Have you seen the new video for Clean Bandit's latest single 'Stronger'? And did you know that the chart topping quadrate teamed up with Microsoft to create it? Well, late last year Clean Bandit challenged popular YouTube creators from across Europe to make a short video of their hit single 'Rather Be'. Each Youtube creator was tasked with not only attempting to put their own unique spin on the video, but also shoot it using a Lumia mobile device. The winner would then help to create Clean Bandit's new music video, and the band would do a few TV ads. Simple enough right? However, it's amazing how even the most basic of brand partnerships can go so wrong! But hey, I am not that mean, so let's first talk about the positive aspects of the hook up .........before I tear it apart!
The Good
Warner Music, Clean Bandit's record label, and Microsoft were targeting this campaign at three main groups; Existing Nokia users, Clean Bandit's fanbase and European vlogger fans. With any brand partnership, the partnership must be mutually beneficial. In other words, both parties need to get something out of the relationship. In 2014 Clean Bandit had huge success with their break through single 'Rather Be', amassing over a quarter of a billion views on YouTube. By partnering themselves with a band with proven popularity, Microsoft were potentially giving their new product exposure to the millions of people who would watch Clean Bandit's next music video. It was a no brainer for Microsoft; a huge number of people seeing their latest product without shelling out loads on advertising #winning - well at least that was the idea. Furthermore, having done research on existing Lumia users, Microsoft discovered that music was a huge part of their lives. So through this partnership Microsoft hoped to convert existing users into "advocates" of the brand; who in time would sell the phone for Microsoft through positive word of mouth. In this respect, Microsoft were not only trying to increase brand awareness, they also wanted to improve Lumia's brand image. Brand image represents the associations that are activated in memory when people think of a particular brand. So in this case, Microsoft wants 'music' to appear in our "associative network" when we think of their phone. But Microsoft were not the only ones benefiting from this partnership, Clean bandit also had a vested interest in collaborating on this campaign.
Despite achieving huge international acclaim for their single 'Rather Be', Clean Bandit's international album sales were extremely disappointing. So in order to remedy a lack of a solid overseas fanbase, Warner and Microsoft targeted an European audience. The idea was that mainland Europeans would be exposed to the band and their music via their favourite vloggers. By today's standards vloggers are the new celebrities, does the name Zoella ring any bells? So tapping into their huge online followings would be good for any band, and in this instance, also gave Microsoft a very subtle way of advertising its product. In this form of content marketing, fans were exposed to the functionality of the phone and the band's music without so much as a 'google ad' or a click here link!
Looking at a positive aspect of the campaign as a whole, it encouraged public participation via social media. The vlogger's fans were able to assist their favourite YouTuber by sharing their own ideas on the re-imagined 'Rather Be' video, via social networks using the hashtag #lumiamusic. This is good because as I explained in the Drake article, which I know you have already read *wink*, we as consumers respond better to marketing campaigns that we can interact with. Furthermore, the primary focus on social media marketing meant a larger, younger audience could be reached. This was particularly important for Microsoft as these adolescents may not yet have a specific brand of choice when it comes mobile phones, especially while they are still withdrawing money from the bank of Mum and Dad.
So all in all, on the surface, this looks like a good campaign. The choice of subtle advertising over the all too obvious product placement is refreshing. However, whilst theoretical this partnership seems perfect, in practice there were some major flaws.
The Bad
The problem with most of these types of partnerships is the non-musical partner's overestimation of the clout or popularity of their musical associate. Indeed, Clean Bandit did have a massive single, but are still a relatively new band who are yet to fully establish themselves in the music world. In other words, one hit single with a quarter of a billion views on YouTube does not mean future videos will be as successful. Stars like One direction, Rihanna and Taylor Swift can rest safe in the knowledge that their latest music video will garner at least 100 million views on YouTube. Clean bandit on the other hand can not. Clean Bandit's new song is likely to achieve 10 million views which will predominantly come from the domestic market. Now you may say 10 million is nothing to sniff your nose at, but when taking into account that this is a new product launch that is being marketed globally, these are not the numbers that the fat cats at Microsoft would hope for. But the underestimation of the music video's reach is not the main problem facing this partnership going forward, its Clean Bandit themselves!
The Ugly
The best brand partnerships are those whereby the two parties' brand image or personalities compliment one another. Let's take UK rapper Professor Green's relationship with Puma for example. This partnership worked well given Puma’s efforts to become the sports brand of choice for urban music and fashion loving teenagers. Whether or not you truly believe that Green represents 'the streets' is another matter, but based on his style and young urban fanbase, this partnership makes sense! Throwing a little bit of theory into the mix (don't worry, it's straight forward and interes.....well....relevant anyway!); According to the principle of 'cognitive consistency', we value harmony among our thoughts, feelings, behaviours and those people or things around us. Based on this premise, brand partnerships are more effective when there's a logical connection between the star and the product. However, I am hard pushed to find a logical connection between Microsoft and Clean Bandit.
It also seems the partners have given little, or no thought to what this partnership would do for their brand image, or in Clean Bandit's case, in creating one to start with! When you think of Beyonce, you think sexy, great singer, cool, fashionable, great dancer.. need I go on? But when I think of Clean Bandit I only think about their music. To put it as nicely as possible, Clean bandit have as much personality as a packet of Sainsbury's basic pasta, (well I tried). Brand partners are meant to pass on their attributes to one another so as to make whatever they are selling more attractive. Far from making the Lumia seem more exciting, the band's association with it makes the phone seem anything but! Particularly with the current phone market being dominated by Apple and Samsung, Microsoft need to cultivate a distinctive position within it if they hope to lure 'apple-holics' away from their precious iPhones. But choosing Clean Bandit to help them do this, for me at least, has only served to increase my love of Samsung.
In my opinion, Clean Bandit first need to work on selling themselves before thinking about selling anything else. Also big brands like Microsoft need to stop focusing on numbers when picking future music partners. When it comes to these types of partners they should look more at their qualitative attributes. Had they done this originally, Microsoft may have opted to team up with a group like Rudimental rather than a band made up four people with heaps of musical ability but are as interesting as Windows 95. Have a look for yourself!
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