The Swing Set - swing music, dancing, and culture trend used in marketing

Brandweek, Oct 5, 1998 by T.L. Stanley

When the folks at Friedland Jacobs Communications, a Los Angeles marketing and design firm, went looking for a soundtrack for a promotional campaign around the syndicated remake of Hollywood Squares, they wanted a style that would reflect "a party environment, something celebratory and event-oriented," said Scott Friedland, president and CEO of the firm. "It had to drive emotion and attract a broad audience in an important daypart."

In other words, Friedland Jacobs decided, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. The firm commissioned an original swing tune to hype the gameshow, which features Whoopi Goldberg as the famed "center square" and launched recently with healthy ratings in prime early evening time slots.

"We were talking about what the trends are right now, and swing is huge," said Friedland, whose client roster includes two King World shows--the Squares Roseanne--as well as the CBS Evening News Judge Judy and the ABC network. "It's not just the 18-34 demo that likes it. It has very broad appeal, from 17 year olds to 54-plus."

Even before the now-famous Gap ads-in which Louis Prima's classic "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" plays while 20-something couples swing-dance in khaki pants-advertisers, networks and individual shows have been latching onto swing as a way to speak to hispters as well as an older generation. After the hot Gap ads broke former Stray Cats bandleader Brian Setzer went back into the studio and recorded his own version of "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" with his big band, to put on his released Interscope record, The Dirty Boogie. (He performed the song as the show closer of the recent, well-watched MTV Video Music Awards, and subsequently saw record sales spike.)

Now, as brand marketers launch their fall efforts, swing is becoming even more prevalent. Coca-Cola and Acura have featured the music of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy the band that appeared in the hit indie film Swingers units radio and television ad campaigns, and Swingers itself opened a window on Gen Xers' fashionable "cocktail culture," which seems to celebrate all things swank; even the New York Yankees relied on a swing tune for their regular season on-air spots. Print ads are also part of the movement a recent film Beam campaign shows a pinstriped suspender-wearing youngman flipping a bobby soxer over his head with the ongoing tagline, "Get in touch with your masculine side."

Kid-skewing Cartoon Network also uses swing, specifically a tune called "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott, recorded with a 50 piece orchestra, as its signature on air music. It was chosen, about a year ago, because it person ifies motion, movement, energy and things gone awry," said Michael Ouweleen, the network's senior vice president and creative director.

Sister channel Turner Classic Movies, since its launch four years ago, has relied heavily on jazz, classic R&B and swing to establish its on-air environment. By using Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong tunes, the cable network aims at its core 35-plus demo while also reaching out to younger retro-buffs.

"We want to be hip without trying to be hip," said Glenn Kesner, the net's vice president/creative director. "Swing fits into that, more so today than 10 years ago."

But why? For one, swing has an instantly-recognizable, bouncy beat; it's an attention-grabber for even non-fans. But for young aficionados and their boomer parents, it has special meaning.

"I can't stick a U2 song on a spot and have my mom like it, or a 15-year-old, for that matter," Friedland said. "But swing, if it's applied to the right brand and utilized in the right way, it really works."

That could be the crux of swing's resurgence. In a world of splintering media, market hyper-segmentation and looming "point-casting," it is something that has, by accident or inherent design, truly transcended demographics, that quality that marketers love in the biggest hit TV shows. In the musical genre, one not only has the stuff of fond memories for an older generation, but something that has been made retro hip for Genera[ion X and Y types.

Much of that can be attributed to bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Royal Crown Review and, most notably, Squirrel Nut Zippers. Though the band publicly resists the "swing" moniker, the Zippers' obviously '30s-era-influenced music has sold gold on one record, platinum on another, and has been used in a number of ad campaigns and on-air promo spots, some with the band's permission, and some without.

As sales of the band's record, Hot, began to take off in early 1997, Wrigley's chewing gum asked to license "Bad Businessman" for its TV campaign. The band refused, but a sample of the song turned up anyway in the campaign. The band's label, Mammoth Records, and its Hollywood-based licensing agent, Bug Music, filed a cease-and-desist order to thwart the usage. A similar situation happened with the New York State lottery with the same song.

On the other hand, the band has licensed "Soon" from million-selling Perennial Favorites, for an on-air promo spot for Vengeance Unlimited, an ABC television drama starring Michael Madsen that premiered last week.