Music videos are the most popular videos shared on the web. Although these videos are widely available and shared, music videos don’t function to sell albums the way they used to. Online streaming has become the most popular music medium thanks to platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. Instead of creating music videos to sell an album, artists team up with brands to create music videos that function for both parties. This Two for Tuesday, we will be looking at two of these partnerships.
OK Go and Chevrolet
The band OK Go knows how to make a viral video. In 2006, their “Treadmill Video” for the song “Here It Goes Again” had over 1 million views in six days. Their 2012 video for “Needing/Getting” was just as viral, but it had one additional element going for it: the video doubled as a Chevrolet commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl. Only a short snippet of the video was played during the game, and viewers were prompted to go to the Chevrolet YouTube page to check out the full video. The ad itself was part of the Chevrolet “Let’s Do This” campaign in order to launch the Chevrolet Sonic.
In the video, the four band members appear in a Sonic; the car is outfitted with retractable arms that allow OK Go to pound out the tune to their song on a driving course lined with a variety of musical instruments. This video was a win-win for Chevrolet and Ok Go, as Chevrolet was looking to target Millennials, and OK Go was able to produce another creative video that their fans had come to expect of them.
Beyonce and Pepsi
In 2012, Beyonce and Pepsi formed a creative partnership opportunity that furthered her relationship with the brand. Although Beyonce has been involved with Pepsi since 2002, this deal included funding for Beyonce to support creative projects of her own choosing, in addition to appearing in traditional advertising mediums. The April 2013 “Mirrors” Pepsi commercial featured Beyonce (and obviously Pepsi) very heavily, but it also featured a sneak peak of Beyonce’s yet-to-be released at the time song, “Grown Woman.” Although not technically a music video, it functioned as a teaser trailer for Beyonce’s next project. This ad was part of Pepsi’s “Live for Now” campaign, a tagline that Beyonce was able to apply to herself after looking at her past selves; at the end, Beyonce declares she is going to “live for now” (she is a “grown woman” after all). This partnership allows Pepsi to be recognized as a somewhat artistic patron, and Beyonce is able to use the brand and its funds to make her own projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cb07li2iiI
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[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://wpmaster.sjadv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Our-Space-The-San-Jose-Group.png[/author_image] [author_info]Jenny is a Junior Executive at SJG. She earned her BA in Psychology and a minor in Educational Studies in 2014 from Colgate University. Outside the office, Jenny loves to travel (usually to Disney World), bake and watch copious amounts of TLC.[/author_info] [/author]