Close your eyes. Listen to the music.” With those instructions, I heard a haunting — and, yet, soothing — sound of an alto flute being played in the background and, with it, I was “visually” transported into an outdoor environment a world of nature and greenery and all is this with my eyes shut. It was an unprecedented and an unforgettable experience, thanks to a remarkable flautist — playing an instrument popularised by jazz legends such as Herbie Mann, Joe Farrell, Eric Dolphy, and Hubert Laws — by the name of Rajeev Raja, who I was personally witnessing performing on his flute for only the second time although, I may clarify here, but not as part of a band.
The first time around was equally vivid though, a day prior to Mumbai’s iconic and popular music retail outlet, Rhythm House, downing its shutters on February 29 when, on the previous Sunday, there was an opportunity of reliving nostalgia for patrons and for musicians like Rajeev, who performed vocals and flute on a specially composed track with a group of musicians, appropriately titled ‘Rhythm House Blues’, which spoke of: “The music never died at this Rhythm House in town / You know it ain’t over as the shutters come down”.
But that was then, and this is now, as Rajeev enlightened me about my experience of “visualising” music. “When sound and music are designed to evoke a brand’s persona and values,” he explained, “the connect with the consumer works at a far deeper level, helping them ‘experience’ a brand in deeper, emotional terms.” With that, Rajeev, who has over 25 years of work experience in the advertising industry, explained the genesis behind his business venture, BrandMusiq, which believes that just as visual identity is consistent across all consumer touchpoints, so should a sonic identity be consistent across all consumer ‘earpoints’” — a term coined by Rajeev.
What Rajeev brought to my attention is that in today’s fast-moving and evolving markets, brands need to make an emotional connect with consumers beyond just a visual impact but, the question here is, how do you achieve it It remains obvious that there is no easy answer, but what BrandMusiq does is provide a key — G, Rajeev — something that exists around us, but is oft forgotten: music. Utilised effectively, BrandMusiq’s original compositions convey whether the brand is romantic and sensual, friendly and family-centric, indulgent and luxurious whatever all without hearing a word or seeing a picture!
What lessons, or reminders, can marketers take from this Music in marketing is not just part of a passive background and, with licensing popular songs for ads heading in the direction of passé, Rajeev’s BrandMusiq, along with partner Ajit Varma, is the agency having a track record of going a step further with music and demonstrating to brands that, for targeting consumers, making tunes is a meaningful part of marketing DNA.
In my opinion, it was only a matter of time before music became a differentiator and innovator and, especially with the internet becoming an integral part of our family now which, undeniably, has culminated into the phenomenon of ‘music branding’, keeping in mind that it supports a long-term connect with emotions, experiences, exclusivity, entertainment, and engagement though not necessarily in that order.
Music branding is a freshly established branding strategy which is applied in global and local plans and, to support this initiative, BrandMusiq has created a “music logo” or MOGO, surrounded by a MOGOSCAPE, a sonic palate for the brand, all in support of changing consumer behaviour wherein music branding enable the emotional engagement of customers by awaking associations, generating emotions, and increasing “sympathy” towards brands. As an innovative branding strategy tool, music branding offers an appropriate solution by creating genuine engagement between customers and brands and, since the days in 2008 when the concept was first discussed by Rajeev and his initial partner, Mani, BrandMusiq eventually became a reality only in 2012.
In a span of four years, there are more clients now than ever before who are convinced about consumers being receptive to MOGOs and, those effectively utilising BrandMusiq as part of their respective advertising strategies, include consumer brands such as Cadbury and Johnson & Johnson, banks such as HDFC and Standard Chartered, and even the high flying Vistara.
Keeping in mind the tremendous impact that this unique branding concept — and the music exclusively performed for me — has had, I can see its future moving way beyond just marketing to, perhaps, even perking up patients’ health through the sound of music!
The writer has been part of the media and entertainment business for over 23 years. He still continues to pursue his hobby, and earns an income out of it.
