BRANDS PLAY TO A NEW TUNE: The over-used think global, act local marketing nugget is finding greater relevance as brands take a fresh look at the music that makes their campaigns tick. It's a change

Most people would not have known that there is a kick-ass, hard-core, hip-hop act in Hong Kong which had a parental advisory sticker on its CD cover. Fewer still would believe that the band's music and attitude had been picked up for use by a major international brand which itself was having a knock-on effect of the band's CD sales, reportedly moving by the truckloads. The band is LMF, the brand, San Miguel. If that is not extreme enough, take clean and placid Singapore - a place where you would expect to hear cover bands churning out polished international chart-toppers in bars and hotel lounges. But, while the same political party stays in power, the musical powers that be have been encouraging the growth of local artists, a development hampered more by a shortage in financing than ideas or creativity. Again, a major international brand stepped in, searched high and low for the best up-and-coming band and launched it onto the Singapore scene. The band is Urban Xchange, the brand, Coca-Cola. These are not isolated examples of what is being touted as a radical change, a revolution even, in the way local contemporary music is developing, its consumption by Asia's young consumers and how brands are capitalising on the trend. It's not just the youth brands that are blazing the music trail. Marketers of mainstream brands are fast getting in on the act. For many years, music in Asia was considered more of an after-thought than an integral part of a campaign, with a brand's musical heritage sometimes changing from agency to agency. Schtung Music managing director Morton Wilson believes the change is long overdue. "Music can add an enormous amount to a brand, such as a comedic feel in the three-spot Wellcome (a Hong Kong supermarket chain) campaign we recently did that racked up the tempo each time. It added a refreshing lightness and enhanced the theme running through it. With humour, entertainment and personality driving it, you feel better about the brand," he says. "The role music plays cannot be underestimated. For instance, you need to know how long it will be on air. If it is for a long time, you don't want to try too hard with tracks that people may tire of. There are so many missed opportunities." An example of working together can be seen in Grey Worldwide's relationship with Schtung. Over the three years the two worked on Procter & Gamble's Pantene shampoo account, 12 songs were composed and produced . They will now be marketed as a CD. Producing a CD is increasingly offering brands a way to extend their marketing and branding activities deeper into the lives of consumers. In the US, Toyota launched a US$160 million campaign to improve the sex appeal of the country's best-selling car, the Camry. Music featured prominently in the campaign which included TV spots, inflight ads, billboards, online links and magazine spreads. Toyota has also looked at producing a CD with entertainers such as Jennifer Lopez, Lyle Lovett, and Earth, Wind & Fire, plus artists' interviews and information about the Camry. Further proof of Toyota's growing musical credentials is its sponsorship of this year's MTV and VH1 music awards. In Asia, change began a few years ago when international music celebrities were used to help sell products. And, in many cases they still do. Motorola was one of a slew of mega-brands to use Moby globally. Jaguar featured the Sting song Desert Rain and Epson tied in with the Bon Jovi track It's my life, to name a few. However, as brands try to localise, it would seem that the days of the young and beautiful celebrities are drawing to an end. In their place, local bands - short on looks but high on energy - boasting a local following and with a repertoire of original compositions have stepped in. Having recognised this trend, brands are scouring bars and music studios, looking to break in local acts, sign them on early in their careers and - along the way - share their limelight as theband's popularity soars. Into this tantalising mix come the record companies, which work with youth-oriented brands to sign up these artists, who will help companies deliver campaigns that drive straight into the heart of Asian youth culture. A recent landmark study into marketing to Asia's youth by Filter and Asia Market Intelligence called "Digital Tribes" found that youth 'tribal' tendencies are particularly strong in music, sport, fashion and technology. The survey was conducted by interviewing just under 10,000 people aged 15 to 64 in 20 cities. "Our hypothesis is that youth form membership of a number of different special interest groups or tribes. The intensity of membership is best measured by establishing how passionate they are to each tribe," says Filter founder Ian Stewart. "Youth with highly passionate membership of a tribe will have built their lifestyle around their tribe's characteristics. Brands wishing to reach these consumers would also have to adopt the tribe's character to form relationships with youth." Music offers a defining way for tribes to differentiate themselves from one another. Among the different music genres, hip-hop has emerged as the choice of the youth generation, revealing the attitude of tribal members. "One implication we found was that it is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to send out generic marketing messages. Brand communication must adopt tribal tendencies to connect," says Stewart. The use of local music to communicate brand messages is a clear example of how brands are becoming more localised. Universal Music recognised this trend and is running with the ball in the race to discover and sign up tomorrow's hottest name. It's a win-win investment strategy, according to the music label: it helps discover new talent, sign them up, get them promoted for free by a brand and count the cash when CD sales take off. "There's a new generation emerging who understands that the easiest way to localise is to use a local artist," says Universal Music Asia-Pacific vice-president of creative services and corporate communications, Hans Ebert. "The challenge is to find more alternative and up-and-coming young acts." Urban Xchange has been described as the perfect fit for Coca-Cola, but by and large it's not easy finding original local acts. The brand found just five acts to audition in over one year. "We were able to identify an up-and-coming musical talent right on the cusp of being discovered. Our relationship has meant visibility for them and local relevance to youth for Coke," explains Coke's agency McCann-Erickson Singapore managing director Ray Dempsey. "Urban Xchange is now the most successful band in Singapore and the band is tied to Coke." Another brand that is banking on music, though not necessarily a genre likely to fire up youth passions, is Pacific Century Cyberworks. The Hong Kong-based communications service company recently launched a multi-million dollar television campaign centred on music in China for its 1010 mobile telephone brand. The 60-second spot features China's former child protege, classical pianist, Yundi Li, who at the age of just 17 won the prestigious Frederick Chopin Piano Competition. "We chose Li because he is the best in the world. We thought he was appropriate because he represents what 1010 is trying to achieve - to be the best," says Euro RSCG Partnership vice-president for Grand China Anthony Wong, who handles the 1010 account. While 1010 is not necessarily trying to become relevant to China's youth through an edgy, angst-ridden performance, what it does reveal is the rising tide in the use of local artists. But the music at the cutting edge for brands going after the youth market lies, as evidenced by Filter's piece of research, with hip-hop. CD sales of international artists Eminem and Limp Bizkit in Asia hit a million units each and seems to be driving the growth of a new home-grown brand of music. "The market in Asia is changing. It is moving away from Cantopop and ballads. You just need to go to the clubs where the kids are hanging out. Brands don't want mainstream acts now, but really new breaking acts," says Ebert. Universal recently collaborated with Levi Strauss Asia-Pacific on its recent 11-market, in-store campaign called 'Fresh Cuts', which features the music of Universal's newest and most innovative acts, both local and international, from the US' Alien Ant Farm to Japanese hip-hop act Dabo. Compiled on a monthly basis, the information on the artists is given out in stores and featured in programmes. CDs of the music showcased in the stores will also be sold. "The idea is to create an association with new and experimental music," says Levi's agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific, Chris Harris. "It is creating a new in-store experience. Kids now don't want slogans. Instead there are breaks, play lists and music chat. "The music is all original and features local artists. We have moved on from the day of the jingle. There is now a need to entertain and engage which requires music and visual communication."

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