Music And Marketing Assignment: Number Of Advertisements (Essay Sample)

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June 26, 2017
Music and Marketing
Every day, people are bombarded with a large number of advertisements, and their responses become limited to few while tuning out the rest. Advertisers resort to music which enables them to break through this clutter and connect with their audience. They attempt to capture a larger potential consumer base through utilizing some widely accepted themes that connect music, or a musician, in some manner to the actual human experience. These themes range from loss, pain, and desperation to nostalgia, rebellion, and inspiration. Usage of these themes reflects in the choice of music or artist that advertisers use in their specific campaigns to use emotions in their content rather than rationality. Additionally, by using a hit song in their campaigns, the advertisers manage to bypass the choice making process of what will capture people’s attention, since current and accepted music is already popular with the target consumers.
In the 1980’s, there was an unspoken divide between the perceived artists and pop stars. It was defined by the deals made between them and corporate sponsors. According to some critics today, “The idea of selling a song for a commercial would have been seen as career suicide” (Hopper). As more and more tie-ups occurred, the term sell-out was used to demonize the successful artists who landed rich and lucrative corporate deals. One such case was of Michael Jackson who had suddenly risen to previously unseen levels of fame and popularity. There were some who believed that Michael was a sell-out to his passion of music -and termed him as such- when he signed the highest ever deal at that time. He lent his music and his persona to the PepsiCo, and the way that this relationship flourished is a study in the success of endorsements.
The way in which the choice of music and artist can influence the advertising plans for even the biggest conglomerates can be best seen in the manner in which Pepsi and Michael Jackson came together in the 1980’s. At this time, Coke and Pepsi were two of the most popular brands of cola beverages in the world. Michael Jackson’s involvement with Pepsi was such that his fans and Pepsi drinkers were from the same set of people. Their association started a year after Michael’s iconic album, Thriller, was released in 1982. The album and the title track became the most successful in history. Pepsi took Michael on board for $5million and every marketing campaign that Pepsi ran for the next decade was centered around Michael’s image, his songs and his personality (Katz). However, initially, Michael was approached by coca cola who were not convinced as they believed that his appeal would be to a specific ethnicity. Once they got past this block, they offered a deal worth a million dollars which Michael’s managers rejected. On the other side, the then CEO of PepsiCo, Roger Enrico, was planning the rollout of his new campaign, “New Generation.” The goal was to make Pepsi more appealing to the younger generation, and Michael seemed like an obvious choice, having been called the King of Pop by this time. He was widely accepted and liked by the specific consumers that Enrico wanted to go after. The deal was the biggest of its time, but Pepsi was confident in part because of Michaels own involvement in the campaigns which involved logs, displays, tours, and events, apart from the customized jingles based on his songs. The first campaign ran from 1983 to 1984, and it reached the consciousness of the public beyond the advertisements themselves.
The impact of Michael’s association with Pepsi changed the music and the advertising industries. Pepsi endorsements were interwoven with his music, tours and appearances. The inputs that Michael provided to the campaigns added to the brilliant executions that came out as a result. In the time that he was associated with Pepsi, Michael did try other endorsements, such as the short lived ones with LA Gear, Suzuki, and Sony. However, Pepsi became a part of the golden era of his career in the 80’s and 90’s. The impact that Pepsi was hoping for became evident in 1984 itself when Coca Cola’s market share dropped while Pepsi increased its sales by a substantial amount. With such results, Pepsi happily signed another deal with Michael when the album Bad came out, this time for $10 Million. They supported the album as well all its associated tours in 1987 and 1988. This time, they endorsed a global deal - where the earlier one was limited to the United States- and went with him as a sponsor in more than 20 countries around the world in the subsequent world tour. They also developed a campaign which ran in four parts showing Michael being hounded by fans and paparazzi, and it was released at the same time as the Moonwalker movie and referenced it in many places. The music they used was from the song Bad, and the lyrics had been changed by Michael himself to refer to the Pepsi brand.
One of the commercials that Pepsi ran with Michael in the 80’s is known just as the “Pepsi Generation” and is probably one of the most renowned spots created. It capitalized primarily on the immense popularity of Michael’s music and his personality. They used his song Billie Jean, and Michael himself rewrote the lyrics in order to refer to Pepsi with “You’re the Pepsi Generation” in the chorus. It shows a group of people dancing in the streets to the song while drinking Pepsis. One of the men is impersonating Michael, and people are dancing with him, indicating the linkup between the “Now Generation” and Michael Jackson. Though gearing the advertisement towards an individual may seem like limiting the audience set, it must be understood here that Michaels’ appeal during this time was more or less universal. To appeal to the taste of such a large number of people with anybody else would have required for Pepsi to engage many artists. Michael was able to reach that many with just his own individual persona. He was seen as larger than life, and this provided the same aura to the consumers of Pepsi. This resulted in a complete turnaround in Pepsi’s fortunes during the time. Though the people were dressed similarly to him, they were of all ages and genders, which further used Michael’s credibility across many consumer bases. Post Michael Jackson, Pepsi continued the trend of having well known public figures as their brand ambassadors, and the list of such names includes Beyonce, Britney Spears and Madonna (Katz). However, Michaels work with Pepsi remains the standard bearer for not just such associations but also their success. Though such all-inclusive deals still happen between brands and stars, it is improbable that an association like Pepsi and Michael will ever be seen again.
Michael Jackson has been the star for Pepsi for close to 30 years now, even after his death. His persona is still so attractive that Pepsi reincarnated the man in 2012. The association of Michael is not just with the drink, but with the brand of Pepsi. Coupled with his own brand image, this gave Pepsi access to people across media. The campaign was called “Live for Now” and involved impri...