Creating a sonic identity for the University of Houston.

Ballouli, Khalid ; Bennett, Gregg

Creating a Sonic Identity for the University of Houston

On the red-eye flight from Ann Arbor to Houston, Noelle found she was the only passenger not sleeping soundly. The electric buzz from the previous day's studio recording was still rippling through her body. Noelle had spent weeks in Ann Arbor consulting with the University of Michigan regarding a music strategy to help market Wolverine athletics. Last night, she witnessed the culmination of her project, as Michigan rock band Pop Evil recorded a final version of their song titled "Big House," a tribute to the famed Michigan Stadium. In the studio, Noelle and her colleagues glossed over details regarding the launch of the song on iTunes and Amazon in the coming weeks. She also provided a detailed timeline of events where Pop Evil was scheduled to perform live at Wolverine events. During these final stages, Noelle is always reminded of the question posed by clients at the outset of each project: "We know what our brand is supposed to look like; we have a logo design. But what is our brand supposed to sound like?" Now, just hours from landing in Houston, Noelle began the process of answering this question for her next client, the University of Houston (UH) and Cougar athletics.

Noelle arrived in Houston later that day and began the process of building a music strategy for the UH athletics program. She first revisited her notes from an earlier conversation with Rob Stewart, the assistant athletics director of marketing, sales, and promotions for the UH athletics department regarding their desire to enhance the brand image of Cougar athletics through the use of branded music. According to Stewart, the current state of the Cougar athletics brand "consists of the related associations of history and tradition, and does not coincide with recent developments that have thrust UH athletics to the forefront of the national spotlight ... Our main objective is to supplant our existing music strategy, which basically consists of us featuring whatever is popular on the radio at the time. Instead, we want to employ a new strategy strategically tailored to match our brand identity and appeal to our current and potential fan base" (personal communication, August 3, 2011).

Using this information as a basis for design and implementation, Noelle began work defining a sonic identity for the Cougars brand intended to function much like its visual identity in deploying consistent brand attributes across a multitude of touch points. After years of working in the sports industry as an event manager, Noelle understood the importance of providing consumers a consistent and enjoyable experience with the brand. She also knew that transitions from popular music to customized brand music can be fundamentally important to sonic branding success, as the initial shock and awe of the transition is quite impactful on the immediate change in consumer perceptions. However, her experience also taught her that most managers did not know how to use the power of music to turn consumers into fans. She found this to be particularly true among university athletics programs, where it is not uncommon to find different staff members controlling the use of music at different venues and events. As a result, music is typically selected randomly and without regard to whether the effects of the music played reinforce or contradict the university's brand identity and value proposition. In some instances, staff members have been known to bring their own burned CDs to events and stores, resulting in a more serious situation where the university--unbeknownst to itself--becomes liable for playing music illegally in public spaces.

Noelle was given the assignment of creating the sonic expression of everything that makes the Cougars brand unique--and uniquely valuable. To complete this task, she would first need to consider the strategic role of music in brand communications and clearly establish the overall objectives of the project at the outset. Next, she would have to develop a sonic identity that defines how the Cougars brand sounds and consider the different ways in which it might be expressed (e.g., sound logotype, in-store music, event playlist, CD compilation, etc.). Thereafter, she would need to select the type of talent to work with in terms of which artists and genres will appeal most to the target audience. She knew there would need to be a strong personality fit between the artist and the brand in order for the partnership to be viewed positively. Finally, she would have to decide how to position the new sounds and music based on consumer touch points where sound is a factor in the nature of the brand experience.

Later that week, Noelle scheduled a teleconference with her main office to discuss her ideas for a music strategy that would enhance the brand image of UH athletics and deepen the brand experience for its target audience. She spoke at length during the conference about the storied history of UH athletics program and the crowded Houston sports market in which the program must compete. She also spent time detailing the recent marketing efforts undertaken by the UH athletics department to enhance the image of the Cougars brand across all sports. She knew she needed to paint a clear picture of the situation before instructing her staff to break into small teams and brainstorm ideas among themselves.

UH Athletics: A Storied History

Enrollment figures show that 38,820 graduate and undergraduate students were enrolled at UH in the fall of 2011 (University of Houston, 2011), making UH the third largest university in Texas behind only the University of Texas (UT) and Texas A&M University (Texas A&M). The students at UH make up one of the most diverse student populations in the United States (US), ranking second among all US research institutions in terms of diversity. Current figures indicate that the UH student body is comprised of 34% White, 20% Asian American, 22% Hispanic, 13% African American, .3% Native American, and 8% international students (University of Houston, 2011).

The UH varsity athletics program currently fields 16 intercollegiate sports teams that compete in the Conference USA (C-USA), which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since the inception of C-USA in 1995, the UH athletics program has won a total of 55 NCAA individual championships and 19 NCAA team titles. The UH football team appears regularly in NCAA college bowl games, and the UH men's basketball team ranks among the nation's best college basketball programs in terms of NCAA Tournament appearances. The UH athletics program also boasts an impressive number of celebrity alumni, including PGA golfer Fred Couples; US track and field star Carl Lewis; NBA basketball players and Hall of Fame inductees Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon; NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware; MLB pitcher and Cy Young award winner Doug Drabek; and legendary NFL head coach Tom Landry. Yet, despite its storied history and recent on-field success, "the UH athletics program is seldom recognized for its stature as the leading college program in one of the largest US sports markets" (R. Stewart, personal communication, August 3, 2011).

Since the program began in 1946, the UH football program has won 10 conference championships and has made appearances in 19 NCAA college bowl games. In 1989, the UH football team enjoyed perhaps its most memorable season, as future NFL quarterback Andre Ware became the university's first and only Heisman Trophy winner. The prolific offense led by Ware brought a young and promising UH football program out of the dark and into the national spotlight for the first time in the university's history. Following the departure of Ware to the NFL, the UH football program experienced a rather dismal time during the 1990s, as the team failed to crack the NCAA Top 25 and appeared only once in a NCAA college bowl game. More recently, however, the UH football program returned to the national spotlight when Kevin Sumlin, a co-offensive coordinator for the University of Oklahoma, was named head football coach in 2007. Sumlin became the first African-American head coach in the university's history, and only the eighth in NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision. The hiring of Sumlin had an immediate positive impact on UH football, as home attendance at Robertson Stadium increased dramatically to record figures in 2008 during his first season as head coach. In 2010, the UH football team watched its hopes for a NCAA Bowl Championship Series (BCS) berth disappear when highly touted Heisman Trophy candidate and UH quarterback Case Keenum went down with a season-ending injury early in the team's season. The loss of Keenum proved to be catastrophic for the Cougars, as the team struggled to win games and finished the season with a disappointing 5-7 record. In 2011, with Keenum back in the huddle, the Cougars are poised to regain the high-octane offense that just two years ago notched 10 wins, including impressive victories over in-state rival Texas Tech University (Texas Tech) and #5 ranked Oklahoma State University (OSU).

The UH men's basketball program is perhaps best known for producing NBA All-Stars and Hall of Fame players Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. During the 1982-1984 seasons, Drexler and Olajuwon led the program to three straight NCAA Final Four appearances. This particular UH team became known to many across the country as Phi Slama Jama, a nickname given to the famed "dunking fraternity" whose playground-influenced style of basketball would change the landscape of college basketball forever. In sum, the UH men's basketball program has made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances and four NCAA Final Four appearances, a record that currently ranks eighth all-time among NCAA Division I universities. In more recent decades, the program has endured a string of unexceptional seasons, having appeared in the NCAA Tournament only once since 1992. However, the program's most recent NCAA tournament appearance came in 2010 when the Cougars overcame a dismal win-loss record of 15-15 during the regular season to win the C-USA Basketball Tournament. The Cougars turned in impressive victories over the University of Memphis, winners of four straight C-USA Tournament titles, and #25 ranked University of Texas at El Paso en route to winning the conference championship and earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament. Capitalizing on the return of the UH men's basketball program to the national spotlight, the UH athletic department hired James Dickey, former Texas Tech head coach and OSU assistant head coach, to carry the program into the next decade. In addition, the UH athletic department announced in the summer of 2010 their intention to have Hofheinz Pavilion, the home basketball facility of the UH men and women's basketball teams, undergo a $40 million renovation and expansion project. The UH athletic department is hopeful that the hiring of head coach James Dickey and the announcement of the multi-million dollar renovation to Hofheinz Pavilion will bring about increased exposure and excitement for UH basketball.

Other notable UH sports teams include the UH baseball team, which has made 18 appearances in the NCAA Regionals and two appearances in the NCAA men's College World Series. The UH baseball team also ranks in the Top 25 in the country nearly every year. In addition, the UH men's golf team has won a combined 16 national championships, the second most of any NCAA golf program. Moreover, the UH women's soccer; swimming and diving; track and field; and volleyball programs have all produced multiple Olympic athletes and NCAA All-Americans, and perennially rank among the top programs in their respective sport.

Competing in a Crowded Sports Market

UH athletic teams compete in the highly competitive Houston sports market where indirect and direct competition exists. According to the US Census Bureau (2012), Houston is the fourth largest city and fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. A central US geographic location, diverse collection of industries, and relatively young and educated workforce help to foster a prosperous economy and pro-business climate for the city's 2.1 million residents. To this end, Houston has experienced a 25% increase in population between 1990 and 2010--a rate nearly five times that of New York, San Francisco, and Boston--due primarily to socio-economic factors such as innovation, job growth, and immigration (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Thus, it should come as no surprise that Houston ranks second (next to New York City) in terms of local Fortune 500 companies. Houston residents are able to spend their discretionary dollars enjoying a broad range of cultural, educational, and entertainment activities, including museums (e.g., Houston Museum of Natural Science, Contemporary Arts Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, etc.), performing arts (e.g., Houston Ballet, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, Theatre Under the Stars, etc.), concerts (e.g., Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Meridian, Warehouse Live, Sounds of Texas, etc.) and sport entertainment (e.g., Toyota Center, Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park, etc.).

Houston is well known for being home to five professional sports teams, including the Houston Astros (MLB), Houston Dynamo (MLS), Houston Rockets (NBA), Houston Texans (NFL), and Houston Aeros (NHL). In addition, many other NCAA Division I athletic programs compete in the Houston market, including Rice University, Texas Southern University, Houston Baptist University, Sam Houston State University, and Prairie View A&M University. Clearly, the UH athletics department faces a difficult hand, one that other large universities in much smaller markets do not. In order for UH athletics to remain relevant in the Houston sports market, the UH athletic department must look to its marketers to develop exciting and innovative strategies that will strengthen UH's brand image.

UH Athletics' Marketing Strategies

In 2010, the UH athletic department was chosen by the American Marketing Association (AMA) Houston Chapter as winner of the prestigious Marketer of the Year award (Subramanian, 2011). The AMA Marketer of the Year award is given annually to the company, institution, or organization that best exhibits excellence in marketing. According to Subramanian (2011), the UH athletic department was recognized for successfully rebranding the image of UH athletics across all of the university's 14 varsity sports. In 2010, for the first time in 10 years, the UH athletic department decided that a rebranding effort was needed to enhance the position of UH athletics both on the UH campus and in the Houston community. To this end, Stewart noted:

The award spoke to the progress we had made as an athletic program. Due to our efforts to rebrand UH athletics, we were able to increase our football season ticket sales by 82 percent from 6,300 in 2009 to 11,500 in 2010. This percentage increase was bigger than any other NCAA football program in the nation. During the 2010 season, we sold out five of our six home games, the most season sellouts in our school's history (personal communication, August 3, 2011).

In years previous to 2010, the UH athletic department had difficulty increasing the number of attendees at Cougar sporting events. According to Stewart, "We had the hardest time creating that affinity with our fan base. It seemed as though our fans identified more with UH teams of the past, and less with UH teams of the present" (personal communication, August 3, 2011). The brand image of the past, which included elements of rich tradition and storied history, was standing in the way of the desired brand image for Cougar athletics, characterized by Stewart as modern, confident, and competitive (personal communication, August 3, 2011). As such, in 2010 the UH athletic department began the process of rebranding Cougar athletics around these brand elements in efforts to enthuse UH fans for the upcoming year.

One strategy employed by the UH athletic department was a more prevalent use of the official UH Cougar logo in all university advertisements. Coupled with the stylized Cougar logo that is an official UH athletics logo, an official real-life cougar photograph, taken by professional photographer Pam Francis, was used as a lifelike representation of the overall leadership and strength of Cougar athletics. Stewart noted, "By using this lifelike graphic element more prominently in advertising, we [UH athletic department] were able to emphasize the brand story behind the meaning of the UH trademarked 'You Are the Pride' wordmark" (personal communication, August 3, 2011). The "You Are the Pride" campaign is a university-driven strategy created in 2010 as a means for UH students, alumni, staff, and faculty members to share their stories about their contributions to society and the university.

Another successful marketing strategy dealt with marketing UH quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Case Keenum more aggressively in local and national markets. As noted earlier, Keenum's bid for the 2010 Heisman Trophy was cut short due to injury. However, Keenum was still considered a serious candidate to win the 2011 Heisman Trophy. Boosting Keenum's star status was the fact that at the time he was only 3,847 yards away from becoming the NCAA's all-time passing leader, a feat that would surely gain Keenum and the UH football program national attention sometime during the 2011 season. As such, the UH athletic program decided to develop a marketing campaign devoted entirely to Keenum's bid for the Heisman Trophy award and NCAA all-time passing record. The marketing campaign was given the title "A Case for the Heisman," which cleverly utilizes Keenum's name into the campaign's tagline. A website was designed so that fans could monitor Keenum's statistics and compare them to other Heisman candidates throughout the season. In addition, social media pages were created so that fans could discuss and debate Keenum's progress. Consequently, the UH athletic department has been able to generate increased excitement and intrigue surrounding the quarterback's senior campaign. According to UH assistant athletics director of marketing, sales, and promotions, the UH athletics website experienced an increase in activity just days after the launch of the Keenum website. In his own words, "We are very fortunate to have walking around our campus such a well known and recognizable college athlete. It became apparent to us very quickly that college fans both locally and nationally wanted a place where they could track his statistics and place in the Heisman race" (R. Stewart, personal communication, August 3, 2011).

The UH athletic department also developed and executed a more focused social media marketing campaign. UH athletic directors decided that the university's social media pages (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) would become outlets for offering in-game updates, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes photos. A press release was distributed through all UH marketing channels inviting supporters of the university to become part of the Cougars' online social community. "Prior to this campaign, we were uncertain about the impact of social media and didn't know how to effectively incorporate social media into our daily marketing strategies," stated Stewart. "We were able to harness the power of social media to reach thousands of target consumers in a timely, personal, and cost-effective manner" (R. Stewart, personal communication, August 3, 2011). According to Stewart, the social media marketing campaign called for employees of the UH athletic department to continually monitor the Twitter and Facebook accounts of Cougar athletics. For instance, UH athletic department personnel were responsible for monitoring and responding accordingly to various "likes" and "dislikes" posted by fans of UH athletics on Facebook. Employees were also charged with responding to people's questions or comments in ways that are quite often no different than how they would speak with their friends. In addition, the UH athletic department provided exclusive digital content and behind-the-scenes access to followers of UH athletics on Twitter. Followers of UH athletics were also given chances to receive special discounts and prize packages for UH athletic events. As a result of these efforts, Stewart notes, "[the UH athletic department] was able to garner tremendous amounts of engagement and positive feedback among our existing fan base, not to mention the number of our followers in the digital space continues to grow daily" (personal communication, August 3, 2011).

There's More to Branding than Meets the Eye

Considering the growing excitement surrounding the UH football team as well as the success of the UH athletic department's most recent marketing initiatives, Stewart and his staff began to discuss the next steps of the rebranding campaign for UH athletics. According to Stewart, "It was clearly evident to all of us that our use of music both during and surrounding our athletic events was massively underwhelming. So, our group decided that our next step should be to design and implement an impactful marketing campaign built on music that would connect and resonate with our target audience and enhance their experience with our brand" (personal communication, August 3, 2011). However, given the novelty of such an approach, many questions needed to be answered. For example, how could music be integrated into the marketing mix and communication of the UH athletics brand in a different and sophisticated, yet natural way? Could music be utilized more effectively to create a consistent experience of UH athletics at whichever facility is visited by the sports consumer, no matter the sport or season? What are the internal factors (e.g., brand values) and external factors (e.g., target audience) that are likely to influence decisions concerning the musical identity of UH athletics?

A brand is defined as a "name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition" (Keller, 1993, p. 2). According to Meenaghan (1995), a brand is imbued with symbolic values and meanings that articulate to consumers the attributes, quality, and performance of products and services. When exposed to a brand, consumers often develop personal beliefs and feelings about it that are stored in memory as "brand knowledge" (Keller, 2003). This internal knowledge is accumulated through direct and shared experiences with the brand over short or long periods. As a result, consumers often develop, alter, or maintain an overall evaluation of the brand based on these experiences (Wilkie, 1986). This evaluation--whether positive or negative--is a function of consumers' attitudes toward the brand, also commonly referred to as brand attitude (Mitchell & Olson, 1981).

Beverland, Lim, Morrison and Terziovski (2006) examined the impact of music on brand attitude formation by examining the different uses of background music in advertisements. Results showed that music positioned to "fit" an advertisement significantly affected the attitudes study participants held toward the brand. The findings also showed that music demonstrating a good overall fit with the advertisement was particularly effective among consumers without prior knowledge of the brand. On this point, the authors concluded that consumers with less knowledge of a brand observed an advertisement's background music as an important indicator of the brand's overall personality and identity. In either case, the music was found to have a significant effect on study participants' attitude toward the brand.

Lusensky (2011) argues for music's unique ability to establish uniform messages across various marketing channels, which provides marketers a vehicle for brand communication that is remarkably flexible. This perhaps explains why music is used as a prominent feature in retail stores (Turley & Milliman, 2000) and commercial advertising (Garfield, 1988), and why costs associated with music licensing have grown exponentially over the years (Wilkstrom, 2009). In fact, research shows that companies spend anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars for the rights to use popular songs owned by music industry artists and producers (Wilkstrom, 2009). For example, Nike once reportedly spent $500,000 in licensing fees for the rights to use the song "Revolution" by The Beatles to accompany the launch of a new marketing campaign (Cocks, 1987). More current accounts, however, reflect a movement in company spending away from music licensing and more toward the construction of custom "brand music" (Fulberg, 2003; Jackson, 2003). Brand music is original and custom music that is strongly associated with the brand (Treasure, 2007). The structure of brand music follows classic song pattern (i.e., verse and chorus) and features composition and lyrics designed exclusively for brand-related communications (Bronner & Hirt, 2009). Constructing brand music involves a process by which brands collaborate with music artists to create original and custom music that, while appealing to a diverse group of individuals, reflects the values and personalities that are unique to the brand (Lusensky, 2011). Important to the construction of brand music is the integration of identifiable brand-related concepts and meanings into musical expression (Fulberg, 2003; Jackson, 2003). For example, Coca-Cola leveraged its sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa by embedding its five-note sonic logo into a relatively unknown song titled "Wavin Flag" by Somali-born artist K'naan. During a campaign that cost upwards of $300 million, Coca-Cola elected to make "Wavin Flag" the cornerstone of their campaign strategy. However, rather than merely licensing the song for mutually beneficial joint promotion, Coca-Cola and K'naan worked together to remix the song to include an original bridge that prominently featured Coca-Cola's sonic logo. Jay Belliotti, Director of Entertainment Marketing for Coca-Cola, was the person responsible for weaving "Wavin Flag" into the company's overall marketing strategy. Belliotti described the process of working with K'naan as more than the traditional licenser-licensee relationship:

What attracted K'Naan to the project was we weren't looking to [just] license a song from him. We were really trying to create something bigger where he could be involved throughout the process--the release, promotion, live events, the Trophy Tour, [and] the whole World Cup experience (Prince, 2010, p. 2).

Given the omnipresence of music in modern society, its prudent use in the marketplace has become an increasingly important element of branding strategy (Lindstrom, 2005), one that researchers have until recently underestimated (Lusensky, 2011). Balmer and Gray (2003) suggest that music can be one "brand signifier" among others (e.g., name, logo, colors, etc.) used to ensure the stable and consistent delivery of brand messages (p. 989). Some researchers have coined the term "sonic branding" to describe this emerging field of study and practice (Fulberg, 2003; Jackson, 2003; Treasure, 2007). Sonic branding is defined as "the creation of brand expressions in sound and the consistent, strategic usage of these properties across touch points" (Jackson, 2003, p. 9). It involves the process of forming an emotional connection between brands and consumers through sound, defined in marketing terms as "an associative anchor for recognition, communication of messages, image transfer, and image consolidation" (Spehr, 2009, p. 27). Kilian (2009) suggests that strong emotional connections triggered by sound can result in preference and increased loyalty to the brand. The most widely used forms of sonic branding include sound logos (e.g., Intel's 5-tone chime), jingles (e.g., State Farm's "Like a Good Neighbor" theme) and brand songs (e.g., UPS's "We [heart] Logistics" song). By employing the concept of sonic branding and combining it with commonly used marketing practices, some companies have learned to communicate brand messages in ways that fit seamlessly across touch points "where sound is a factor in the nature of the experience" (Jackson, 2003, p. 5).

In the same way visual branding attempts to orchestrate "emotional benefits" (i.e., attributes that cannot be added on the assembly line) into pictorial logos, package design, and other print media, sonic branding synchronizes brand identities into an audio form that is both distinct and recognizable to the brand (Treasure, 2007). Of greater interest, however, is the observation that audio forms of branding (e.g., sound logos, jingles, brand songs, etc.) can create more memorable brand experiences and longer lasting brand impressions in the minds of consumers (Fulberg, 2003; Jackson, 2003; Treasure, 2007). As a result, more and more firms are developing innovative and integrative "sonic languages" devoted solely to the communication of brand messages across marketing channels (Jackson, 2003, p. 124). Yet, Lusensky (2011) notes that not all brand managers feel the same about music as a marketing tool. To this end, he states the following:

It's clear many brand managers still don't see music as a serious strategic tool. They see it tied to tactical marketing activities, or merely as a sonic backdrop for their television commercials, radio spots, and retail stores. Many companies fall short of making a conscious decision and committing to music branding; and are missing out on the opportunity to take consumer involvement and loyalty to a whole new level (Lusensky, 2011, p. 141).

Sonic Branding in the Sport Industry

Sonic branding is still a relatively new and evolving concept; thus, most brands have likely not yet realized its potential. Though research on sonic branding in the sport literature is virtually non-existent, there exists a steadily growing trend of sport brands making full use of the relationships that exist between sport brands, music, and sport consumers (McGuinness, 2009). For example, last season the National Football League held the AFC Championship football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Prior to the start of the game, the home team Steelers invited local rap artist and Pittsburgh native Wiz Khalifa to perform live on the field as part of pre-game entertainment. Khalifa had made a name for himself in the music industry by writing and producing the hit music single titled "Black and Yellow," which pays homage to the rapper's hometown and the colors of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB), Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL), and Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) (Krumboltz, 2011). While the song does not explicitly mention the Steelers, per se, the repeated use of the phrase "black and yellow" in the lyrics was evidently reflective of the Steelers brand to the extent that the team adopted the song and featured it during home games throughout the season. In addition, the video for the single featured prominent Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley, thus buttressing Khalifa's fanship and making a direct connection between the song and the team. More significant, however, was the distinct and dominant use of "black and yellow," which all but eliminated the chances that other NFL teams might also use the song for their own marketing purposes. That is, brand managers for the Philadelphia Eagles would never knowingly allow a song featuring the deliberate use of another NFL team's colors to be played at Lincoln Financial Field. The strategy behind the Steelers inviting Khalifa to play at Heinz Field and making "Black and Yellow" the centerpiece of their music selection for the season helped to enhance the experience for Steelers fans during the season (Krumboltz, 2011). As for Steelers fans in attendance at last year's AFC Championship game, the game-day atmosphere in which Khalifa performed was surely unlike any other they had experienced during the season. Whereas traditional product brands seldom find music that features their name or likeness in song lyrics, examples such as "Black and Yellow" are becoming more and more common in the sport industry.

Some sports brands are beginning to take a more proactive approach to sonic branding, identifying opportunities for artist-brand collaborations at the beginning stages of sonic identity formation. For decades, popular music has been an important factor in the delivery of the sport product. However, given the dawn of music branding agencies (e.g., Banshee Music) in the industry, sport brands today are experiencing less of a demand for licensed mainstream music. Instead, the realization is steadily growing that sport brands can effectively incorporate original and tailored music into their overall marketing strategies (Bronner & Hirt, 2009; Jackson, 2003). For example, Gatorade, a brand of sport-related food and beverage products, has won big in recent years by adopting the concept of sonic branding and creating its own brand music. Prior to the launch of the new G Series, Gatorade developed a marketing campaign marking the evolution of the brand and celebrating its storied history. In doing so, brand managers collaborated with music producer David Banner to create a song written and produced exclusively for the enhancement of the Gatorade brand. This partnership resulted in a brand song titled "Gatorade Has Evolved," which became the featured track in Gatorade commercials advertising the G Series, as well as an instant anthem of sorts for the millions of Gatorade brand loyalists. In addition, the song was made available to the public free of charge on Gatorade's official website, a sensible effort on the part of the brand to engage consumers in ways never before realized.

Today, a steadily increasing number of collegiate and professional sport teams are beginning to invest in the development of custom brand music in effort to enhance brand identity and increase fan loyalty (Lemire, 2009). Einhorn (2000) notes that sport teams often spend upwards of millions of dollars for the rights to play popular music through various consumer outlets, including stadiums, commercial advertising, radio shows, television broadcasts, and retail stores. However, it appears that some sport teams are now opting for the production of customized brand music that embodies the attributes and characteristics of the sport brand and plays a formative role in priming concepts related to the sport brand in the minds of sport consumers. For example, the athletic department at the University of Florida (UF) recently partnered with Banshee Music to produce an entire music album titled You're in Gator Country: The Official Music of the Florida Gators. Seven songs were written and produced expressly for UF branding purposes by some of Gainesville's most acclaimed local artists, including Sister Hazel and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Song titles from the album included "I Come from the Swamp," "This is Gator Country," and "Gators on Top of the World." Similarly, the Ohio State University (OSU) athletic department also collaborated with Banshee Music and popular local music artists to create an entire album featuring original music and tailored song lyrics. Songs on the album were written and recorded specifically for the Scarlet and Gray, and included titles like "The Buckeye Way," "Ohio, On & On," and "Buckeye Land." Designed to reinforce existing university traditions, OSU's brand music ideal for in-stadium, on-air, and in-store Buckeye marketing activities. According to Fulberg (2003), well-designed and strategically executed brand music such as those examples above can help generate desired beliefs about the brand. In terms of enhancing the brand experience, brand music may be particularly valuable when heard at touch points that traditionally feature popular music, including retail stores, live events, and commercial advertising (Jackson, 2003).

Conclusion

The day for Noelle's meeting with the UH athletics directors had arrived. She had spent the weeks prior to the meeting going over strategies and tactics proposed by her teams back at the main office, and decided to use the most creative and practical of these for her recommendations. Noelle delivered a compelling presentation of a proposed methodology for creating a music identity for UH athletics. In it, she provided guidance to UH athletics officials on how to make the most of music branding using various marketing tools, such as pre-game entertainment, in-store music, and social media networks. By the end, Noelle was confident that her agency had done a great service; her newest client would never listen to music the same way again.

Editor's Note: Teaching notes for this case study are available at www.fitinfotech.com.

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Khalid Ballouli, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina. His research interests include sport and entertainment marketing.

Gregg Bennett, EdD, is an associate professor of sport management and director of the Sport Marketing Laboratory and the Center for Sport Management Education and Research at Texas A&M University. His primary research interest is in the area of effective event marketing.