Blog: Brands | Bands | Fans

Wimpy's suburban heart of glass With some of my South African relatives finally touching down in the UK post the volcanic ash cloud flight embargo, it was interesting to pick up on a musically led campaign emanating from the region this week. A new Wimpy ad from South Africa offers an insight into a not-so-typical South African family unit in a bid to connect with close-knit SA suburban family life. The commercial highlights the musical prowess of the 'Skoltimaier Seven' who, resplendent in skin tight lycra and 80s shoulder pads, perform [...]

Music Matters 2010 Music Matters is conducted in the heart of the world's most dynamic region and is Asia's only annual conference dedicated to the business of music. The event was created with and for the Music industry, bringing together major players from the entertainment eco-system to discuss, debate, do business and watch some of the hottest up and coming acts in Asia. Music Matters 2010 will take place over a jam-packed three day programme [...]

Nike takes gaming to the streets Nike's experimental Alternate Reality Game (ARG) campaign is set to kick start this Friday across London. The footwear brand is promoting both its products and a positive fitness message via Nike Grid , a 24 hr urban running game that divides the capital into a game-board of 40 competing postcodes. The location-based game sees users registering online and then running between telephone boxes, entering 4-digit codes as they go, in order to receive points. (Apparently locations will be monitored to stop users from donning skates or [...]

Day 1 of the British Council music mission to China kicks off with a presentation to invited guests from the cultural industries in Beijing. The FRUKT philosophy is quite visionary in some ways - multi-channel brand story-telling through entertainment... tripping of my tongue like it's skipped off the pages of the latest 'post advertising' book, written by some trendy counter cultural marketing guy. However, these kind of marketing bullshit statements are simply too abstract for the developing markets. The sophistication in communications practice may not be there yet, but the will certainly is. I [...]

Forthcoming... Everyone's talking about BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and the bounty that awaits us in these foreign lands... the big tech brands are trying to figure out how they can create solutions to the challenges that geographical scale and remoteness create with innovative programmes including getting entire villages to share phones - while the FMCG guys are trying to find ways to get new markets to wear their Western denim . So next week I shall be reporting live from China as part of a British [...]

Developing a real Bond with music fans Bonds underwear in Australia is promoting the brand's Original Hipster underwear – and its 'hipster' credentials - via an all girl rock group performing in their underwear. Simple, yet effective, this ad is part of the brand's 10 year underwear celebration and marks yet another iconic commercial for the brand. The song featured in the ad – which Bonds are giving away as a free download via a dedicated micro site - is 'Standing On The Corner' by Melbourne [...]

Scared of beards Fosters has launched a quirky new series of ads promoting its Carlton Draught beer. The 'Any Excuse' campaign sees a bizarre folk music trio (with creative facial hair) performing musical renditions to various male body parts in order to sing the beer's praises. Each ad sees the heavily knitted warblers composing odes about the various different parts of a man's anatomy and how they tell him he needs a cold Carlton Draft. The seven ads Tingle, Elbow, Leg, Weenis, Wart, Nose, and Bump are currently [...]

Hidden Sonic branding We stumbled on an interesting new site last week entitled Code Organ , which lets you 'play' websites. You simply drop in a URL and it generates music from the HTML code. The results can them be shared socially (via Twitter/Facebook). We decided to test run a few well know brand home-pages through Code Organ to reveal the sonic branding hidden deep beneath the surface. Here our some of our favourites: Pepsi UK's etheral chimes [...]

BRIT (Ad)wards 2010 The BRIT Awards, the UK's answer to The Grammys, is over for another year. Liam Gallagher threw an award, Kasabian fell over, Lady Gaga sang a song no-one knew, and Cheryl Cole's lips operated from another dimension . However, aside from the myriad of performances, acceptance speeches and dubious choices of presenter something else was notably absent. The ad breaks didn't appear to feature a single commercial for an album release - despite an audience of millions of devoted music fans. In some ways [...]

WIN tickets to WIRELESS sponsored by Barclaycard With a line up looking stronger than ever, where better to enjoy your summer than the stunning surroundings of Hyde Park at Wireless sponsored by Barclaycard?! The opening day of Wireless already boasts a stunning line up with superstar P!NK headlining on Friday 2 July, supported by The Tings Tings, Gossip and The Temper Trap. Megastar JAY-Z and Mr Hudson are confirmed for the Sunday and with many more acts to be announced for the three day festival, temperatures are set to soar. Wireless is guaranteed to [...]

Snacking on music "Ever wished that your favourite track would come out of your favourite chips?" asks The Smith's Snackfood Company – part of PepsiCo International - in Australia. The snack brand has teamed up with Sony Music Entertainment Australia on a new large-scale on-pack download giveaway . Those purchasing packets of Smith's Chips, Doritos, Twisties, Cheetos and Burger Rings will be able to go to Bandit.fm – the Australian music destination that houses 1M MP3 tracks – to download a free song . In addition to the download giveaway the brand [...]

Pink is V8's new Grid Girl Pink has been unveiled as the ambassador for V8 Supercars in Australia, a country where she has recently become something of a national music icon. The deal will see her partnered with the motor sports event for three years and likely to perform at one of the upcoming races. The singer filmed a commercial to accompany her endorsement - which features her song 'Get The Party Started' and various V8 stars - during her recent 'Funhouse' concert tour in Sydney. The multi-million dollar TV [...]

Can social music transform Motorola Motorola recently aired its first Super Bowl ad in four years for the Motorola 'Devour' handset with a high profile endorsement from actress Megan Fox. The clearly male-orientated ad depicted Megan Fox photographing herself in an outdoor bubble bath pondering what would happen if she shared the photo online. The result it seems would have caused power outages, make men fall off ladders and see boys lock themselves in their rooms. The mobile brand says that this is "just the beginning" of [...]

Franz in high places French fashion house Dior have recruited UK indie band Franz Ferdinand to record the track 'Eyes of Mars' for the latest Dior Lady Rouge bag campaign . The song features vocals from French actress Marion Cotillard - winner of an oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in the film 'La Vie En Rose' - who portrays Lady Rouge, a character who moves from working woman to nightclub singer in New York . The campaign, with its distinctive red palette, is the second part in an [...]

Ad touchdown gets nostalgic Rihanna referred to the Super Bowl as a "big, walking music video", and the sporting and advertising highlight of the year didn't disappoint on the music front in 2010. The Who's performance during half time - a lucrative slot for any band - has been both praised and panned by critics - with one citing it as "an act of terrorism on US soil". However, even if the viewing audience is equally split it will still mean the band have appealed to at least 50M possible music buyers. [...]

A first for music Coca-Cola China has launched a new online campaign fronted by Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit in order to celebrate Chinese New Year. The promotion – which features the track 'The First Taste of Happiness' - invites users to customize their own festive Coke bottles and participate in an online UGC element which will see their video efforts placed into a collective ad alongside the band. The digital side of the ad campaign depicts Coke drinkers passing their bottles along from one video clip to the next to [...]

Thanks to the nice people at SpringFetsival we have two tickets to the 10th anniversary celebrations of the biggest Austrian festival for electronic music and art. Live acts and DJs have just been announced and include Kruder & Dorfmeister, Zoot Woman, Delphic, Miike Snow (live), The Japanese Popstars (live) Pendulum (DJ Set) , plus Zombie Nation, Henrik Schwarz and AME, with many more acts yet to be confirmed. The festival takes place in Graz, the 2nd largest city in Austria, between the 12th-15th May. To win tickets simply answer this question. Which of the [...]

Musical manipulation Wrangler's new digital promotion for its Blue Bell Spring/Summer 2010 range is kind of a drag. The jeans brand's 'manipulate a man' digital campaign enables users to drag a male model around the screen and tear off parts of his clothing – making it the polar opposite of Burger King's recent Showercam campaign.The ad also showcases the ambient music of Markus Hasselblom and the soundtrack featured on the site is available for free download. As are various photos of the model in a state of undress [...]

A sounding branding exercise UK singer Alesha Dixon has inked a four-year profit-sharing deal with the LA Fitness gym chain. The partnership is part of a massive £30M marketing drive in 2010 by the gym's owners The Kirk Sandall company. The revenue share deal - based on the company's success over the four year period - will see the singer acting as the face of the company. In addition she will work alongside the LA Fitness board devising new dance and exercise routines and advising on health and fitness issues. Each month [...]

Gillette fixes up, looks sharp Will.i.am, Tim McGraw, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 and the All-American Rejects are all set to appear in a forthcoming Gillette campaign. The Gillette Uncut series will feature a series of digital documentary shorts - created by renowned music filmmaker/photographer Danny Clinch - showcasing the artists backstage and some of their pre-show rituals. "Gillette Uncut shows a side of artists that's rarely, if ever, seen - going backstage to show how they prepare, including styling and grooming, and the moments of doubt they experience before taking [...]