A New Game in Town

More Artist-Brand Extensions Coming Down the Track

Originally posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap 10.20.08 @ 01:03 PM

No sooner had we written about the innovative deal between EMI Music Publishing and British retailer Sainsbury's Tu brand than the folks that made the deal, Corporate Creative Licensing have announced a partnership with publishing company Primary Wave. You may recall that, earlier this year, Primary Wave -- who's iconic catalog includes the songs of Steven Tyler, Kurt Cobain , Greg Allman and Earth Wind & Fire -- created a cartoon show "J-Stache" based around John Oates' mustache and were also behind the licensing of Kurt Cobain's lyrics to Converse for Kurt Cobain editions of some of their classic sneakers (According to PW, 200,000 + pairs sold so far).

As SFS has been suggesting for a while now, there's money to be made in theme there hills. We strongly believe that using the heritage and brand equity of iconic/heritage artists for creative approaches to licensing and brand partnerships will generate significant new revenue streams in the future. And, as we said last week, some of these ideas are no brainers; to see what we mean, try this party game and list all the relevant brand associations that you can think would fit your favorite lyrics and song titles, no matter how appallingly implausible. Here's our first go:

• Aerosmith: "Sweet Emotion" Ice Cream
  "Walk this Way" Crocs
• Britney Spears: "Oops I Did It Again" Paper Towels ... or Diapers
• Duran Duran: "Hungry Like The Wolf" Dog Food
• Earth Wind & Fire: "Got To Get You Into My Life" Dating Service
• Procol Harem: "Knights In White Satin" Sheets
• Steppenwolf: "Born to Be Wild" Condoms

We are sure that you'll get the hang of this pretty quickly, so if you have any cracking ideas please feel free to post them in the comments section below. SFS is off now to patent our new game "Lyrical Pursuit" ....

John Oates' Mustache to the Rescue

Hairy Superhero Carries Back Catalog Into the Future

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Advertising Age 'Songs For Soap" on 07.02.08 @ 11:33 AM

No sooner had we written about the need for artists' back catalogs to be marketed in more creative ways -- via tailored ideas and exploitation strategies -- than Primary Wave Music Publishing announced "J-Stache," a cartoon about John Oates' mustache.

According to Billboard, the formerly mustachioed half of Hall & Oates could appear in a new cartoon series that portrays him as a modern-day family man who finds himself enticed back to the rock-star life by his superhero facial hair.

The series has a twofold objective: to help portray Oates in a new modern-day light while reminding people of the great songs from his back catalog. As Oates says in Billboard: "Just as I'm represented as the John Oates of today, the mustache is the John Oates of yesterday. The focus of the music will be on the back catalog, but it's an open-ended situation."

"J-Stache" is the brainchild of Primary Wave Senior Creative Director Evan Duby, who commented: "I thought to myself that this guy could be a pop icon on a completely different level. I wanted to be part of bringing John Oates to a younger generation." Primary Wave -- which is quickly building a very cool collection of heritage-based music, including the songs of Steven Tyler, Kurt Cobain and Greg Allman -- is currently shopping the Oates concept to the networks.