Strategy: The
Doors Of Reception: Now Open For Business
May 30, 2005 -Becky
Ebenkamp
- For the first time in its 38-year history, '60s rock band The
Doors is opening its music catalog to marketers.
- Along with a more liberal attitude toward sharing songs, the
group's music and iconography will be leveraged to a new generation of
rebels through 2007, the band's 40th anniversary.
- The move represents a perfect example of the current detente
between counter-culture bands and corporate brands: today, ads and
soundtracks are viewed as a music promo tool, like radio used to be.
For
the first time in its 38-year history, '60s rock band The Doors is
opening its music catalog to marketers. Along with this more liberal
attitude toward sharing songs, the group's music and iconography will be
leveraged to a new generation of rebels through 2007, the band's 40th
anniversary.
This summer, The Doors Music Co., Los Angeles, will send 2,500
limited-edition Love/Death/ Travel box sets to ad agencies and music
supervisors to inform them The Doors are now open for business—for TV,
film or ad soundtracks.
The move represents a perfect example of the current detente between
counter-culture bands and corporate brands: today, ads and soundtracks
are viewed as a music promo tool, like radio used to be. "A new
generation of fans are moving away from the old standards, like radio,
and into new forms of media," said Doors manager Jeff Jampol. "We'd
rather be part of this revolution than a past that doesn't work
anymore."
The plan comes fresh off a Riders on the Storm remix with Snoop Dogg for
EA Games' Need for Speed Underground 2.
"The Doors represent the last chance for freedom before putting on the
yoke of conformity," said Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, explaining why
he thinks today's kids—and the marketers who want their wallets—will dig
it. "That always exists for every generation."
The Doors are perhaps rock 'n' roll's most recognizable but
underutilized group, at least in marketing terms. Although singer Jim
Morrison died in 1971, the band's music remains in continuous play on
the radio. Their songs include some obviously brand-friendly hits such
as Light My Fire, Break on Through (to the Other Side) and Hello, I Love
You.
Manzarek believes The Doors continue to
resonate, especially in these straitlaced cultural times, because the
message speaks to disenfranchised youth, much like hip-hop does.
"I think there's a need in people to find a freedom and rebellion within
themselves rather than being chained to the ideas and the times, and The
Doors represents this in a conservative age," Manzarek said. "That sense
of spontaneity, excitement, and rebelliousness could go hand in hand
with the right brand."
The L/D/T set, swathed in lizard skin (as in Lizard King—geddit?),
contains three discs showcasing the broad music catalog, from tender
ballads to Morrison's oedipal scream on The End. Also, a DVD of live
performances and a lithograph by guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey (of
Obey Giant fame; see graphic, above). The sixth pocket contains four
unpublished photos, one of each Doors member: Morrison, Manzarek,
guitarist/songwriter Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore.
A menu lists songs and star DJs (Thievery Corporation, DJ Lethal) at the
ready for tailored client remixes. Another 2,500 copies of L/D/T will
sell online.
Meanwhile, there are many initiatives pegged to the 40th, including a
dark, interactive Las Vegas ride—dubbed, for now, The Doors
Experience—and a traveling tent show (working title: Break on Through)
recreating four stages in the career of the band, from its Sunset Strip
roots to Morrison's final resting place, Paris.
Also planned are remixes by DJs Paul Oakenfold (L.A. Woman) and The
Crystal Method (Roadhouse Blues), a Doors Anthology (Chronicle Books), a
theatrical documentary, a revamped licensing program and remastered CDs.
Jampol sees cutting-edge tech companies and eco-minded brands as
marketing partners. However, receptivity will be tempered with
selectivity. Don't expect to hear Morrison crooning for military
recruitment or GMOs. "The Doors were all about opening the doors of
perception, questioning authority, [and] not taking things at face
value," Jampol said.
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