Music, brands and agencies at Midem

The relationship between music and brands will take centre stage at the upcoming Midem, the annual international B2B event dedicated to the new music ecosystem.Organised by Reed MIDEM, Midem 2013 will take place in Cannes, 26-29 January.

Midem 2013 will dedicate a new space to brands and agencies : Brand Central. Sponsored by MINI, online music service Guvera, and leading in-store media specialist Mood Media, Brand Central is the place to learn all about how music and brands can interact. It offers a tailor-made learning programme run by industry experts to better understand the synergy between music and brands.

Brand Central will host the second Midem Marketing Competition, in which 20 finalists compete for awards in two categories: the best use of music or partnership with an artist in a marketing campaign, and best music placement in an ad.

A rich music & brands case study programme will explore several successful collaborations. Among them, the French agency and Publicis Groupe company Moxie's successful "Kingdom of Jewels" digital campaign bringing together US singer Brisa Roché with Swiss jeweller Swarovski.

MINI will discuss its two-night music festival, "Mini United," and how the event has given a new dimension to brand entertainment, reinforcing MINI's leadership as an iconic brand. British rock band The Ting Tings, who performed at both Midem Festival and Mini United Festival last year, will also attend.

Another case study will hear from Reebok, on the sportswear company's "I Am Classic" campaign, a ground-breaking interactive Facebook-connected music experience.

Heineken will outline how it brought the world's leading dance event, "Sensation," to Southeast Asia. And Ogilvy & Mather will discuss the emergence of brands that are building initiatives to support creativity and nurture independent musical talent in relation to Ford's "Bands in Transit" initiative.

Meanwhile, the Midem training sessions and workshops will focus on how to use music to convey a message, led by Tribal DDB Amsterdam.Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam will look at the Heineken "Legends" global campaign; while UK's Live Nation Entertainment will show how access to live music has become a key consumer motivator, providing artists with new marketing partners to directly benefit their live music careers.

Midem's Visionary Monday plenary conference will also feature a strong brands and agencies focus: John Hayes, Chief Marketing Officer at American Express, will talk about the brand's legacy in music and its innovative "American Express Unstaged" live streamed music concert series. Rémi Babinet, Chairman & Global Creative Director at BETC & Global Creative Officer at Havas Worldwide, will outline his view that only a deep commitment to talent and creativity will generate audience engagement, and thus create long-term value for brands.

Throughout the four-day Midem market, major brands and agencies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Nike, Opel, Dove (Unilever), Red Bull,Activision, HTC, Samsung Electronics, Grey, MAC Presents,TBWA/HAKUHODO, Publicis, Cake, Buzzman, and The Hours, will take part in the 2013 edition.