In an age of product placements and media proliferation, it seems almost a given to find a brand in any content one consumes. It is effective in subliminally influencing viewers and reaching a large target audience by proxy. The glaringly inevitable next step in this advertising accretion is to take over the media project itself and make it your own! And it makes even more sense for a fashion brand to do so, given that they already tie themselves to famous celebrities and dominate the backstage world in media along with all the red carpet debuts.
One Pakistani brand which is thoroughly introducing this type of this takeover marketing is Asim Jofa. Their most recent venture in the media world featured a music video ‘Ishq-e-Naubahar’ paired with the soulful voice of Yashal Shahid. Composed by Ahmed Jahanzeb, this evocative sound bite is paired with several leading industry models and some Instagram influencers like Waliya Najib as they don the company’s clothing lines.
And this is not the first time the brand has carried out such stunts. In the past, they have paired with several musical artists including Farhan Saeed for ‘Piyaar Sufiyana‘ and Asim Azhar for ‘Sassi,’ all adorned with beautiful visuals and evocative melodies as they serve to promote the brand’s new clothing lines. And all seem generally well-received by the masses.
It’s nothing revolutionary since the concept has been around for quite some time now, but the particular music videos tend to hit an emotional nerve as they always pair the right artist who brings an expressive track to go with the vivid visuals in their promotional music video. It seamlessly connects with a large social media presence and the brand’s name looms overhead as the architect.
As to why more and more brands keep making this jump from embedded marketing and media indoctrination to directly taking control of the helm is fairly simple; because it works. Music and brand placements go hand in hand when attempting to connect to a viewer and pull on their heartstrings.
Similarities can be seen in regard to Coke Studio, whose success brought an unwavering wave of other projects like Nescafe Basement and Pepsi’s Battle of the Bands. These projects gathered an immense fan following while the brands were effortlessly showcased on the front! In other instances, brands like Tapal and Lipton have been on this marketing train for a long time. As to why a tea company needs its own anthem song is beyond common reasoning, but they worked since their songs live in our heads rent-free.
While this leap into our everyday media consumption may seem harmless, one can’t help but draw parallels to bleak dystopian world settings, even more conceivable if one glances at Disney’s corporate practices or revisit the infamous Black Mirror episode titled The Waldo Moment.
But it’s safe to say such brands are not planning world domination, they are simply brilliant at capturing audiences through cultural relevance and emotionally invigorating musical escapades.
