NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Grey PR) - Grey, one of the world's largest advertising agencies, will host a provocative music seminar at the 54th Annual Cannes International Advertising Festival on Saturday, June 23rd at 11:00 a.m. in the Debussy Theater in Cannes, France. A live music performance is anticipated.
The seminar entitled, "Selling In, Not Selling Out - Marketing and Music" will provide advertisers and their agencies a deeper understanding of the fast-changing entertainment marketing landscape as the music and communications industries join forces to drive brand building.
Josh Rabinowitz, Grey Senior Vice President of Music, said, "The formerly disparate worlds of music and marketing are cross-pollinating and this merger, once viewed with suspicion, is now being embraced by mega-artists like U2 and Jay Z who are debuting singles using TV ads as the vehicle."
The panel discussion will explore: how songs created specifically for ads become global hits; how brands are impacting the creation of hit records; how deals are brokered and how individuals are taking skill sets from one industry and applying them to the other.
The highpoint of the seminar will be the appearance of two artists atop the matrix of music and marketing:
- Folk/rock legend, Donovan, who burst upon the music scene in the mid- 60's, with such hits as "Sunshine Superman", "Mellow Yellow" and "The Hurdy Gurdy Man." His "Try and Catch the Wind" has appeared in a Volvo ad campaign. He will discuss his roots in the music industry and its evolution.
- Young superstar, John Legend, the five-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, songwriter and pianist who was named "Best New Artist." His "Get Lifted" album reached the top five of the Billboard 200. He'll survey today's changing music scene as radio and MTV continue to narrow their playlists and emerging artists are taking new paths to stardom.
Key panel members include:
- The moderator, Tim Mellors, Vice Chairman, Chief Creative Officer of Grey Group and President, Grey North America. He has served on every major awards jury in Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific and has been the President of the Cannes jury. His awards include 15 Cannes Lions, 5 D&AD Pencils and the Grand Prix at The European Advertising Festival.
- Panelist, Josh Rabinowitz, Senior Vice President, Director of Music at Grey. He has been a prime mover in many high profile initiatives to integrate compelling music with advertising, include Rihanna and Queen Latifah for Cover Girl; Macy Gray for Sony; a host of artists including Black Eyed Peas, Run DMC and LL Cool J for Dr. Pepper. He has served on the Cannes, Clio and AICP juries and is a frequent commentator on music in both trade and general media.
Grey is one of the world's largest advertising agency networks and a partner company of Grey Group, a WPP company (Nasdaq: WPPGY). Grey's blue-chip client roster includes many of the world's best known companies: Procter & Gamble, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Diageo, Volkswagen, Wyeth, Canon and 3M.
