Promotions offering free music downloads are not yet as ubiquitous as coupons and two-for-one deals, but more chains are using them to snag the millions of consumers who can’t seem to unplug MP3 players from their ears.
McDonald’s, Burger King, Papa John’s Pizza, Denny’s and Johnny Rockets all have given away downloads of rock, country, rap, and pop songs to attract music lovers who might not otherwise consider eating there or whose patronage has lapsed.
“I see this as a two-pronged effort at reaching younger customers,” said Len Kornblau, a New Jersey-based marketing consultant and educator. “One is to show them that the restaurant chains are really hip with new technology, and that they know how to reach younger people…not only through their preferred technology but with their kinds of music.”
Starbucks Coffee is the acknowledged leader in using music as a marketing platform. Its recent “Song of the Day” promotion offered cards redeemable for a free song selected by Starbucks Entertainment on iTunes. The chain expected to give away 50 million songs during the promotion, which ended Nov. 7 and featured music from established and emerging artists.
Wendy’s International Inc. has an even more ambitious goal. It plans to give away up to 100 million song downloads in a promotion with digital-music provider Rhapsody that runs through the end of December.
Johnny Rockets, which has played nostalgic music in its restaurants for years, took its music marketing a step further in a promotion completed earlier this year in which it distributed 30,000 cards for free eMusic downloads and gave away Johnny Rockets-branded iPods.
Music giveaways have the potential to reach large audiences, depending on how extensive and diverse the music provider’s playlist is. Rhapsody, Wendy’s promotional partner, has more than 4.5 million songs, and eMusic’s list contains more than 1.7 million songs from the world’s leading independent labels.
Of course, the goal of giving out freebies is to get customers to buy something else.
When Starbucks launched its recent promotion it also introduced the Starbucks Card Plus Two, a reloadable purchase card with added bonus value. Customers receive two free song downloads from the U.S. iTunes Store when they register the card online.
Wendy’s customers must buy a medium or large combo meal to get a code redeemable for a song download at
It’s not just the youth market that downloads music, however. Denny’s, whose audience skews older, recently concluded its first music download promotion, which offered free country music.
“It was certainly something we felt was very appealing to our guests,” said Michael Polydoroff, director of sales promotion and licensing. “We recognized that our Denny’s customers are country music fans.”
Customers who bought an item from a promotional menu received a card for a free song download from Universal Music Group artists like Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Bucky Covington. Recognizing, however, that Denny’s older customers might not have Internet access, diners were able to receive a $3 coupon toward the purchase of a country music CD.
As the promotion was ending in mid-November, downloads were “exceeding the expectations of the song provider,” Polydoroff said, indicating that customers were ordering from the promotional menu.
Denny’s “absolutely” will consider another music giveaway, he said, and more chains are likely to run similar promotions.
“It will catch on if they want to be in music to some degree,” he said. “This is really a great way as a cost of entry. Free song downloads have a higher appeal in terms of perceived value. I think we learned that music is such a great platform to integrate with.”
Other chains will give away music as a result of competitive pressure, said Jerry McVety, president of McVety & Associates Inc., a foodservice and restaurant consulting firm in Farmington Hills, Mich.
“If your competitors are doing it, you need to do it to stay even, not necessarily to have an advantage,” he said. “It’s just another way of providing value-added attractions.”
Marketers are notorious for running “me-too” promotions, especially if they’re a hit with younger consumers, McVety said.
Consultant Kornblau agrees that music giveaways are catching on, but he said chains that lose their marketing focus by offering music inconsistent with their brand images will suffer.