I attended Hippiefest in Atlanta over the weekend. I grew up attending sports and music events. My father was the lead Atlanta-based executive for the Atlanta Braves in the 1960’s and needing to add additional events in Atlanta Stadium, he put on dozens of major events in the 60’s and 70’s including my first concert, The Beatles. I, like most of the Hippiefest crowd, was reveling in memories of an era that was greatly defined and inspired by music. Hippiefest seems like a great opportunity to reconnect and capture the 45 year-old plus consumer. I would have bought a VW bus on the spot.

The evolution of technology has elevated the need for music to partner with sponsors. The sophistication of the partnerships is still catching up with sports, but the opportunity is considerable due to music’s ability to create consumer passion. Music is a powerful medium because it’s seamless, supports and defines personal identity and grows virally. The key to success, as in sports, will be for properties to deliver benefits that can naturally produce consumer engagement. There are great examples of sponsors and music partnering to create valuable experiences for fans, and while successfully meeting corporate objectives. As fun as it was at Hippiefest, I was looking to connect with a sponsor because they would have added huge value to the experience.

A few of the upcoming notables in the music world I’m paying attention to are the Eagles new album and their first studio release since 1979, Paolo Nutini, the Scottish sensation, and IMF, the music feed that is making international music accessible and hot to the youth of America with bands like Koldproduk from South Africa and their video “Hush” to be a major hit.

Please email me with any thoughts on this post or ideas you want to share.

Terry Cecil
President
ISC