Just after Christmas last year, Tower Records Japan announced that it was introducing a clever new advertising system that may prove to be a win-win-win situation for Tower, consumers and the companies that participate in the new program.
Here's how it works. Tower finds companies that are trying to reach music-loving consumers and charges them for ads that will then be included in the packaging of newly released CDs that Tower sells. Additionally, Tower works with record companies who want to promote artists that could benefit from the link to advertised products. Then the ads are produced with the artists serving as spokespeople for the brands. In addition to appearing in the CD packaging,
the celebrity visuals may also appear in Tower Stores and their monthly magazine, as well as at retail locations of the promoted brands.
You might ask how this benefits consumers. Well, in Japan there is a healthy market for special promotional products. Since Tower is offering a fixed number of these packages, there will certainly be a consumer segment that's interested in collecting them as limited edition products. . .
The first round of these CDs features a collaboration amongst Tower, Nike Japan and six artists from six different record labels.
By the way, in Japan, Tower Records uses the phrase "No Music, No Life" as their rallying cry in their own advertising. The "My Music, My Force" copy shown in the Nike ads plays off of this.
