S Use music to connect to boomers. Whether it is Elton John’s “Rocket Man” in an AT&T commercial about a father who travels a lot for work and misses his family, or Steppenwolf ’s “Born to be Wild” in a recent Valvoline ad, classic rock connects with boomers. Some evoke a tear; some cause even the most staid executive to play a little air guitar; all bring attention to the brand being advertised. “Using a rock song that boomers already love in an ad allows products to piggyback on established emotional connections and connect with customers,” says Eric Steinhauser, vice president of J. Walter Thompson. “Breaking through the clutter is easier when they not only recognize the music but relate to it and become actively involved with it.” The power of music is massive. It enters the minds of consumers peripherally, without the filter of thinking about direct claims featured in the advertisement. Classic rock songs serve as extrasensory connectors between memories and associations stored in consumers’ minds, relating the connections to new products or ads. This makes acceptance of an ad’s message more likely, writing the brand indelibly into the minds of consumers, to be retrieved as they drive by stores or choose brands within the stores.

S Use transgenerational appeal. The best of rockers reach across the ages with a transgenerational appeal. You see it most vividly in the appeal of Elton John, Aerosmith, and the Stones, but it is omnipresent in the bands described in this article. They’ve found the sounds and emotional appeals that transcend cultural values and ages. That’s what boomers want. Whether they are dining, traveling, or shopping, they like to be able to do it with their children and their parents and sometimes both. This is changing the way winning firms configure stores and advertise products.

Several common themes, lessons if you will, rise from the close study of why some bands have remained successful decade after decade and why most have had a few hit songs and scurried off into oblivion. Though dozens of strategies leap from previous chapters of this article, some of the overriding principles learned from analyzing the careers of Elton John, KISS, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Madonna and Neil Diamond are: S Emotional connections turn customers into fans.

S Maintaining and adapting existing brands is more profitable than inventing new ones.

S Legendary brands evolve to stay culturally relevant.

S Passion and energy create brands people want to adopt.

S Being the best often evolves by borrowing from the best.

S Baby boomers rule much market demand.

Marketers looking to create legendary brands-those that capture a place in the fabric of mainstream culture-take note. Famous rock stars have succeeded in ways that few brands have. Here are some of the ways they’ve done it.

Emotional Connections Turn Customers into Fans Studying the success stories of legendary rock bands reveals that customers buy a product, but fans invest in a relationship. When fans buy the latest Red Hot Chili Peppers CD, they invest time, money, attention, and emotion in furthering their connection to the band.

Buying a concert ticket not only lets fans reinforce their ties to the Chili Peppers, but lets them add another experience to their memory scrapbooks. For fans, purchasing products and experiences is an investment in a healthy relationship they enjoy.

Elton John’s image rebirth was in its embryonic stage, sparked by his connection to a young boy, Ryan White, who had been a loyal fan, and the friendship he formed with Ryan’s mother after the boy’s tragic AIDS related death. The emotional experience he went through over the child’s death gave him new perspectives and led to a lasting bond between John and AIDS activism. The experience forced him to take a long look at his life. By the age of 43, he’d become a white haired, overweight addict hiding behind a Steinway. “I looked like a 70 year old man playing the piano.” The time had come to save himself from bulimia, alcohol, and drugs.

He spent most of 1991 out of the public eye, then reemerged sober, fit, and filled with a new lust for life, on George Michael’s remake of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” Taupin summed it up best in a VH1 Behind the Music interview: “He made mistakes, he got into a rut, he got himself out, case closed.” The 1990s brought another string of hits, among them “The One,” which became his first number one hit in 16 years. It struck an emotional chord with old fans from the 1970s and 1980s and new ones from the 1990s. Perhaps the greatest impact on what the Elton John brand stands for today began with an announcement he made during a press conference in 1992. John told the media, “Every single I release in America from this point…all my proceeds will go to AIDS research and AIDS charities.” To date, John has raised well over $20 million for the cause, making him a hero in the eyes of fans and critics alike and giving fans another reason to remain devoted to him.

John demonstrates how the functional and emotional elements relate to create an overriding brand image and position. It is clear how he has worked over the years to develop his musical talents and performance skills to perfect the functional attributes of the Elton John brand. While those attributes seem difficult to master, honing the emotional elements of his brand proved to be challenging as well.

Developing Elton’s Emotional Side Before the success of Elton John, John’s career was progressing modestly. But to become a star, a master of music marketing, he needed to continue the transformation of his brand personality. John needed to look and act more like what he aspired to be-a rock star.

His first challenge was changing his look, otherwise known as design and packaging in the world of consumer products. The fact of the matter is that there aren’t many fat rock stars, and at times he was as rotund as the spectacles he wore as a child. He needed to lose weight, and did, although it has been a lifelong battle that has haunted him with bouts of bulimia.

His second challenge was developing a commanding stage presence. During his early live performances, John stood on stage or at the piano, awkwardly holding the microphone, devoid of any real personality. Clean shaven with short bangs across his forehead, this shy guy exuded anything but confidence to his audience-in fact, he appeared somewhat embarrassed to be on stage. He hadn’t mastered what superstars know-winning over audiences is easier when entertainers project self confidence. Addressing the limitations of his shy nature, John changed his appearance and his personality, with a vengeance, to become one of the best rock and roll entertainers of our time.

A brand, whether it is Elton John, Krispy Kreme, or JetBlue, is a product or a service with an identifiable set of benefits wrapped in a recognizable personality. It creates an image and an identity for a product, line of products, or a company, and makes a promise to others (customers, vendors, regulators, shareholders, and everyone else), telling them what they can expect and whether they can trust the product to fulfill those expectations. Successful brands start with a blueprint that describes the needed building blocks, where they are to be placed, and how they should fit together to create a profitable venture.

A brand strategy needs to consider both the functional and emotional elements of a brand, as seen in Figure 3.1. Functional elements may include the quality of the product or the service experience, for example. In the case of JetBlue, described later in this chapter, the BRAND Figure 3.1 Brand Functional and Emotional Elements FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS EMOTIONAL ELEMENTS functional attributes of the brand include all of the interactions customers have with the JetBlue experience, from ease of check in and comfort of the seats to price and safety. The emotional attributes, on the other hand, include the brand image, personality, and promise that help create a connection with customers. Some functional elements, such as the design of the Volkswagen Beetle, create emotional connections with consumers, while some emotional elements, such as the Pez candy dispenser, have functional qualities that attract customers.

The process of creating one unified identity that encompasses attributes in both of the categories comprises the architecture of a brand, and Elton John provides an amazing case study in this area.

Just as the Grateful Dead has done with its legions of Deadheads, successful brands reach beyond the minds of consumers and into their hearts. Building a brand on the key values of its customers causes them to connect with the brand at an emotional level, much more than just a cognitive level, evoking strong responses and connections that differentiate customers from fans. Fans feel, perhaps without knowing why, “This is my brand.” When this happens on an individual basis, an extrasensory connection is made; and when it happens en masse, cultural adoption occurs.

Attending a rock concert is a valuable way for marketers to experience firsthand the role that emotional connection plays in acceptance of a product-in this case a band or a particular song. Fans like the familiar-if they know a song, they often sing along or at least dance a bit more fervently than they otherwise might. Even during a Paul McCartney concert, fans will sing and dance to the Wings and Beatles songs they know, and head for the restrooms when he announces that the next five songs are from a new CD. Bands know this happens, but they continue to perform the new material for the obvious reason of selling new CDs. But they perform the new material for less obvious reasons as well-to give fans an emotional and memorable experience to connect to the new song, thereby reinforcing relationships with fans, increasing the likelihood of continued cultural adoption, and increasing their longevity in the market. Had Borden followed this strategy in the 1960s or 1970s when the association between Cracker Jack and baseball was ingrained in the American culture, it might have been able to extend the brand and build other Borden brands by piggybacking on the relationship of generations of consumers to the Cracker Jack brand.

/Relevant Brands Rock’s sheer pervasiveness makes it the most profound valueshaper in existence today. Unless you are deaf, it is virtually guaranteed that rock music has affected your view of the world.

-NATIONAL REVIEW, FEBRUARY 24, B rands, like bands, can generate significant profits when everyone from salespeople to CEOs are focused on turning customers into fans and nurturing a robust fan base. This first, vital, step promotes cultural adoption of a brand, which can translate into brand loyalty and sales even during an economic slowdown.

Emotional Branding Examine closely the rock and roll stars that span generations and an important principle of longevity emerges. The long lasting successes of the Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, U2, and other legendary bands are achieved through special relationships and connections with their fans, not just their own talent and competency. The lyrics, rhythms, and delivery of their music reverberate with the realities, desires, and aspirations of their listeners. It’s the total music experience that impresses fans, and, in most cases, the lifestyles and personalities of the musicians as well. The response equals more than the sum of the individual attributes to create an extrasensory connection between band and fan.

The reason for this emotional bond may not be apparent to the casual observer or completely understood by the bands and their fans, but it exists. Analyzed from a consumer behavior perspective, the reasons for the emotional connection are apparent. First, bands and songs evoke emotions in people. Just as the B 52s’ monster hit “Love Shack” might make you bop around in your seat, Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” may reduce you to tears. Second, people often associate the specific emotions evoked by life events (both good and bad) with the soundtracks of their lives. Whether it’s Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (your first make out song) or Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (your first breakup song), these anthems become attached to strong emotions, which resurface when the songs are heard later.

But a song that makes an emotional connection remains in a fan’s personal greatest hits collection; the loyalty and emotional connection is only strengthened with each song that is added to the list.

Jock Bartley experienced much success in the 1970s when his band, Firefall, topped the charts with a string of hits including “That’s a Strange Way” and “Just Remember I Love You.” But it was “You Are the Woman” that made the biggest connection with fans.

“Every female between the ages of 18 and 24 wanted to be the woman portrayed in that song, and that caused their boyfriends and spouses to call radio stations and subsequently flood the airwaves with dedications of the song and the sentiment,” explains Bartley. “The message was simple and sincere, and the song was easy to sing. It was like our fans let us be a singing version of the Hallmark card that said what they weren’t quite sure how to express.” After 25 years, chances are you’ll hear this song in office buildings or elevators. “I remember, not too long ago, sitting in my dentist’s chair and hearing