whatever I want,' " says Bruce. "That's the residue affect of the big song now." One agency that's helped drive the industry towards the indie act-often defined as an artist who's not on a major label like Universal or Warner (though might be distributed by one)-is Leo Burnett. The venerable ad agency has bought tracks from The Be Good Tanyas, Joel Plaskett and The Golden Dogs for its Zellers spots. David Moore, Leo Burnett Canada's CEO, says enlisting these lesser-known pop acts has helped make the Zellers brand "more optimistic, more contemporary and more spirited" than it had been in the past, "and it really helped build a lot of buzz." "It's really put a sound to our brand personality," adds Geoff Hardwicke, HBC's brand director. "Sound can help define who you are. Indie music tends to be a little more honest and fresh, attributes we hope people recognize in Zellers." Like Rogers, Hardwicke says he had other options than using an unknown song, but in the end "the indie tracks were just better." Staying relevant is only one reason more marketers and ad agencies are turning toward underground acts. With Canadian CD sales down 35% in the first quarter of 2007, the music industry is in turmoil and corporations, who have a far greater reach than many record labels, are positioning themselves as talent scouts and tastemakers of the future. "The agencies love this because they're like the A&R kids now, picking what band is going to be popular," says DiFelice, who also found the tracks for most of the Zellers commercials. Music industry veteran, and Joel Plaskett's manager, Mike Campbell agrees with DiFelice, saying that with increased competition and a weakening label system, fans are forced to find new music in places other than record stores. "The public hasn't the time, or the inclination, to sift through the dreck to find the good stuff," he says. "A good music supervisor will do that for them." For proof, look at the Toronto-based reggae pop trio Bedouin Soundclash. Until the band landed a song in one of Leo Burnett's Zellers ads, the group was playing tiny dives across the country. In August, the band's sophomore album debuted at #2 on the Canadian charts. And Bedouin's not the only act that has benefited from scoring a national ad. In May, Cadbury Adams Canada launched a spot for its Maynards brand that featured an infectious 30-second song by Toronto's Major Maker. The band wrote the tune for the ad, then titled the "Maynards Candy Song," but after the company posted the spot on YouTube, new fans demanded to hear a full track. So Major Maker hit the studio and added two and half minutes to the song, now called "Rollercoaster," and posted the finished product on iTunes in July. Since then, 3,700 people have downloaded the song, pushing the download-only track to #2 on the iTunes Canada rock sales chart. "We knew the song would gain momentum, but we were surprised at the size and rapidity of that response," says David Vivenes, the marketing director for Maynards. "Now, "Rollercoaster," Major Maker and Maynards Candy are inextricably linked." Having such a close association with a brand would have appalled the majority of artists-and more importantly, their fans-not so many years ago. Now, the dreaded word "sellout" is rarely uttered. "Kids are so inundated now," says DiFelice, "They see Molson banners while watching a band play live. At some point the kids got it, the band needs to make money." Plus, with MuchMusic rarely playing music videos, and radio devoting its airtime to major artists, lesser-known acts are finally realizing the benefits of ad exposure. "If the ad doesn't suck and the advertiser isn't considered by the artist to be odious somehow... then it's a viable way to get people to hear your stuff and that, ultimately, is what it's about, isn't it?" argues Campbell. While discovering a new band helps both the act and the brand, buying an indie track is also vastly cheaper than purchasing a song from an established artist. "The Beatles want $1 million to start, period," says Jody Colero, co-owner of Silent Joe. "U2 won't even give you a price." Other name bands will charge anywhere from $100,000 and up, while independent acts usually charge between $20,000 and $40,000. Getting a music house like Silent Joe or Grayson Matthews to create a song from scratch starts at around $20,000. Cutting costs by buying cheaper music, however, can bring greater risks. Using a famous track will mean instant recognition, and often immediate success. With an indie act, nothing is guaranteed. "You don't always know that when you go with an indie band," says Moore. "So the price is lower. We're not guaranteed this thing is going to be a hit and catch on." Still, marketers and agencies are willing to take the chance. But are too many brands jumping on the independent bandwagon? "We're hearing indie-type songs for feminine protection ads," says Colero. "Some people are saying, 'it's cool so let's put on an indie song on.' Part of our success could be part of our undoing." Until the masses stop singing along to Maynards or Zellers ads though, it's unlikely that agencies will quit looking at indie acts to help sell their client's brand. "Each sound is fresh and different from the previous one," says Moore. "Saying there's an over-saturation of indie bands is like saying there's an over-saturation of music." Bryan Borzykowski is a freelance writer in Toronto