A word from the roadies

The summer concert season is beckoning, but before you slap your brand’s name on that tour bus, listen up to seven tips from true roadies — agency marketers who bring music sponsorships to the stage.

Relationships between artists and brands are evolving and proprietary events are booming. “Sponsorships are not just about strip advertisements and banners anymore,” says Steve Groth, president and CEO of Boca Raton, FL-based Radiate, an Omnicom holding company for event marketing. “Brands and artists are making plans maybe two years before a tour and discussing TV specials, online promotions, charitable activities and more.”

It’s not unusual for a big-name musician to have a 36-month career path mapped out, encompassing domestic and overseas tours, albums and movies. Likewise, there is less secrecy with release dates. “You won’t see competing labels putting out Rolling Stones and U2 albums at the same time,” says Stephen Knill, senior VP-entertainment for GMR Marketing.

New Berlin, WI-based GMR has taken developing artists and brand-owned events to heart — with the Miller Blind Date that sends contest winners to an exotic locale for a concert with a surprise act.

More and more companies are looking for customized music programs, says Bruce Eskowitz, president of national sales and marketing for Clear Channel Entertainment, New York City. Such programs are especially well suited to product launches; Clear Channel last month kicked off a tour to support the launch of a cologne from Adidas.

“You build something that is tailor-made rather than backing yourself into someone else’s guidelines,” Groth says. “And you know that you have created something that is right in line with the brand image.”

Work hard for your demo: When The GEM Group, Atlanta, was asked to create a U.S. promotion for Tequila Don Julio (the No. 2 Mexican tequila brand and No. 4 in the U.S.), they had a challenging demographic to reach: males age 25 to 54, 70 percent from the general market, 30 percent Hispanic. GEM picked three Latin artists for a five-city Tequila Don Julio Legends of Latin Music Series and staged events at infamous venues such as the Filmore and the House of Blues. “It was one of the most challenging demographics to read, but we got sizeable volume increase and awareness by going after that niche market,” says Chuck Corcoran, GEM Group’s director of entertainment marketing.

Know your partners: The music market is so cluttered it’s imperative to build a relationship with the artist — and with anyone involved in the tour, from booking agents to promoters, Corcoran says. “You need to sit down directly with the artist way advance of the process,” Groth echoes. “Things like when they are going on tour and when their product will be released are not a mystery.” And artists now more than ever need the support from sponsors. “There is so much out there for consumer dollars, and tours are competing with videogames and movies,” Knill says.

Read the fine print: Tour sponsorships are fraught with conflicts, Knill says. “No matter how hard you try, you will never get everyone to completely understand what to expect from the relationship.” For example, when GMR handled Dodge’s sponsorship of Aerosmith’s tour, there were venues officially sponsored by DaimlerChrysler competitors. So GMR had to explain to Dodge why they couldn’t bring in 15 vehicles for display at that pit stop.

Start anew: Developing artists are all the rage again. “It started out this way and I think people are interested again because they want to find the next big thing,” Groth says. “It’s hard to show that you are cutting edge and youthful if you’ve been sponsoring an act for 20 years.”

Think summer: Fifty percent or more of tours take place between June and September — partly because of the popular outdoor amphitheater environment, Knill says. “If you have a product launching in January, it make more sense to do some other kind of promotion.”

Activate, activate, activate: Sponsors can make the most noise with in-market sweeps for tickets or a meet-and-greet with the band, an online campaign, data collection and sampling at the event (to be followed up later). “Create a platform and one thing is tied to the other and they each build off of each other,” Groth says.

Be like Mike: Seek multi-year deals with artists that leverage both sides — similar to the kinds of affiliations brands make with athletes. And don’t always take them too seriously. Pepsi and Britney Spears teamed for two years for product endorsement, retail campaigns and tour sponsorships. “A pop artist doesn’t have to worry about their credibility with fans as much — they can be comfortable with a brand that simply makes sense,” Knill says. Besides, nothing lasts forever. Pepsi has since moved on to pop diva Beyonce Knowles (see Deals, p. 11).

Happy touring — and don’t forget to properly measure and evaluate your sponsorship once you get home.

Chevy rocks & rolls

Veteran rocker Bob Seger has been helping General Motors sell trucks for nearly a decade. Seger’s 1986 hit Like a Rock is synonymous with Chevrolet through TV spots and the ubiquitous tagline in print ads.

But Chevy’s place in music lore neither starts nor stops with Seger. From Don McLean’s American Pie to Prince’s Little Red Corvette, the automaker’s longtime agency Campbell-Ewald counted 200 songs that mentioned a Chevrolet car or truck in lyrics.

Auburn Hills, MI-based Chevrolet began cashing in on its musical heritage this summer with an advertising campaign pairing vehicles with song lyrics. Recently, the company launched an 18-month-long Chevrolet Rock & Roll Tour, a traveling exhibit featuring music memorabilia from the 1950s to today, curated by the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas. Chevy retrofitted its 53-foot trailer last used for the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, which is parking at large music and sporting events through June 2004.

“The key thing that makes this easy is that it’s a natural extension,” says Dianne Harper, Chevrolet’s promotional manager. “There is nothing we are trying to force; the songs were simply there.”

The 100-plus items in the exhibit include a “Give Peace a Chance” sign from John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 bed-in, a gold suit worn by James Brown at the Apollo and Jimi Hendrix’s jacket from his first U.S. tour. Visitors can pose for a mock cover of Rolling Stone, listen to headset tunes compliments of XM Radio and check out some 100 guitars on display from Gibson Guitars Corp. The custom-guitar manufacturer is showcasing its limited-edition Spider-Man and Corvette guitars, among others.

“Our demographic is people who grew up with rock and roll, so it’s amazing to see them walk onto the trailer and be urged to pick up and play again,” says Rick Gembar, senior VP-general manager for Nashville-based Gibson Musical Instruments.

The Woodstock Generation can start jamming on the spot by plugging into a Line 6 GuitarPort that lets them strum along with songs in a karaoke-like fashion. For pure car enthusiasts, four to seven classic and concept Chevy vehicles, such as Corvette, Impala, Silverado and the new SSR hybrid vehicle (on sale this summer) rotate at each tour site.

Expected pit stops include Chevy-sponsored NASCAR and figure skating events, college campuses and music venues. So far, the tour visited the Billboard Awards in Las Vegas, the Jingle Bell Ball in New York City and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Dallas. Campbell-Ewald, Detroit, handles the tour and advertising campaign.

Rolling Stone, New York City, put together a 2003 calendar of artists posing with Chevy vehicles that can be downloaded at chevy.com and is running tour advertising in the magazine. Chevy also plans on a CD compilation for this year.

As long as music sells cars, the music won’t die.