Brands unite for ‘summer of music’

The Sun, the UK’s most popular newspaper, and Coca-Cola, the world’s most recognisable brand, are teaming up with the record industry in a massive promotional push to target the UK’s youth market.

Industry insiders predict Music4you will be the “consumer promotion of 2001” – a boast which could put the noses of Walkers Crisps executives out of joint.

The snack giant has just teamed up with News International and the book industry, for its third successive year of Free Books for Schools, with this year’s campaign believed to have a budget close to &£10m.

Music4you is likely to be much bigger than that. But it will work in a similar way to Free Books for Schools, targeting a market of 16- to 24-year-olds in a campaign that will involve rock and pop celebrities.

Besides giving away free CDs and merchandise, it will also target the community. Consumers, for example, will be able to nominate a school choir that doesn’t have anywhere to practise and winners will be chosen on a regular basis throughout the campaign from May to August.

The rippling effects of TV advertising, 450 million newspapers, 550 million Coke cans, and direct marketing should result in immediate benefits for all sides.

But industry sources close to Music4you promotion have suggested record company executives were initially unhappy with the way the promotion was to be worded. It was argued that using the word “free”, as in the Walkers campaign, would devalue the product.

The source says: “There was disquiet among some publishers about using the word ‘free’ for books, but the campaign went ahead and has gone on to be very successful.

“The same concerns were raised about using the words ‘free music’. The very tone of it was thought to diminish the value of the product.

“That’s now been changed and the music industry is very much behind the promotion.”

Tesco, which has been running a Tesco Computers for Schools promotion for the past ten years, freely admits the millions of pounds that it has spent over the past decade has not provided a “drive in sales”.

This has provoked divisions within the management of the company.

A Tesco spokesman says: “There are people within the company who question why we are actually doing it.

“But, it does encourage customer loyalty and shows we are putting something back into the community. It also means it gives Tesco a stable customer base in a highly competitive industry.”

Newspapers are facing a trend of declining sales and soft drinks manufacturers are desperate to appeal to young and trendy consumers.

By promoting their brands through music, they hope to get the customer loyalty they crave.