When you think of marketing and music, what comes to mind?
Music is all around us, but it usually plays a secondary role in marketing. From short tunes to catchy jingles. .
But here at Malaberg, music plays a much deeper role.
Among our team of writers, you’ll find drummers, guitarists and trumpeters. Two even have first-class degrees in music from the University of Oxford.
Coincidence? We think not.
In fact, there are many crucial parallels between music and successful marketing:
- Music Hooks Your Attention
What do all hit songs have in common? In most cases, they hook your attention within the first few seconds. Using a short unique intro, which jolts the listener awake.
Listen to the first 5 seconds of ‘Shake It Off’ (Taylor Swift), ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ (Britney Spears), or ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ (Shakira).
In advertising, these arresting openings are called a pattern interrupt. They jolt the reader awake, and ‘hook’ their attention. Every successful advert starts with a unique idea that makes you want to keep reading.
- Music Touches People On An Emotional Level
Why do so many people love music? In most cases, because it connects with them emotionally.
The best songs can make us laugh, cry and move us to act differently. In the same way, advertising tries to influence people on an emotional level.
That’s why master copywriter Dan Kennedy swears by the “5 Emotional Drivers Of Buying Behaviour.”
Remember: people act on emotion. If your content doesn’t touch them on an emotional level, it will be much harder to persuade them.
- Music Uses ‘Big Ideas’
In marketing, the strongest messages are called big ideas. Big ideas do more than sell a product, they cut through the noise to change the way consumers think. Crucially, big ideas must be unique.
So how do you make a big idea?
Advertising icon James Webb Young says big ideas are “a new combination of old elements”
Some of the world’s most popular songs use only 3 to 4 chords, a few common instruments, and lyrics in very basic English. Yet they are combined in such a way that touches millions of people.
In the same way, powerful big ideas are found by combining old ideas. So, like musicians, the best marketers are always looking to combine old things in new ways.
So there you have it – music brings many valuable assets to Malaberg’s marketing strategy.
It all comes back to what David Ogilvy says all marketers need: “a richly furnished mind.”
After all, he says – “you can’t bore people into buying your product!”
And if you have a restlessly creative and curious mind, plus a desire to make an impact…
The Malaberg Team
