A catchy song can motivate your fans and make an everlasting impression.

The other day I was driving in the car and I heard the song Jump by Van Halen and was instantly transported back in to the 1980’s. I wasn’t thinking about high school, but a company that forever branded its image to a song.  WGN TV and Radio advertised the Chicago Cubs and all during that season used the Jump sound tract as part of the commercial.  For the rest of my life, Van Halen’s Jump, is linked to the Chicago Cubs.

All you need to do is listen to the music and your transported back to the 1980’s Chicago Bulls Championship series.  2005 Chicago Sox fans are taken on a Journey with the Sox’s as they win the World Series and in 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks skated to a Stanley Cup Championship with fans singing with every goal.  Are you ready for some football?  Talk about branding yourself to a product, Hank Williams Jr. is the voice of NFL.

Now, branding music to a song is no simple task.  Advertisers spend many hours developing, researching and producing concepts that when heard on TV, Radio, or at a concert will automatically make you think of that company.

When I was younger, I heard the song Rhapsody in Blue, a catchy little number, but once United Airlines started to use it, you couldn’t help but associate it with United.

Microsoft Corporation acquired the rights to use the Rolling Stones song, Start Me Up for the marketing campaign of the Windows 95 marketing campaign.  A less memorable moment in time, but they paid millions of dollars to brand themselves to the song. This proves that corporate size and band popularity are not enough – it takes luck, timing, and creativity to make it work.

Nevertheless, I think there is an important lesson to be learned here. Companies that understand their image, are aware of their image, and work hard to make their image memorable are successful.  So we all should look at our image and see how we can brand it to something,  be it  music rights, blogging, community good will, advertising, cartoons, or a catchy slogan.   Whatever it is, image branding is one of the keys to creating a successful business.