These days, big brands continue to make use of iconic Classic Rock songs (and the artists that made them famous) for the soundtracks of their ads. And TV and filmmakers often rely on these evergreen tunes to shape the emotions of their programs and movies. This longstanding trend is often the centerpiece of Paul’s presentations to Classic Rock radio sales staffs, reminding them of the power and influence this music continues to have on today’s consumers.
The Rolling Stones have often been in the forefront in licensing their music (and their brand) to advertisers. A couple months back, we blogged about Classic Rock’s “Power Of Now” as “Sympathy For The Devil” was a featured song in the animated hit, The Secret Life Of Pets.
In fact, the Stones were the first band to sell advertising rights for title sponsorship of a tour. Their American Tour in 1981 coincided with the release of their now-classic Tattoo You album. It turned out to be the highest grossing tour that year, and for the several years that followed.
One of the things that set it apart was the sponsorship of Jōvan Musk, a product that seemingly had little connection to the Stones’ image. Jōvan paid $1 million for the privilege of being associated with the tour, beginning a precedent that has been repeated and amplified these past 35 years.
And the Stones’ music continues to have great presence in films and TV to this day. The new campaign for Hilton Hotels – “Stop Clicking Around” leverages “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” as its soundtrack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JLoX6Dp20o
The spot encourages travelers to use the Hilton.com website to get the best rates, rather than wasting time hunting, pecking, and “clicking around” on generic travel websites. The London agency Fold7 created the campaign, and were very confident about the Stones. And they’d better be because the cost of licensing a song like “Satisfaction” can be as high as $100,000.
As Hilton’s Chief Marketing Officer, Geraldine Calpin, explained to Advertising Age,
“The testing was off the charts – every age and demographic love that track.”
But Hilton is nowhere near the first advertiser to license a Stones song. It’s been happening for years. In fact, Kellogg’s commissioned the band to write an original song for a Rice Krispies TV commercial. The campaign was called “Juke Box, ”and it was created by J. Walter Thompson. The only thing truly remarkable about the spot was when it was produced.
It was in 1964.
The spot was recently unearthed by the Daily Mail, and the story was covered by the Detroit Free Press. Neither Kellogg’s nor the Stones commented on the spot, probably because there’s no one left in Battle Creek who was around when the campaign was created. As for the Stones, Mick and Keith might blame it on the late Brian Jones who co-wrote the song (Jones is second from right in the old picture at the top of this post).
J. Walter and Kellogg’s were way ahead of their time as more than half a century later, the Stones are still – far and away – a great marketing vehicle. And so is Classic Rock.
Snap! Crackle! Rock!
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Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Even if there is no one left in Battle Creek who was working there in ’64, I’ll wager there’s no one who was around Battle Creek in 1964 who even KNEW about it! No one at JWT London needed to ask permission from Battle Creek; suspect by the time the folks here heard about this campaign, that flight done flown!
Russ, that sounds plausible. They were probably still trying to get their heads around the Beach Boys! Thanks for the comment.
Love this!