South Africa has its first music strategy agency developed out of the realisation that brands need help navigating the intersection between music, culture and marketing.
Heemal Gangaram, who will lead The Racket Club Music Division, says music is “one of the most powerful cultural connectors between brands and audiences, but too often brands treat it as an afterthought”.
Grant Fleming, founder of The Racket Club, recounts how they “kept seeing the same pattern brands want to be part of music culture because of its reach and influence, but they often approach it without a deep understanding of how the industry works”.
Gangaram co-founded Ganja Beatz, producing for artists such as Cassper Nyovest, Riky Rick, PHFAT and Kyle Deutsch. He has also worked on campaigns for brands including Budweiser, Samsung, MTV Base and Cell C.
Together, Gangaram and Fleming are determined to change the tune, keeping brands in step with the right music choices.
Understanding the nuances
They talk to how some car brands completely misalign their partnerships and and content execution. Certain retailer brands attempt at being cool and often don’t resonate with their audience. They lean in to a more cheesy/generic approach rather than authenticity to sell their product.
“Then there are some FMCG brands that have latched onto music from a campaign perspective with executions not picked up by consumers because they have not done the research into the genres and music space,” they told The Media Online.
“The idea on paper may have seemed good or from a writing perspective had a great play off the tongue but the execution would have fallen flat. It’s these nuances that separate average or below par work from excellent work in the music space.”
As Fleming says, “I think one of the biggest missteps is aiming for reach over relevance, especially now when there is this fight for authenticity, and the consumer is so much more aware of what’s going on. Sure, you want to be able to measure some success and hit metrics but there is a fine line here between relevance and reach and so many opt for reach which gets them nothing but some pretty metrics.”
Music an afterthought
Brands/agencies also don’t include music specialists in the work from the get-go. It’s an afterthought, and by doing this, many opportunities are missed. This is a defining and BIG factor which is what we really are trying to beat with our offering and new division.”
Fleming says another mistake is being the first to jump on trends – which don’t necessarily reflect the brand.
“Example: You are a skater brand, and skaters are hypothetically into HipHop and indie rock but you jump onto Amapiano because its South Africa’s biggest music export right now… Mistake: You are not understanding your audience, which means your actual real audience won’t notice and hear this (or move past it even quicker).
“Or for instance, one month it’s jumping on the latest trending audio, and the next its’ cheap stock audio. This all sends mixed signals to a consumer or your audience. There are plenty of other from music selection at events, to campaign work…”
Vanity metrics not enough
Fleming says the music space operates differently to the advertising space and move at different paces, speak different languages and that vanity metrics are not enough.
“Brands trust their agencies and those they work with to get this right and a deeper understanding is required to get this right which only experience can lend itself towards,” he says.
The agency promises to craft a ‘sonic identity’ for brands. Gangaram explains. “Think about it as a brand strategy with sound. A visual Identity uses logos, colours etc. Sonic identities use textures, soundscapes and essentially sound to create something memorable to either tap into the emotion of a consumer or to leave a lasting impression.
“A great sonic identity almost gives the brand some form of identity that makes them recognise, like the thump when Netflix starts, or ‘I’m loving it’ from McDonald’s,” he says.
For the agency, this is a vital part of the 360 brand puzzle. “It’s not only about seeing, and experiencing, it’s about hearing as well.”
The trend perspective
Gangaram says one of the most important parts of this process is understanding what is happening in the music space both from a trend and technical perspective.
“For instance, there used to be a loudness war where it was all about loudness and you’d compete on this exact comparison. Thankfully that’s gone. Now it’s about stripping back, being simple yet memorable and I think that’s what we need to gravitate towards when working in this space,” he adds.
Asked how music has marketing changed over the past couple of decades that requires this kind of service, Fleming says the biggest change has been in the consumer.
“They are more present and aware of what brands are doing and can see when it’s for vanity metrics as opposed to actually doing it for alignment,” he says.
Music that shows up
Gangaram adds, “Beyond the consumer, it’s about storytelling and being consistent with the way music shows up for your brand across mediums and channels.”
Fleming believes sponsorship of events was a big part of music marketing, but that this has “completely shifted to a more partnership approach, as well as going far beyond just plotting a logo somewhere. There are deep strategies to develop around this now from experiences to telling a more integrated story that actually has more meaning.”
He says social media has also changed the way music is consumed (how we listen and discover), and that in turn has opened up a world of opportunities for brands (and artists to partner).
“The creator and music market has seen obscene growth over the past few years and when done right offers great reward for both the creator/muso and the brand,” Fleming explains.
Bridging the gap
While working with South African music and artists, Gangaram emphasises that The Racket Club Music Division is not about representing artists but ensuring brands align their marketing correctly. “But we do know where talent lies,” he says.
Fleming says The Racket Club noticed how behind the South African music industry is when working on music-related work for numerous brands.
“We quickly realised we could leverage our expertise in music to bridge that gap. We dug deeper, and in doing that, we also saw a bunch of work go live that missed the mark ‘musically’ and now we are here.”
