The Long Arm of Country Music

The Long Arm of Country Music

By Rob Patterson

Country Music has come a long way since Grand Ole Opry advertisers were nearly the only sponsorships to be had. Today, companies with products far beyond traditional notions of the music's appeal are investing in Nashville's most famous export.

Phil Vassar sings the praises of Prilosec OTC, a product he uses to combat heartburn, which in turn helps his singing. You can find the new CD from Heather Lynn Williams in Saks Fifth Avenue, Carrie Underwood promotes trendy Skechers footwear, and ExxonMobil helps keep Steve Azar on the road. Martina McBride has her own Mattel doll and Sprint cell phone customers were the first to be able download the ring tone for her recent single "Rose Garden." Meanwhile, the usual alignments remain strong. Terri Clark sings commercials for Dodge pick-up trucks in Texas, Montgomery Gentry hit the highway for Jim Beam and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store continues to expand its line of custom Country Music CDs.

The commercial strength of Country Music and the appeal of its audience demographics are two key factors in the sponsorship boom. "I think that a lot of marketers have gotten a lot more savvy about determining where their audience is and where they want to go in terms of expanding their audience," said Fletcher Foster, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Capitol Records Nashville. "The Country Music consumer has changed too and gotten more sophisticated. Country Music is very mainstream."

So when Swiss company Tissot wanted to expand awareness of its line of sports watches in the United States, aligning with Brad Paisley was ideal. "We're a traditional brand and we wanted to align with a traditional artist and music," said Olivier Cosandier, General Manager for Tissot in North America. He found that the Country audience demographics and its regional patterns of appeal paralleled the people and places Tissot hoped to reach. Paisley's Time Well Wasted album was a perfect fit for their campaign, which features radio ads, retail outlet signage and a Paisley sampler CD with every purchase.

For sponsors, Country artists can offer a positive image association and inroads into a prime demographic of active consumers in the American heartland. For artists and labels, sponsorships can help fund tours and provide advertising and promotional opportunities that reach beyond what record labels can usually include in their marketing budgets.

Foster notes how Keith Urban's deal with Gap furthered his exposure. "When you have a billboard on the side of The Mondrian in Los Angeles or pictures on the subway in London, that's going to impact people," Foster said. And he notes the variety of cross-marketing arrangements that can be custom designed to fit the goals of both parties. "It may be money for touring, it may just be visibility, or it may be growing an artist into another audience that steps a little bit to the left or right of Country Music."

Sponsorships can even go beyond promotions focused on just one album release or tour to become long-term career partnerships. That is what has happened between Montgomery Gentry and Jim Beam in a relationship that began even before the group existed. "I go all the way back to 1994 with Jim Beam," said Troy Gentry, who won Beam's national Country Band Search that year. "It gave me the encouragement not to give up on my ambitions in music."

After Montgomery Gentry became a recording act, the relationship "developed very organically," said the group's manager, John Dorris of Hallmark Direction Company. In 1999, a Jim Beam staffer remembered Gentry from the contest and sent congratulations and some product to enjoy. Gentry and Eddie Montgomery were both already Jim Beam drinkers. The duo frequently ordered up rounds of the bourbon from the stage during shows, a fact the Beam's marketers and sales staff had happily noted.

The relationship became formal in 2001 and has continued to grow. The band bus and equipment truck are wrapped with the Jim Beam logo to serve as roving billboards, and a Beam representative travels with the act on the road to coordinate local activities. "The Beam sponsorship has been very beneficial," Dorris said. "Their financial contribution helps us to have a bigger show and offset expenses." It has also gotten the duo full page ads in pricey and influential publications including Rolling Stone.

"They're a great vehicle for us," said Jeff Christensen, Senior Marketing Manager for Jim Beam. "There's a lot of brand value behind Jim Beam that is paralleled in Montgomery Gentry." He also stresses the career longevity of Country acts. "Once a Country Music act establishes itself like Montgomery Gentry has done, there's a lot of staying power."

Both parties refer to the alliance as more then just a business relationship. "Jim Beam is part of the Montgomery Gentry family," Gentry said, noting that both the whiskey and his act are from Kentucky.

"We will always have a relationship with Jim Beam, whether it is formal and contracted or just a friendship," Dorris said.

Beam also has regional programs to help build such alliances and cultivate the stars of the future. Texas independent Country artist Jesse Dayton receives a regular subsidy from the company in exchange for putting the Beam logo on his merchandise. "It may not be a lot of money but it sure is a huge help," Dayton said.

And it's those sorts of sponsorships with emerging artists that Foster would like to encourage. "They can become really beneficial when you have that marriage with a B act you're trying to push through to becoming an A act."

In another ongoing program, Cracker Barrel has become a marketing partner not just for artists but Country Music itself. Country acts were included in the Heritage Music and American Legends collections of CDs that the chain sells in its stores. And Cracker Barrel has also released five theme compilations of songs recorded on the Grand Ole Opry between 1961 and '67. "We've always believed that music is an important component of the overall Cracker Barrel experience," said company spokesman Jim Taylor, who notes how Country Music not only fits but also enhances the Cracker Barrel menu and decor.

This year Cracker Barrel instituted a line of exclusive artist CDs, already selling more than 200,000 copies of its Home On The Highways release by Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas since last May. They've followed with Country Stars 'N Stripes by Charlie Daniels and a Sara Evans CD, Feels Like Home.

The CDs are a value-added attraction for Cracker Barrel's customers that market the music to a common consumer base. "Alison Krauss and Union Station was a natural fit with our brand and so are Charlie Daniels and Sara Evans," Taylor said. "It's quality music and it's a convenience for our guests."

Although labels can't be sure of the effect of sponsorships on sales, Foster knows from Urban's GAP campaign that they are beneficial. "Did we sell more records? I don't know. Did we get into another audience and make more people aware of who Keith Urban is? Absolutely."

Foster sees such strategic alliances as an integral component in the marketing of musical artists. "They are part of that sum of the parts that has the ability to create even more. When all the elements of a career work together, it's magical. A sponsorship may only be involved in two or three areas of an artist's career, but it can affect the whole picture." As well, he notes, Country artists "are a safe investment" for sponsors, as they are usually free from controversy and scandal and have images that parallel heartland American values.

Even with the growing variety of product alliances and more sophisticated promotional techniques, Foster feels that the best is yet to come. "It's limitless," he said. "I think we've only tapped into a small portion of what we can do. After all, if you want to reach America, Country is indeed America's music."

February 7, 2006