The product: A major beverage account. The creative direction: "We don’t want this to be like a commercial. Think of it as an anti-commercial. The story, the cinematography, the post work—everything will say, "This is different."
"And, oh yes, we’ve temped it with American Beauty and would like you to do something very close to that … "
Astonishingly, there are people who don’t understand why this is funny. Apparently it eludes them that American Beauty is in danger of becoming the Chariots of Fire of our day (that is, a piece so knocked-off, misused, and quasi-quoted in spots as to become a self-parody).
This isn’t a unique example. Only true aficiandos know which spots are Moby-like (Moby-Lite?) and which are real. The tyranny of the temp track is only the head of Demo Love’s Bastard Child. But let’s talk about how we got there first.
The process begins innocently enough. The editor puts together a cut and to massage it by the client(s), he slaps on this month’s favorite—or worse, cuts to it. The clients fall in love with the spot and now nothing can be changed. They can’t afford to buy the original—which would, by the way, make the spot sound like the other six that are already using it—so the music house is asked to "come as close as you can without getting sued."
Of course, getting sued is more and more of an option. Consequently, some agencies have begun stipulating that music houses carry plagiarism insurance. That’s a bit like demanding that firefighters carry around burn ointment after you’ve sent them into a blaze dressed in bathing suits.
Do I need to harp away at the obvious: that making a music track sound just like every other one on the air undermines your chances of overcoming a basic advertising conundrum—how do you distinguish your product from everyone else’s? Yep, they call the answer to that little question branding and, despite the advancements in the last century, it’s still the best way to continue to sell your product.
So how do you brand with music? Well, for starters, dump the temp track. Just because the editor owns a guitar doesn’t mean you should trust his or her choice of music any more than you would trust the composer to do a cut. Yes, I know it’s hard to fly without that little feather, but you’re more likely get something original if you do. Include the composer early in the process and write tracks from boards—maybe that music can be the demo the client falls in love with.
And be open to musical ideas that might not be the flavor of the month. For example, jingles are the Rodney Dangerfield of advertising, but they remain incredibly effective selling tools, sometimes decades after they’ve ceased airing.
But if you absolutely, positively can’t do better than bringing the composer in two days before it ships and you’ve already got something the client is salivating from the ears over (ew!), at least make sure it’s not American Beauty.
