Branding and Hip Hop Culture: Product Placement in Musical Audio Data
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School of Business and Management A330A0500 Strategic Brand Management Peter Spier Branding and Hip Hop Culture: Product Placement in Musical Audio Data Extended Essay Assignment 18th May 2016 Aljoša Jankov 0457355 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND BASIC PREMISES .......................................... 2 2.1 Business concepts ................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Socio-economic theories ........................................................................................ 4 2.3 Attributes of Hip Hop Culture .................................................................................. 4 3 MACRO ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH PHENOMENON ........................................ 6 4 MICRO ANALYSIS OF THE RESEARCH PHENOMENON ......................................... 8 4.1 Types of Influences on Brand Images .................................................................... 8 4.1.1 Cases of Positive Influence ............................................................................. 8 4.1.2 Cases of Negative Influence ............................................................................ 9 4.1.3 Cases of Controversial or hard-to-determine Influence ................................. 10 4.2 Detail Analysis of Influence on Ralph Lauren and McDonald’s ............................ 12 5 CASES OF CLASHES BETWEEN COMPANIES ....................................................... 14 AND ARTISTS ............................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Personal Branding as the integrated part of Hip Hop: the case of Rick Ross ....... 15 6 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 17 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 20 Appendix 1. The evaluation of the influence of Product Placement in Hip Hop audio data on the brand image of Ralph Lauren .............................................................. 25 Appendix 2. The evaluation of the influence of Product Placement in Hip Hop audio data on the brand image of McDonald’s ................................................................. 26 0 1 INTRODUCTION The way how people consume music has been constantly shaped by technological trends. Internet streaming services are gradually replacing the traditional radio broadcast channels, and this change leaves no place for advertisement in between songs for most of the users. (Station Resource Group 2010) If companies aim to continue the promotion via audio data as a tool of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), they will most likely have to rely on other methods, one of them being the product placement in music. The ‘embedded marketing’ in movies and music videos is a very common subject, however the product placement in music as solely the audio data seem to be a research field that don’t receive enough attention. Mainstream Hip hop music is known for lyrics that include mentioning brand names in pursuit of status transfer that the artists gain by brand association. While certain brands do hold endorsement contracts with some artists, most of the artists promote various brands for free, which is a very interesting phenomenon. The referred goods are mostly the high-end fashion clothing, and car products, but some wealthy service providers, food chains and luxurious geographical regions also get their advertisement. This figures as a potential leverage material for the companies that operate in a b2c market segment, but hardly for b2b, like the regular product placement. The purpose of this research is to investigate this phenomenon from the point of view of companies, artists and the consumers, in an attempt to determine effects on each party, in the terms of brand images they hold. The potential connections for developing the feasible business relationships between them will also be examined. The idolaters of Neo-liberalism believe that the poor population looks up to and follows the ways of wealthy ones. This theory could explain why Hip Hop artists gain such a popularity among people whose purchasing power doesn’t allow them to use the merchandise embedded in the song lyrics. It could also explain why this music induces in the fans wants, or at least awareness of the mentioned products. Since ‘rapping’ as a form of artistic expression is more similar to talking than singing, brand name-dropping within lyrical stories could even be observed as a strong Word of Mouth (WOM) Marketing, and social proof stands as the most credible way of recommendation. When 1 compared to other musical genres, the greatest quantity of words per song and its braggadocio tone in the majority of songs is what makes hip hop unique. Those attributes are also the main reasons why hip hop listeners more than any other need to buy into the personal brand of the artist and his brand story, in order to prefer him among other artists. Since the beginnings in 1980s, the common brand character of a rapper went through a lot of drastic changes, but some elements remained the same till present. According to Spotify’s data analysis of 20 billion streamed tracks in 2015, Hip Hop music is the World’s most listened to genre. (Independent 2015) For better or worse, the brand value trade-off between companies and the artists continues unceasingly, with Hip Hop positioned in the center of Pop Culture, and its influence on youth stronger than ever. 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND BASIC PREMISES This chapter will introduce the reader with some business concepts, socio-economic theories and attributes of hip hop culture, followed by implications on which the research is built upon. Understanding this basis is necessary for the full comprehension of the empirical part of the research. If a company wants to enhance, control or just protect their brand image from the way how it is presented through Hip Hop lyrics, it first must get the idea what Hip Hop Culture represents today, and how does their brand fit into brand stories of the artists who mention it – the Rappers. 2.1 Business concepts Brand represents an image of a company that consumers have in their mind first when they think about the company, its products or anything related. Brand image is created by the company’s design, logo, symbol or any form of communication. Employees, customers themselves and every company’s associate are the agents of brand. Brand also represents something that differentiates the company, gives it credibility, and can be used to help consumers as a shortcut in a purchasing decision-making process. (Businessdictionary 2016) 2 Branding can be simply interpreted as efforts made to control the brand image. “The Onion Model” for mapping the brand value suggests that brands are consisted out of layers, resembling the structure of onion. One variation of the model puts brand’s cultural meaning as the surface layer, then its community meaning, and finally the individual meaning for each consumer as a core value. (Millwardbrown 2012) Product Placement or “Embedded Marketing” is an advertising technique that subtly promotes the company’s products, by integrating them in movies, TV shows, or other media. (Businessdictionary 2016) The brand name-dropping in Hip Hop music fits the subtleness requirement from this definition when the brand names are spoken through slang words. However, mentioning the exact brand names without inviting listeners to buy the product also differs from direct selling, even though it’s not so subtle. Marketing Communication mix is a combination of tools such as advertising, sales, promotion, direct and digital marketing, public relations and personal selling. Each company should find a mix that creates a clear, compelling and consistent brand messages. (Armstrong & Kotler 2015, 396-397) Streaming services usually play ads only to non-premium users, which is why product placement in audio data can become more significant subject. Music influence on the consumer appeals on the cognitive, emotional and behavioral basis, with regards to his attitude and perception and current emotional state. It has been proven that consumers spend more in the retail markets if happy, positive songs are played, especially the ones they already know and like. (Zeeshan & Obaid 2011, 56, 61) Slow-tempo music is also found to make consumers spend more, and stay longer in the store. (Pham 2014, 12) Since the research subject isn’t focused on retail and sales, but rather selling and shaping the brand images, these factors might differ. However, if a song fits the description it will be taken that it has a positive effect on consumer’s perception of the utilized brands, since it creates a receptive atmosphere