The Forty Licks

Key to the success of Forty Licks was e commerce financial giant E*Trade, which sponsored and promoted the tour on its web site.

From the band’s perspective, this let Jagger further his continued personal interest in and support of technology-similar to the giant home page screen in the No Security tour-and made the band relevant among a variety of consumers. E*Trade grabbed the attention of a substantial portion of the Stones’ target audience, which varied by age but had common financial and net worth characteristics. Not only do E*Trade customers have enough money to be stock market investors, they have enough income to be concert ticket buyers.

Sponsoring Forty Licks gave E*Trade the opportunity to connect with current and would be customers at an emotional level and in an entertaining way, telling them “We understand who you are and what you like, and if you like the Rolling Stones, E*Trade is for you.” It also allowed the company to position itself by aligning itself with the Rolling Stones image-classic yet contemporary, cool but not trendy, relevant to twenty to sixty somethings (a far cry from the fly bynight images associated with Internet companies of the past). The Forty Licks sponsorship matched companies and market targets extremely well. For E*Trade, the synergy was great enough to withdraw from advertising during the Super Bowl, which had delivered good market demographics but probably not as much bang for the buck as the Stones alignment.

The end result of the Forty Licks tour can be measured in quantifiable means-from ticket sales and albums sold, not to mention the millions of dollars of merchandise that was sold. Just as important, however, might be the success achieved in nonquantifiable terms. These include strengthening the bond between the band and its fans, creating new generations of fans, and reestablishing the Rolling Stones brand in the market. Not only does this translate into more merchandise and album sales and greater demand for the next tour, it also increases the value of the band’s music to advertisers and sponsors looking to create an emotional connection with baby boomers by riding on the coattails of the music they love.