A Digital Music Promotions Case Study Provides a Valuable Promotional Incentive

Digital music promotions have been around for several years, even back in the "digital pioneer" days of 2004 (which is a couple eons in Internet years). So it is occasionally interesting to go back and look at what other companies have done in the past.

In the summer 2004, McDonald's and Sony teamed up to launch the "Big Mac Meal Tracks" program, where they gave customers in six countries an access code that enabled them to download a free music track from the Sony Connect website with every Big Mac purchase. The campaign was run in North America and Europe; American customers received one song per purchase, while European customers received three. The digital music promotions campaign was so successful, McDonald's credited it with a 9.2 increase in same-store sales for the Q2 2004.

In a June 2004 press release announcing the campaign, McDonald's said this was not only their first multi-national digital music promotions campaign, it was the first time a digital music promotions campaign of this size was being offered — it was being held in six countries throughout June and July.

It was a promotion ahead of its time, because digital music promotions was not as common or accepted as it is in 2010. In fact, 2009 sales rang in at $4.2 Billion, while 2003 sales were only $83 million. For McDonald's to use digital music promotions in a time that it was still relatively new shows that they were interested in tapping into some new ways of reaching customers.

Even back in 2005 and 2006, experts were predicting that digital music promotions would begin to become a mainstay in corporate and retail incentive programs, and would continue to promote legal music downloads to customers.

Another benefit to the digital music promotions campaign is that it generated traffic throughout the day. Rather than a lunchtime only special, which only brings traffic during certain hours, having the digital music promotions campaign tied to a particular food item meant that it worked on lunch and dinner, regardless of the time of day. Most other restaurant campaigns tend to focus on a specific time of day — between 11 and 2 — which means that the traffic is increased during those hours, but may drop during the rest of the day.

In the 2004 press release, Jay Samit, general manager for Sony Connect said "This campaign by McDonald's will promote legal downloads, which is beneficial both to the entertainment industry and music fans around the world."

Even today, as digital music sales have increased, legal music downloads are still a concern to the music industry, so this is another benefit of a digital music promotions campaign. Users are able to download legal music with a basic purchase, which keeps both music label executives and marketers happy.

And because of the relatively low cost of a music download, marketers are able to use them as part of an overall marketing campaign, folding it into the promotions budget, rather than additional items that need to be purchased, shipped, or warehoused. Further, there is never a worry about how to dispose of leftover items, and promotional risk coverage can rein in higher-than-expected redemption numbers.

Following the digital music promotions campaign, a post promotions analysis process simply determines overall ROI, with the number of songs that were downloaded. Prior to campaign initiation, a promotional risk analysis would determine the number of downloads expected to be redeemed during the flight dates of the promotional campaign. Much like you insure your car from an accident or your home from a natural disaster, you can cover your digital music promotion against a risk associated with the liabilities associated with the costs of a large number of music download redemptions. The cost of promotional risk coverage is minimal, literally a fraction of the prize value, and is based on the promotional odds, the music download value, and the number of opportunities given to redeem the digital incentive.

It is important to recognize that free music downloads are of interest to more than just Generation Y. Now that mobile phones can play music, and MP3 player use is widespread, customers of all ages are willing and able to participate in a music promotions campaign. So even businesses that do not cater specifically to Generation Y can still use this kind of campaign to reach their own customers. With the inclusion of promotional risk coverage, a digital music promotions campaign provides marketers with the opportunity to increase conversions through valuable incentives, with a fixed promotional budget.

Source:
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=124166
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3775657.stm
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-19322/The-meal-is-the-music.html

Hip Digital Promotions Player

Digital music promotions evolved within the promotions industry, as Hip Digital Media, the leading digital promotions company announced that it has acquired Dallas based Promotional Currency.

About Hip Digital: Hip Digital Media is the leading Digital Promotions Company that brings high-end technology and programs that link brands with their consumers markets. Holding MP3 licenses from all 4 major labels in the US, United Kingdom and Canada, Hip Digital enables innovative customer experiences with digital music campaigns for Fortune 500 brands and online media companies. Experience Hip Digital’s suite of services at www.hipdigitalmedia.com.

About Promotional Currency: Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Promotional Currency is a promotions and promotional risk coverage company that merges digital technology in the form of digital music, ringtones, skins and more with turnkey, fixed-cost solutions for the promotional marketplace. Additionally, Promotional Currency protects companies from over-redemption liability with its in-depth promotional risk coverage and underwriting capabilities, enabling large-scale programs that increase brand awareness and user experience. Visit www.promotionalcurrency.com to learn more.

Digital Music Promotions Reach Gen Y & Boost Marketing Conversions

Digital music promotions reach active consumers, increase marketing conversions of these consumers, and increase sales. Gen Y is online. They are also active retail consumers. This group is a sought after demographic of 10-30 year olds, because they have more discretionary spending than their parents have. They communicate on mobile devices and marketers are finding it very difficult to reach them through traditional media channels. They interact with each other through social media applications and are speaking with each other about your products and services. The sooner marketers learn to join the conversation, the better for the brands they represent.



Smart phones are becoming a way of life. Nearly every coffee shop is providing free wifi to its customers, and many restaurants are following suit. The ubiquity of wireless and smart phones are making digital promotions easier for marketers to launch and providing a strong avenue to reach the coveted Generation Y demographic.

Digital music promotions gain brand loyalty of Generation Y. Investing your promotions budget into a digital music promotion will guarantee you customer loyalty. Traditional promotional incentives do not compare to digital music download promotions. Try earning Gen Y customer loyalty by investing in plastic pens , hats other promotional merchandise. Most customers will not keep their pens, but they download your music giveaway, save it to a mobile device and every time they hear the song you gave them, they will remember your brand. To follow are ideas to deploy these promotions and increase marketing conversion rates.

Social media is an active channel to distribute these promotions. Increase conversion rates by promoting the music giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, email, and a blog with links back to the promotional incentive. The viral marketing aspect of social media will increase campaign activity.

Create a promotional incentive with purchase promotion, by giving away a free music download card, free ring tones, or free wallpapers, when customers spend a set amount of money. Put the entire music promotion on a mobile supported website, and let customers download it via their smart phones.

Or create a free music promotion that rewards customers for referring their friends. With every referral you receive, the customer receives a free music download. Follow up with additional customer rewards programs.

Digital music promotions increase activity on viral marketing and grass roots marketing efforts. Use your music promotion campaign to ask customers and fans to post "like" a Facebook page, tweet a code via Twitter, or complete a marketing survey. Give them a free music download whenever they perform the requisite number of social media tasks..

Promotional incentives including digital promotions provide increased retail store traffic. Give away a music download is customers enter your store at a specific time. This is especially a great way to promote a bar or club that has a specific band or DJ coming to town. For example, you could give away one or two of their songs if people check in on the night they're playing.

Digital music promotions reach almost every audience. Gen Y is actively responding to music promotions, but other consumers do as well. The love of music spans all generations. If you are looking to reach your customer, boost marketing conversions, and increase sales, deploy digital promotions. Releasing these promotions through online applications, social media, and text campaigns will provide increased brand exposure, and boost marketing conversions. The outcome of reaching this active, loyal consumer will be a pleasant surprise and you may even learn something from them about your brand.

Hip Digital Promotions Incentives

Design your digital promotions with the newest digital media content, including digital music, digital download promotions and ringtones of your customers' favorite artists. Hip Digital Media, the leading digital promotions firm, joined forces with Promotional Currency, specializing in promotions including promotional risk coverage to prevent over redemption on promotions. These two digital music powerhouses joined forces to merge digital content, with entertainment licensing, and proprietary risk coverage models, to deliver turnkey, fixed cost solutions for the promotional marketplace.