Coors Light documents the climb toward music success via new artist initiative

Dive Brief:

Coors Light and Music Audience Exchange (MAX) announced the "My Climb, My Music" initiative in a press release made available to Marketing Dive. The beer brand will highlight multicultural and under-the-radar musicians in 10 U.S. cities: Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Antonio and State College, PA.
The program promotes the musicians, their music and their stories on streaming services like Spoitfy, FM radio and social media, including through documentary-style videos about how their "climb" toward success helped define them as artists. To date, the program has announced 26 partnerships with musicians like Houston's Dj Chose, the Chicago-based, all-female Noreteno band Rimel and Los Angeles hip-hop duo Crooked Stilo, with more expected, the release said.
MAX provides the underlying data and tech behind the effort, with a platform that includes a database of 765 genres, 2.4 million artists and a network of channels reaching 98% of music fans in places where they are already going to for music. The idea behind the platform is to offer more music and fewer ads, giving brands the opportunity for a more enriched and less interruptive engagement with listeners.

Dive Insight:

Coors Light showcasing the rise of up-and-coming artists might help it connect with underground music fans who would otherwise fall outside of its typical target audience. The program also reflects marketers' growing predilection toward working with artists that have smaller but dedicated followings as opposed to big-name celebrity ambassadors — a trend reflected in the popularity of tactics like micro-influencers.

Just as the initiative with MAX helps Coors potentially attract new customers, the backing of a big brand is giving artists an awareness boost on social media and music streaming channels. DJ Chose, in a statement made available via the press release, noted that the "My Climb, My Music" program has fans responding positively to ads on Pandora and Spotify.

"My Climb, My Music" also puts a premium on multicultural talent, another facet that might help Coors and MAX stand out. Surveys from The Harris Poll cited by eMarketer have found younger U.S. internet users are more supportive of multiculturalism in marketing than older age groups.