Musical Youth II: 19 US Kids, 95 brands

So you might remember our post we wrote before, about the 44 ‘music related’ brands that came to mind in 6 minutes in one UK focus group… Ouch. Following up from a kind hint from AdAge, we [Team Ruby Pseudo from the UK] thought we ought to see what brands occupied front of mind with the American youth… So we asked 19 US kids off the hip and they came up with 95 brands. The results can basically be split in to four different categories:

• Genuine music-aligned brands [like guitar companies, for example].
• Music-involved Brands, like Converse.
• Music-associated Brands, like Coca Cola.
• and then simply ‘Random Brands’, like Dentyne Ice [wait for it].

And then sub-categories… As FX explains it:

Each category has subcategories [and in once case sub-sub categories].

Criteria for a Music-Involved brand is for the brand to actively engage in links to music, like Converse’s 2008 “Three Artists, One Song” Campaign, or for a brand to just be so well linked with a specific culture that the two are intertwined, and its existence within the particular music scene is almost a necessity.

With Music-Associated brands things work a bit different. Brands in this category have either engaged in minor linking with music, or have never been linked with music, and are intrinsically linked to music completely psychologically. [An example of this is Marc Jacobs]… You may wonder what the difference between Myspace, a “Music-involved brand” has with Facebook, a “Music-associated brand”… the difference lies in Myspace’s dedicated music section, “Myspace Music,” clearly making it a music involved brands, where as Facebook, without a dedicated music section, can only be classified by association. You see?

And this is how it goes:

MUSIC BASED BRANDS

Music Devices
Apple (iPod, iPhone, Garageband, iMac)
Bose (Speakers)
Sony (Walkmen, etc)
Virgin (Record Label, Music Accessories, Megastores)
Verizon Vcast (Cell Phone Music Downloading Service)

Musical Instruments/Hardware
Zildjian Drums
Gibson Guitars
Orange Amps
Marshall Amps
Yamaha
Fender Guitars
Korg Keyboards
Pearl Drums
Red Octane
M-Audio
DigiDesign
Martin Amps
Boss
Shure

Music Promotion
MTV
VH1
Ticketmaster (Concert Ticket Vendor)
Rolling Stone Magazine
LAST.FM (Online Music Sharing/Social Networking Website)
Kill Rock Stars (Record Label, home to Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney, Deerhoof, etc.)

MUSIC-INVOLVED BRANDS

Fashion
Converse
Element
Hot Topic
John Varvatos

Punk
Trash and Vaudeville
Tripp Jeans
Dr. Martens
Vivienne Westwood

Ghetto
Wu-Wear (Wu-Tang Clan)
Phat Farm (Russell Simmons)
Baby Phat (Kimora Lee Simmons)
Sean John (P Diddy)
Rocawear (Jay Z)
Timberland

Streetwear
Ice Cream/Billionaire Boys Club (Pharrell)
Bape (Nigo)
10xDeep
Alife
Adidas
Nike

Hipster
Christian Joy (“Karen O” of the yeah yeah yeah’s personal designer)
Urban Outfitters
RVCA (Record Label/Clothing Line)
American Apparel

MUSIC PROMOTION
Showpaper (DIY music scene zine)
Showismonster (DIY music scene promotion)
Myspace
Viva Radio
East Village Radio

Food & Beverage
Sparks
Pabst Blue Ribbon

MUSIC ASSOCIATED BRANDS [clever if you've got in here mind...]

Fashion
Lucky Thirteen (Rockabilly/Americana fashion)
Junk Food (Pop Culture t-shirts)
Cheap Monday
Marc Jacobs
Dee & Ricky
Manic Panic Hair Dye (Punk based famous hair dye)
Kill City Jeans (Skinny jeans, mainly through Urban Outfitters)
Soundgirl (“Young, Contemporary fashion”)
Brooklyn Industries (NY-centric fashion)
BDG Jeans (Also through Urban Outfitters)
Levis (Pure fucking Rock ‘N Roll)
Evisu
Jean Paul Gaultier
Louis Vuitton
Keds
Gap (Famous for campaigns featuring musicians, example: John legend, John Mayer)

Food/Beverage
Coca Cola
Rockstar Energy Drink
Sprite

Online
Myopenbar.com
Facebook

Misc
Target
AT&T (Purveyors of the iPhone)
Marlboro (I don’t think I need to explain the cultural significance of cigarettes in music)
Camel (As above)

Random Brands

Food/Beverage
Tic-Tacs
Snapple
Vintage Seltzer (fizzy water)
Boylan’s Sodas
Utz Potato Chips
Arizona Iced Tea
Dentyne Ice

Electronics
Nintendo
Sega
Nikon

Random RANDOM RANDOM
Marvel Comics
The World Book
IKEA
Sharpie

So there’s the list… here’s hoping you’re on here… Along with your 94 other mates. Anyone want to get involved with something other than music out there?…

- Article originally appeared on Ruby Pseudo Wants a Word