Cars and Concerts?

Greetings! Its Monday, and I had an amazing weekend! Maine or bust for me. You know "the way life should be" or as a friend in college told me once, "The way life was, and the reason it changed". HATER! Maine is GORGEOUS in the summer. BUT I'm not your travel guide, I'm your sponsorship spy or partnership periodical, if you will. So here it is, my latest marketing discovery: concerts and cars are a natural partnership. Right?

While laying in bed giggling to myself watching Conan, love him!, the other night it struck me: Conan's Summer Concert series is brought to you buy (wink) Kia. This isn't really what struck me, I more just I noticed it, what struck me was that my favorite morning show, The Today Show, holds its own summer concert series that is sponsored by Toyota. I did some more research and found out that Jay Leno's summer concert series in 2009 was partnered with Mercedes-Benz. I did even further research into some of the summers biggest concert tours: Toby Keith's tour is brought to you by Ford, the Honda Civic tour features Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance. Is this all just one big coincidence? I think not!

Courtesy of TBS.com

My thoughts are that concerts tend to attract all the same type of people (and in large amounts) to one place on multiple nights. People who go to country concerts are usually pick up truck conisours. A pickup truck is a symbol of country music, in fact, it is the essence of country music. Fans that attend a Blink 182 concert are more into alternative brands and that are green (er) friendly. The same goes for the demographics of the Today Show and Conan. Brands know what they are getting when they sponsor these concerts. They aren't taking a risk of posting a billboard or an ad somewhere that many people will see. They are making the market they hit very specific. Its brilliant!

Courtesy of blogs.trucktrend.com

Also by attaching yourself to a performer or show that your consumers watch you are associating your brand with the affinity the consumer feels towards that show or perfomer. This affinity is so powerful! I will admit that I have fallen victim to it. A ford truck is better in my mind because of what Toby stands for and the pride he conveys for the USA. That is powerful stuff!

Ford and Honda know what they are getting because it will be the same type of fans no matter where they are, but by sponsoring a show like The Today Show or Conan, they have a wide variety of acts that can work both for and against the brand. You can hit more consumers because on the morning that the Today Show has Journey (ahh, so many college memories) on, I'm going to guess the viewership is slightly different then that of the morning when Pitbull is on (he is a rapper for the older generation, NOT a singing dog). Same goes for Conan, I was enticed to stay up a little longer to take in Ke$ha's (guilty pleasure) sultry performance a few weeks ago, but KT Tunsdall just wasn't worth those precious sleeping minutes. Toyota and Kia were probably excited about the opportunity to get a cross section of consumers tuning in, but they also probably slept well at night knowing that at the end of the day The Today Show attracts moms so nothing too racy, and Conan attracts the 18-35 crowd with exceptional ease so you know it will never be too dull and will grab the audience you are looking for at the end of the day.

Courtesy of NBC.com

Car brands are unique to other brands because the simple design of the car can completely change who your target market is. So its even smarter for Ford and Honda to call out the the particular vehciles that make sense for the target audience. The Ford Mini Van doesn't have the same appeal to Toby's fan base as the F150 does. The same goes for a Honda Civic compared to a Honda Pilot. You are not going to see a ton of middle aged women at the Blink 182 concert waving their lighters. 

Where as Kia and Toyota sponsor the series' with no affiliation to one brand in the portfolio. It seems to be more of an overall brand awareness goal for them opposed to narrowing it down to a specific sub-brand. Interesting take, you wonder if it has the same effect? My assumption is Kia and Toyota do this because of the broader audiences that tune into these programs as oppose to going to a specific show like we spoke about earlier.

So let me hear it...sing my praises or make note of my misconceptions. (So many music references...I'm a genius). In all seriousness, I want to hear what you think so let me know! Have you been to any concerts this summer where you have noticed sponsorships? I will train you yet!

Go fourth...

Megan