Country Music Artists: From Selling Songs to Selling Brands
Over the years, various brands—from beer, cosmetics, apparel, and others—have fallen all over themselves trying to get the biggest country acts to sign up and team with them for effective nationwide marketing campaigns. Some of these partnerships produced the most memorable ad campaigns that we know today.
Anyone who understands what marketing is should easily understand such a phenomenon. The main reasons why country acts are proven to be effective product sellers are because of their bankability and mass appeal—the same things that have propelled them to music stardom. However, while it is easy to simply offer loads of money to any artist just to convince them to endorse any product, there is actually a more sophisticated process that must be followed, and it has a lot to do with brand positioning.
The key is to look for the right artist who can best embody the product and exemplify the values associated with it. Then, in coming up with the perfect partnership, marketing experts must consider the artist’s credibility. Would he or she really use the product being sold? Would it be believable? Next, marketing experts must consider the target market and if the artist also covers that market. Finally, they also have to consider whether or not they have something to offer the artist such that the endorsement will be beneficial for both parties. Once the perfect recipe is completed, the partnership will certainly be a huge success.
Let’s take a look at two of the most recent product endorsement deals signed by country music’s biggest acts.
Jason Aldean and Wrangler
Nothing is more all-American than a good ol’ pair of jeans; and when it comes to jeans, Wrangler has carved a name for itself as a dependable and inexpensive brand—not too trendy but still cool. As the brand’s spokesperson, Aldean will appear in a massive nationwide campaign including radio and TV spots as well as print ads that will prominently display the “rugged, country appeal” of Wrangler Western Wear’s new line of jeans, a team up that many say are a match made in denim heaven. Pundits say that Aldean is like a modern George Strait, cool and understated, the exact values the brand wishes to promote. According to the marketing executives over at Wrangler Western Wear, “Jason Aldean’s style, attitude, and phenomenal musical talent make him an exciting and natural match for this collection, and he has been a Wrangler favorite for a long time.”
Rascall Flatts and JC Penney
Yet another act to have signed a deal with a famous apparel brand is supergroup Rascal Flatts. The multi-platinum selling artists have carried their signature country sound and distinct rugged look to all their concerts. According to Michael Marto, President and CEO of Executive Visions Inc., the company hired by JCPenney to mastermind the campaign, “The thing that attracted us to Rascal Flatts is the fact that not only are they the No. 1 group across all genres of music but also they have many fans who are females 18-35, which is a customer we’re trying to grow our base with. It didn’t take a lot of research to figure out that they were hitting right in the sweet spot of our target demographic.”
