The effects of music on a brand has been explored widely and applied successfully by companies like Converse, Coca Cola, Marriott Hotel and even Wendy’s. Companies are able to speak to a great number of individuals instantly, and without seeming to be marketing at all, thanks to the power of music. Music has proven to be a beneficial tool for these companies in an effort to increase customer engagement and build their brand.
A brilliant example that generated the support and attention, which can teach many companies about marketing with music, comes from a Halifax singer, Dave Carroll. Carroll used music to explain his frustrating experience with a major airline, who damaged his guitar and refused to pay for the repairs.
Music gave Carroll the ability to reach a range of audiences, including everyday customers and the airline industry, and became a cautionary tale for everyday companies.
“United Breaks Guitars” achieved a number of things for Dave Carroll and his band. Firstly, Carroll spoke directly to those who had experienced the same frustration in a way that they found highly engaging and humorously honest. Secondly, it made him into a king amongst his fellow customers for the inventive way that he provided United Airlines with feedback (he has over 15 million views on YouTube, to date). Lastly, he learned that music has the potential to help companies increase customer engagement when he said “You can move people and bring authenticity to any message” (Forbes).
What’s most interesting from this experience is how the company responded to Mr Carroll’s music video sensation; they wrote a letter. As you can imagine this wasn’t as widely shared as the viral video complaint, which prompts the question: Why didn’t United Airlines respond with a song? That’s the beauty of content; it’s changing every minute and sometimes a letter just doesn’t cut the mustard.
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Follow @TunedGlobalOn a side note, the guitar company Taylor Guitars, which was the brand of guitar that Carroll owned and was damaged by the airline, responded to his video with another video:
In addition to the support from Bob at Taylor Guitars, Dave Carroll also received a new guitar to replace the one that was damaged.
On the other side of the fence, Ted Talks created a fantastic musical video that could easily have been a long-winded, serious and boring manual that’s downloadable from their website. The result is a relatable, funny and informative clip that was shared with their 5 million viewers to engage with their customer.
No doubt this video explained the difficulty of giving a Ted Talk to audience members, reminding them of the pressures these talkers face, and reinstated in Ted Talk presenters that they’re not alone in their Ted Talk insecurities.
By using music, Dave Carroll and Ted Talks have managed to increase customer engagement through authentic and relatable musical content. Applying music to your brand could be as simple as singing your customer’s praises and authentic marketing through music.
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