Danimals + Ronson = Fox

15 March 2010

Last November, Sydney band Danimals was chosen by world famous musician and producer Mark Ronson, to collaborate with nine international music legends and write and record a track in Tooheys Extra Dry: The Lab. The final track Fox is the soundtrack to the latest Tooheys Extra Dry TV ad campaign, now live across television networks. We chat to Josh Gaudry, marketing manager for Tooheys Extra Dry.

First of all, can you introduce yourself and your role at Tooheys Extra Dry?

My name is Josh Gaudry, I work on Tooheys Extra Dry, I’ve been in the company for about nine years and I’m the marketing manager.

What has been Tooheys Extra Dry’s history in music?

Tooheys Extra Dry has had a long association with and appreciation of music. We are famous for the music we use in our TV commercials, with the most famous being - The Quest (tongue ad) with Benni Benassi Satisfaction, but also we have had a long association with lots of festivals throughout Australia, with the centrepiece being Big Day Out. More recently we have created uncharTED - a program that finds up and coming Australian emerging artists.

Why music specifically for Tooheys Extra Dry, what’s the connection there?

That’s a pretty easy one, when it comes to music you don’t have to go too far when you’re speaking to 18-24 year old guys and girls. They are passionate about music, it’s what they seek out themselves so we are just giving them what they want.

What’s the idea behind uncharTED?

uncharTED started three years ago, it’s an online competition where we recruit unsigned and emerging artists – both solo and bands, and we give them an opportunity to play at the Big Day Out and Splendour In The Grass, as well as helping them out with a $25K development package tailored to their needs to hopefully break their careers. For us it’s about doing more than putting a logo on some artwork, we really wanted to contribute, be part of the music and give someone an opportunity.

How big a deal is it for the bands taking part in uncharTED, it’s obviously a big opportunity for them?

Yeah it’s a massive opportunity. When you’re talking about festivals like Big Day Out and Splendour In The Grass and the opportunity to play on stage at those festivals, I think it’s pretty huge. So playing in front of thousands of people is a real opportunity for them to break in to the industry.

Was The Lab a flashbulb moment or was it a long process, how did you get there?

We certainly didn’t wake up one morning and it was there, it took a little bit of knowing the brand and knowing what our history is in music, knowing what our history is in advertising communications and having a real understanding of what consumers want. Consumers don’t always necessarily want what we want to say to them, so The Lab is really born out of that. The idea that we are going to involve them, give them what they want rather than what we want to tell them – a focus on a true collaboration rather than traditional marketing. That’s quite a different approach for you, so isn’t that taking a bit of a gamble? Look, it might be perceived as a little bit risky but I don’t think by any stretch it’s reckless - for me its more a calculated risk. That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron I suppose but when you’re talking about the calibre of artists we are dealing with it’s pretty exciting, perhaps it is a little bit risky, but fortune favours the brave.

What has been the reaction within Lion Nathan to this project?

We’ve been drip-feeding snippets of content around the project for a few months. It is fair to say there is a lot of anticipation building for the end result, now that they understand the calibre of artists involved in the project and the magnitude of the TV campaign.

Has anything like this been done in Australia, or even globally before?

I’m not sure if it’s been done anywhere in the world, if it has I certainly don’t know about it. I think there have been lots of projects involving musicians obviously but this one here feels like a very authentic integrated process, I certainly haven’t heard of anything like it. Is this different from usual marketing or advertising activities and channels? If so how? This type of activity specifically around music is quite different. I think historically people would put their brand into sponsorships and festivals - just slap a logo on, and I guess more recently people have been placing their logo on artists but this is quite different. This is a genuine collaborative approach – Tooheys Extra Dry has matched one lucky band or solo artist with Mark Ronson - and a few of his friends as well – to create something that the brand can then use to talk to its drinkers.

It sounds risky, is that part of the appeal to you?

It certainly is, the risky nature of the project is appealing to me. I’d rather be out there doing a program that sits on the cusp of spectacular success or failure than sit in the comfort of mediocrity knowing it has little chance of doing either.

How much personally would you say you had invested in the program? How important is it to you?

It is important to me because I’ve been involved in the idea generation, which is exciting, but every time you do a program your reputation is on the line. It has a chance of spectacular success or failure but I’m pretty sure which way it is going to go (laughs).

TMN caught up with you at the start of TEDTL, can you recap what the campaign was all about?

The Lab is an evolution of our ongoing association with music. We’ve earned the right to operate in the music space through the music in our TV commercials, sponsorship of music festivals and more recently in our support of emerging artists through our uncharted program. On a deeper level we understood that consumers don’t always want to hear what we want to tell them. So we flipped that around and asked them what they wanted. What they want is music. The Lab delivers exactly that. Music content and integration on a mass scale. The mechanics are very simple. We’ve given one rising Australian music artist the opportunity of a lifetime to fly to NYC and work with some of the biggest names in international music to collaborate and write the sound track to our next tv campaign.

Has the campaign lived up to your expectations?

I’m not going to tempt fate on that one. It ain’t over ‘til the Danimals sing! Do you have any results you can share or is it still too early? It’s too early I’m afraid.

What does the track sound like?

Absolutely amazing. I’m no music critic but it sounds fantastic to me. It has a real instrumental feel to it and has multiple layers all through out. I think people will love it.

What is the ad about?

I can’t give too much away, but it is essentially not too dissimilar to the TED look and feel that consumers have come to expect. It is basically a metaphor for a typical night out. The people you meet, the people you wish you didn’t meet and your group of friends you choose to hang out with and have a beer with by the end of the evening.

Was it a challenge fitting the music to the ad?

At times I thought we were fitting a size eight foot into a size seven shoe. That shows you what I know about music. The editing process in the past week has proved me wrong. They work wonderfully together. How was writing week for you? Writing week was incredible. It is a rare privilege to sit in a room and watch artists from completely different backgrounds come together to create something in what I guess is the only true language of the world.

What can you tell us about the documentary being made?

We know that consumers can process and want more information than ever before. We think that showing this voyeuristic journey of the process of bringing an idea to life was entertaining enough to share. I mean how often do you get to see how the creative mind of Mark Ronson work.

Would you do it again?

One side of me enjoyed this trip so much I’d go back and do it again in a heartbeat but I can’t help thinking what the next new exciting idea is around the corner. What was the most challenging thing you faced with this campaign? The main challenge has been dealing with the ambiguity of the project. That said, it has ultimately been an incredible thrill!