Journal of Marketing Communications

ISSN: 1352-7266 (Print) 1466-4445 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjmc20

Advertising to the beat: An analysis of brand

placements in hip-hop music videos

Janée N. Burkhalter & Corliss G. Thornton

To cite this article: Janée N. Burkhalter & Corliss G. Thornton (2014) Advertising to the beat: An
analysis of brand placements in hip-hop music videos, Journal of Marketing Communications, 20:5,
366-382, DOI: 10.1080/13527266.2012.710643

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2012.710643

Published online: 23 Aug 2012.

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Journal of Marketing Communications, 2014
Vol. 20, No. 5, 366–382, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2012.710643

Advertising to the beat: An analysis of brand placements

in hip-hop music videos
Janée N. Burkhaltera* and Corliss G. Thorntonb1
a
Department of Marketing, Saint Joseph’s University, 5600 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131,
USA; bDepartment of Marketing, Georgia State University, PO Box 3991, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA

Hip-hop is a multi-billion-dollar industry influencing everything from fashion to

advertising. The current study documents the overwhelming presence of brands in hip-
hop music videos. Through the use of content analysis, we capture not only the branded
products and their associated categories, but also the execution and connotation of
those placements. Findings indicate that over 93% of all hip-hop videos contained
some reference to branded products varying in prominence, prestige and consumption.
Further, brand managers have many opportunities available with respect to brand
placement in hip-hop – several of those opportunities are highlighted herein.
Keywords: brand placement; music video; content analysis; hip-hop

Music defines cultures, acts as an adolescent identity symbol and anchors youth
subcultures (American Academy of Pediatrics 1996; Taylor and Taylor 2004). As
marketers continue to clamor for the attention of today’s youth, it is important to note the
power of music with respect to the youth who command billions in discretionary income.
Youth identify music as one of the top five areas on which they spend their money and
allocate 79 cents of every entertainment dollar spent on physical music formats such as
CDs (Getzler 2011). Hip-hop is among the most popular musical genres in America
(Recording Industry Association of America 2009). At one time, hip-hop accounted for 2
out of every 10 CDs sold in America (Eschun 2005) and boasted 50 million fans nationally
(Kiley 2005). More recently, hip-hop was the only musical genre that saw an increase in
sales in a time when the music industry has been experiencing an overall decline in sales
(Ganz 2011).
Merriam-Webster defines hip-hop as ‘the stylized rhythmic music that commonly
accompanies rap’ (‘Hip-hop’ 2011). Hip-hop is also a culture, of which music is a major
part (see Motley and Henderson 2008), with recording artists exerting great influence on
what takes place within the culture. ‘Hip hop musicians . . . consider big brands to be part
of their identity and enthusiastically weave them into their music, videos and public lives’
(Kiley 2005). These artists often verbally and/or visually showcase the brands they buy,
wear, love and sometimes even produce themselves (Coveney 2004). Further, hip-hop is
recognized as more than a musical style; it is a multi-billion-dollar industry that influences
a variety of areas including fashion, car design, television programming, sports and
marketing (Taylor and Taylor 2004). Hip-hop’s fan base – arguably more diverse than its

*Corresponding author. Email: jburkhal@sju.edu

q 2012 Taylor & Francis

 Journal of Marketing Communications 367

musicians – is estimated to be 59% Caucasian, 19% African –American, 17% Latino

and 5% Asian, with 85% of all hip-hop CDs being purchased by Caucasian youth
(Morris 2004). Consequently, marketers may do very well to tap into the hip-hop genre to
reach the youth market.
It is said that today’s consumers, especially Generation Y, are difficult to persuade
with traditional methods of marketing promotion (D’Orio 1999) and may be more
effectively reached by unobtrusive, nontraditional forms of advertising. Gradually,
advertisers and brand managers are beginning to look at other ways – such as brand
placement in hip-hop – to target younger consumers. Since 2003, Agenda, Inc.’s
American Brandstand has tracked brand references in the lyrics of the top 20 songs on the
Billboard chart. Their findings indicate that brand references are most likely to occur in
hip-hop, while other genres, such as R&B/Soul and Country, include brand references
only sparingly.
Marketers have invested heavily in music as a vehicle to showcase their brands.
For example, Reebok went so far as to pay for the production of an entire hip-hop music
video, outfitting the lead and featured artists with custom outfits (Anonymous 2005). And
in 2005, McDonald’s announced plans to pay hip-hop artists who rapped about the
restaurant or its signature sandwich, the Big Mac, between $1 and $5 for every time the
song is played on the radio (Kiley 2005). Despite the power of music, however, past brand
placement research has largely been limited to television, film and video games and has
not thoroughly investigated brand placement in an important element of the abundant
youth culture – the music video.
The music video is powerful in influencing behavior as individuals may be influenced
by even a brief exposure to music and music videos (Hansen and Hansen 2000). Youth, in
particular, use music videos to learn about themselves, musical selection, clothing and
lifestyle choices as well as issues concerning empowerment and responsibility such as
voting and sexuality (Sun and Lull 1986; Tiggemann and Slater 2004). An ethnographic
study conducted at a community youth center described a teen the following way:
‘With his shaved head, milk-chocolate skintone, oval-shaped eyes, and his regular
uniform of large, stylish Polo shirts, baggy jeans, a leather jacket, and high-top Nikes,
typically (Michael) Jordan’s, he looked like he would be able to slip into a music video
with little effort’ (Clay 2003). This study also revealed that young girls feel the need to
assert an identity around their peers by mimicking the women in hip-hop videos to be
accepted or gain attention.
Though first played on television via networks such as MTV, music videos may now
be found in a variety of locations ranging from digital cable channels (e.g., MTV Jams and
BET Hip Hop), to the Internet (e.g., artists’ web sites, YouTube) to DVDs. By the time a
fan has started to watch a music video, they have already become receptive to the
information presented. The ‘self-reinforcing’ nature of music videos means that once a
viewer has watched a music video, any time the viewer hears that song afterward,
‘flashbacks’ to the visual imagery in the video occur (Took and Weiss 1994).
We use content analysis to examine how brands and brand messages are showcased
through hip-hop music videos. As part of a larger body of research aimed at understanding
the influence of music video brand placement on hip-hop fans, this study analyzes hip-hop
music videos released over a decade of the most prominent presence of hip-hop music
(1995 – 2008). While this paper does not offer a test of particular theories, it does draw on
reference group influence and conspicuous consumption to underscore the value of brand
placement in hip-hop.
368 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

Background

Brand placement in music videos

Brand placement ‘has evolved from a novel marketing tactic to a key marketing strategy
on a global scale’ ushering in a new media world order (Patrick Quinn as quoted in Graser
and Stanley 2006) that is quite relevant to hip-hop music videos. Specifically, brand
references in prime-time television have been content analyzed focusing on a variety of
characteristics including modality, prominence, redundancy, length of visibility and
nature of portrayal (Ferraro and Avery 2000; LaFerle and Edwards 2006). Entertainment
marketing and brand placement allow consumers to ‘buy’ lifestyles and experiences
associated with brands and to express a sense of self by identifying with a particular artist
(e.g., actor, musician) or culture (e.g., hip-hop) (Hackley and Tiwsakul 2006). The motion
picture has also been a context of study for brand placements (Auty and Lewis 2004;
Galician and Bourdeau 2004). Supported by research with respect to placements in
television shows, brand placement has been found to impact brand attitude (Russell 2002),
purchase intentions and brand selection (Law and Braun 2000) – all of which may be
linked to a consumer’s memory (recall or recognition) of the placement (see
Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan 2006 for a review). With respect to memory,
several other factors associated with the execution of the placement, such as modality,
prominence and character association, have been studied throughout the brand placement
literature (see Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan 2006 for a review).
Prominence is used as an indicator of the product’s position as the central focus of the
audience’s attention (e.g., artist drinking from and mentioning soda vs. soda can simply
sitting on table in background). This variable has been discussed based on foreground/back-
ground, number of mentions and duration – a measure of how long, or often, the brand is
referenced at each portrayal throughout the program (e.g., soda can shown once for 10
seconds vs. once for 3 seconds vs. several times for 3 seconds at a time). In films, consumers’
memory of placements has been found to be positively impacted by placement prominence
(Brennan, Dubas and Babin 1999; Garza and Callison 2006) in that consumers had greater
memory for placed brands. Studies have shown that more prominent brands (i.e., those that
appear larger on the screen have more centrality in the screen or to the plot and those with a
greater duration or number of mentions on the screen) are better remembered than brands
that are less prominent (Babin and Carder 1996; Gupta and Lord 1998; Law and Braun
2000). Thus, this study addresses the following research question: How prominently
(foreground vs. background placement) are brands included in hip-hop music videos?
Another element of brand placement’s appeal is its ability to allow firms to reach their
target markets by showcasing brands in scenarios relevant to them while immersing
their products in that culture (Brooking 2005). Targets may be reached through visual
(display of some visible identifier), verbal (convey some message or make a direct
mention of the brand/product) or audiovisual (a combination of the two) placements.
The availability of both verbal and visual codes, according to Paivio’s Coding
Redundancy hypothesis, increases the probability of item recall because the response can
be retrieved from multiple codes (Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan 2006; Paivio
1971). Therefore, the study addresses whether the brands in hip-hop videos are more likely
to be included via audiovisual, audio-only or visual-only means.
Though content analyses of music videos date back to the 1980s (Baxter et al. 1985;
Brown and Campbel 1986), to our knowledge, few, if any, of these previous content
analyses have focused on a specific, pervasive genre, evaluated characteristics of the
placed items such as conspicuousness and prestige or studied such a great variety of
 Journal of Marketing Communications 369

product categories. Englis, Solomon and Olofsson’s (1993) study found that, unlike other
genres (dance music, soft rock/top 40, hard rock/heavy metal, classic rock and new wave),
32.7% of all rap videos contained references to specific brands.

Reference group influence

Reference groups, whether composed of an individual or multiple people, significantly
influence a person’s behavior (Bearden and Etzel 1982). Comparative referents provide
standards of comparison or models in which individuals are not in direct contact with the
referents whom they wish to emulate (Childers and Rao 1992). Thus, the individual can
only observe the behavior of comparative referents from afar, by watching a music video
for example. This group of comparative referents may include musicians, sports heroes,
actors, politicians and other celebrities.
Individuals use products to develop their identities and as a mode of self-expression
(Elliott and Wattanasuwan 1998). Products and brands are also used as communication
symbols through which consumers communicate with one another (Piacentini and Mailer
2004). Young people are particularly susceptible to symbolic consumption as they tend to
experience insecurities and use symbolic properties of goods and services to express
themselves as was found in research indicating that buying and wearing brand name
clothing is a way that youth conform to group norms with brands serving as signals of
social position (Piacentini and Mailer 2004).
Similar to advertising (McCracken 1986), the music video serves as a mechanism for
transferring cultural meaning from brands to consumers. Celebrities play a role in this
transfer by serving as inspirational figures to the consumer (McCracken 1989). Simply
defined as those known to the public for skill in areas other than that of the product class
endorsed, celebrities have been found to influence everything from verbal expressions, to
clothing and music preferences, to basic social values (Englis, Solomon and Olofsson
1993; Friedman and Friedman 1979; Wilson and MacGillivray 1998). Celebrities hold
certain meanings in the eyes of the receiving audience, and the more in common these
receivers believe they have with the source, the greater the persuasiveness of the message
delivered by the celebrity (O’Mahony and Meenaghan 1997/1998). While celebrities are a
given in music videos, this is not always the case with traditional advertising that often
uses unknown models or actors. However, the value of celebrity endorsement, especially
by hip-hop artists, is being increasingly recognized. This is evidenced by the increasing
use of artists as product endorsers, including 50 cent’s endorsement of Vitamin Water as
well Mos Def’s and T.I.’s appearances in commercials for major U.S. automobile makers.
When evaluating brand placement in television sitcoms, Russell and Stern (2006)
found that viewers’ attitudes toward placements were influenced by the characters’
attitudes toward the products – a finding qualified by the viewer’s attachment to the story
character (Balasubramanian, Karrh and Patwardhan 2006). Music videos present an
opportunity for fans to further connect, not with story characters per se but with recording
artists and their lyrics. Brand placement in hip-hop music videos allows companies to have
their products associated with celebrities whose reputations often rest on their credibility
(Lehu 2007) and would therefore, arguably, generate believability and receptivity to any
brands they are associated with – even if the endorsement is indirect. Thus, brand
placement becomes a relevant, and ideally effective, tool for companies to use in tapping
into consumers’ celebrity-adoration, their susceptibility to reference group influence and
the importance they attach to conspicuous consumption. This research addresses whether
the brand references in hip-hop are more likely to be associated with the main artists
370 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

(characters) versus subsidiary figures as well as whether the brand is more likely to appear
with a positive, negative, or neutral connotation.

Prestige and conspicuous consumption

Products are considered to be social tools that help individuals communicate with others.
Individuals are said to communicate, cultivate and preserve their identities through
material possessions while also making inferences about the identity of others on the basis
of what they possess (Dittmar 1992; Wattanasuwan 2005). Bourne (1957) held that
consumers’ purchase decisions are impacted by reference group influence when these
items are conspicuous. That is, the products must be both luxurious and consumed in
public to be considered conspicuous and for the influence of others to be a factor in
purchase decisions (Bearden and Etzel 1982). Thus, socially consumed products allow
individuals to project who they are (Piacentini and Mailer 2004) and are most impacted by
the influence of others when these products are nonnecessities or prestigious items.
Eastman, Goldsmith and Flynn (1999) pointed out that, as consumers seek status, they
will be more likely to undertake actions to increase their status; such actions may include
the consumption of luxury items (Eastman, Goldsmith and Flynn 1999 as quoted in
O’Cass and McEwen 2004). Therefore, consumers place great value on socially consumed
products to display or enhance their status, success and prestige in society. In fact,
American hip-hop artists have consistently been said to use these exact tactics, referencing
luxury goods as their way of highlighting their achievements by using the symbols of
upper-class society that were once off limits to them (Eshun 2005).
Fans may board a bandwagon with which they associate their favorite musicians based
on the brands that are shown or otherwise referenced in hip-hop. For example, while
attending a Run D.M.C. concert, representatives from Adidas witnessed a few thousand
Run D.M.C. fans holding up their own Adidas sneakers during a live performance of
the group’s song, ‘My Adidas’ (Skinner 2003). Hence, the brands hip-hop artists use
and reference in their videos allow artists to communicate who they are to their fans.
The inferences fans make about these artists based on brand associations may influence
fans’ brand awareness and purchasing behaviors as evidenced by reference group
influence. So, this research examines which product categories are consistently portrayed
through hip-hop music videos and which brands are likely to be used publicly versus
privately. In addition, it looks at whether the brand references in hip-hop are more likely to
be associated with luxury as opposed to non-luxury brands.

Methodology
The primary interest of this study is in the identification of brand references and the
consumption associated with each reference. The use of content analysis not only provides a
direct measure of the frequency of brand references in the lyrical content of the music videos
in the sample (Figure 1), but also provides information about how the brands are portrayed.

Video collection
Music television networks previously reported that between 400 and 700 videos are kept in
rotation at a time and that most rotations last approximately seven days (DuRant et al.
1997). With the frequent introduction of new videos, it was expected that a collection time
spanning a few months would offer a more expansive sample in terms of artist variety and
 Journal of Marketing Communications 371

Figure 1. Years of videos in coded sample.

increase the likelihood of collecting an adequate number of unduplicated videos. Thus,

in an effort to collect a sample of at least 100 unique hip-hop music videos released in or
after 1995, video recording was conducted over the course of three months from August
2008 to October 2008.
Similar to previous studies (e.g., Englis, Solomon and Olofsson 1993; Martin and
McCracken 2001), we focused our video collection on genre-specific outlets. Specifically,
using DVD technology, we recorded from two 24-hour digital cable channels, MTV Jams
and BET Hip Hop. While previous studies used 4 hours worth of music videos per genre
(e.g., Englis, Solomon and Olofsson 1993; Martin and McCracken 2001), we conducted 12
six-hour recordings. The total sample of 908 music videos yielded 203 unduplicated and
complete hip-hop music videos for coding purposes. Thirty-three of these videos were
from songs released between 1995 and 1999. The remaining videos were for songs
released between 2000 and 2008.

Content analysis
Conducting a content analysis through assigning variables to categories for coding
allowed the uncovering and categorizing of themes, patterns and perspectives contained in
the music videos (Kang et al. 1993; Schamber 2000). A procedure fundamentally
concerned with systematically counting and describing particular features of media
content (Kolbe and Burnett 1991), content analysis was deemed appropriate for this study.
Two trained coders, familiar with hip-hop music and culture, examined both the visual and
verbal content of the music videos. These individuals were paid to independently view and
code the videos. As self-identified fans of hip-hop music, they were familiar with some,
but not all, of the songs included in the sample.
Using the entire music video as the unit of analysis (Gruber et al. 2005), coders were
instructed to pay attention not only to what was in the forefront of the video but also to
what took place in the background with individuals and/or events other than those
associated the main artist. They were told to focus only on brands that may be represented
by traditional identifiers (e.g., name, slogan, logo, product) as well as slang references
(e.g., ‘Louie’ for Louis Vuitton). Each video was coded based on the same set of variables,
developed according to a coding scheme adapted from Englis, Solomon and Olofsson
372 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

(1993), subsequent research regarding music videos and the authors’ specific research
questions (see Table 1). The coders were instructed that they may pause, rewind or put the
video in slow motion as they saw fit to ensure that they were able to capture all of the
appropriate information in their coding efforts.
The coding scheme was reviewed with the coders. Prior to the first meeting, coders had
the opportunity to review the scheme and prepare questions. The coders and the authors
discussed their questions and refined the scheme further. Next, using the revised coding
scheme, the coders met with one of the authors to practice using six hip-hop videos. These
videos were not included in the final sample. Ratings were compared and the coders’
choices were discussed. The coding scheme was further refined.
To further ensure that the interpretation of the coding scheme was consistent, the
coders coded 10% of the videos and produced inter-rater reliabilities, as assessed by
Cohen’s Kappa, ranging from 0.061 to 0.653. Common discrepancies surrounded the
classification of items as prestigious or non-prestigious, association in instances where
multiple people were involved, imagery noted by one coder but not the other, and
inconsistencies in the names used for commonly repeated products. Since reliability was
below 0.70 on these abstract items, the coders then discussed these results in a meeting
moderated by the authors (Russell and Russell 2009). Following this meeting, the coders
independently recoded these videos; they were in agreement at least 94% of the time.
Coders then moved forward with the remaining sample.
For the 203 videos, the coders collectively noted 750 brand references plus 14 videos
that did not include any brands. The resulting Cohen’s Kappa ranged from 0.90 to 0.99
(see Table 2). While these reliabilities were ‘very good’ (Peat 2001, 228), coders were
asked to resolve any discrepancies. To do this, each coder independently coded the
disagreement items once more and then discussed them with the other coder to reach
agreement (Cho and Hongskik 2005). The coders were able to reach an agreement in all
cases resulting in 764 matched entries.

Results
For each category, the number of references that appeared in each video was summed to
develop a count of the category references across all videos that indicated a total of 764
brand references. Brand references were present in 93.1% of all videos (see Table 3 for a
summary) compared to 32.7% of all rap videos in the Englis, Solomon and Olofsson
(1993) study (for additional, selected comparisons, see Table 4). Of the videos with no
brand references, 46.7% were from the period between 1995 and 1999.

Prominence
Approximately 94% of the placements were in the background of the video, while just
over 6% were in the foreground. Thus, the focus of each video appeared to be on the artist
or the story being told as opposed to the brands themselves. Essentially, brands tended to
be part of the videos’ ‘supporting cast’ whether associated with the main artist or a
subsidiary figure in the video.

Modality
While Englis, Solomon and Olofsson (1993) found an almost equal split between
audiovisual and visual-only placements (see Table 4), the majority of the consumption
 Journal of Marketing Communications 373

Table 1. Variables under study.

Category Description/overview
Video name Note the name of the music video.

Performing artist(s) Note the name of the performing artist(s).

Brand presence Note whether or not brands are present in the music video.

Brand name Note the brand name of the product.

Product category Note the type of product the brand would be classified as: clothing/shoes;
lingerie; hairstyle; make-up; TV show/film; event; restaurant;
jewelry/accessories; business name; cars; motorcycles; trucks/SUVs;
drugs; TV channel; record label; university; weapon; alcohol; musical
instruments/equipment; toys; food; tobacco; branded characters;
electronics; magazines; beverages (non-alcoholic); services; & other.

Public view Note where a visually referenced brand is actually consumed in the music
video. ‘Public’ products are those consumed in public settings (e.g., in the
club, at work, standing on the street in a crowd) while ‘private’ products
are those consumed in private settings (e.g., at home, in a car). When items
are consumed in private, either no one else would witness their
consumption or only members of the household witness their consumption.
Items consumed in public are consumed such that peers, coworkers and/or
passersby would be able to witness their consumption. Classifications:
public, private.

Prestige Note the affordability of the brand. The title of ‘luxury’ should be
assigned to expensive brands. These are brands that have a low frequency
of purchase, high value and high differentiation characteristics. They are
high-end products that are not available to most consumers (because of
resource constraints), though most consumers would want to possess them.
Conversely, the title of ‘necessity’ will be assigned to mass-market brands
or products that are generally affordable items, easily obtained and
accessible to most consumers. Classifications: luxury, necessity.

Outcome Note what happens as a result of the individual’s association with the
product. We want to know the consequences of actions related to the
brand – to what extent their actions led to pleasant or unpleasant
outcomes. A ‘positive’ reference will be favorable/pleasant and shows
something good happening via an association to the brand (e.g., girls
flock to me because I’m wearing this brand of clothing). In fact, the
viewer may be encouraged to seek out the brand as a result of the positive
outcome displayed. A ‘negative’ reference is one that is unfavorable/
unpleasant and shows something bad happening as a result of being
associated with this brand (e.g., people make fun of the guy because he
drives a certain brand of car). In fact, the viewer may be discouraged from
using or consuming the particular product. Finally, a ‘neutral’ reference
is neither positive nor negative. Here, the brand is referenced but nothing
good or bad happens as a result of the individual’s association with the
brand. Classifications: positive, negative, neutral.

Modality Note how the brand reference is included in the video. Here, capture
whether the brand identifiers are shown (visual) or simply mentioned
(verbal). References may be verbal, visual or both (combined). Visual
references are those in which a brand identifier is used or displayed on
screen. Verbal references are those in which a brand is mentioned in the
song’s lyrics or the video’s script. Classifications: verbal, visual, combined
374 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

Table 1 – continued

Category Description/overview
Prominence Note how important the brand is to the music video/song. If a brand is
important to the video or song (e.g., artist stopping to drink from a soda
can; brand being mentioned over and over via chorus), classify it as
‘foreground.’ If the brand has no bearing on the song/video, classify it as
‘background’ (e.g., artist mentioned brand of soda b/c it rhymed with
another word; soda can happens to be sitting on the table but is otherwise
unimportant). We want to know if it is something people would focus
on/pay attention to. Classifications: foreground, background. (Centrality)

Association Note who the brand is linked to. We want to know whether the brand – in
the story of the video/song – is linked to the ‘main’ artist or some other
(subsidiary) figure. Classifications: main artist, other, both.

Table 2. Inter-rater reliabilities (Kappa’s measure of agreement).

Category Final (total sample)
Product category Kappa ¼ 0.98 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Public view Kappa ¼ 0.92 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Prestige Kappa ¼ 0.92 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Outcome Kappa ¼ 0.96 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Modality Kappa ¼ 0.99 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Prominence Kappa ¼ 0.94 ( p ¼ 0.00)
Association Kappa ¼ 0.99 ( p ¼ 0.00)

references in our analysis were visual-only (56%), involving the display of some brand
identifier. Chi-squared one-variable test indicates a statistically significant difference
between the categories of modality (x 2 ¼ 251.92, df ¼ 2, p , 0.05). Further, a
statistically significant association was found between modality and product categories
(x 2 ¼ 1.42 £ 102, df ¼ 54, p , 0.05). Beyond what the artists and subsidiary figures
were wearing, vehicles (including cars, trucks, SUVs and motorcycles), electronics
(such as cell phones and pagers), business names (often restaurants they patronize or their
own companies) and alcohol were the most commonly displayed items.
Also, almost 32% of the consumption in our sample was verbal-only, a great departure
from the 1993 study that did not show any verbal-only references in hip-hop. Further, as
only 12.3% of the brand references were audiovisual, it appears that brand managers are
missing the opportunity to use the more influential type of brand reference (Paivio 1971).

Character association and connotation of imagery

A chi-squared one-variable test reveals a statistically significant difference regarding
whom the brand was associated with (x 2 ¼ 3.825 £ 102, df ¼ 2, p , 0.05). The majority
of all brand references (67.12%) found was associated with the main artist(s). Further, it
was least likely that the brand would be associated with both (12.33%) the main artist(s)
and the subsidiary figure(s).
The brands included were more likely to be associated with neutral (89%) as opposed
to positive (10%) or negative (0.40%) outcomes. However, a review of the chi-squared test
revealed that the association between character and outcome was not statistically
 Journal of Marketing Communications 375

Table 3. Summary of findings.a

Modality Verbal: 242 references (31.7%)
Visual: 428 (56%)
Audiovisual: 94 (12.3%)

Categories Vehicles: 418 (54.7%)

Clothing/shoes: 133 (17.4%)
Alcohol: 71 (9.3%)
Jewelry/accessories: 51 (6.7%)

Connotation Positive: 79 (10.3%)

Neutral: 682 (89.3%)
Negative: 3 (.4%)

Prominence Background: 718 (94%)

Foreground: 46 (6%)

Prestige Prestige: 400 (52.3%)

Non-prestige: 364 (47.7%)

Conspicuousness Private: 43 (5.6%)

Public: 721 (94.4%)

Character Main artist: 513 (67.12%)

Other: 157 (20.58%)
Both: 94 (12.3%)

Recording artistsb Lil Wayne: 20 (2.67%)

The Game: 19 (2.53%)
Rick Ross: 14 (1.87%)
Jay-Z: 11 (1.4%)
a
Percentages based on all consumption references captured (n 2 764); rounding errors may be present.
b
Based on videos that included at least seven brands, these artists appeared most regularly. Videos were from
songs by the artist listed but may feature other artists as well.

significant (x 2 ¼ 3.251, df ¼ 4, p ¼ 0.517). Thus, it was no more likely that a positive

outcome would be associated with a main artist as compared to a subsidiary figure.

Focal product categories

The most common product categories found were vehicles, clothing, jewelry/accessories,
shoes, business names and alcohol. This is largely consistent with findings from industry
research, which declares that the majority of brand placement spending internationally is
on transportation and parts, fashion and food & beverage.
There were differences, however, between how product categories were portrayed.
Only cars (one instance) and shoes (two instances) were portrayed negatively. Vehicles
(54.7%), followed by clothing and shoes (17.4%), jewelry/accessories (6.7%) and alcohol
(9.3%) accounted for the majority of the positive portrayals. However, chi-squared tests
reveal that there is no statistically significant association between product category and
connotation of imagery (x 2 ¼ 7.16 £ 101, df ¼ 56, p ¼ 0.08). Conversely, there was a
statistically significant association between product category and public view (x 2 ¼ 8.99
£ 101, df ¼ 24, p , 0.05). Electronics (52.9% public, 47.1% private) and non-alcoholic
beverages (50% public, 50% private) were equally as likely to be viewed in public or
376 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

Table 4. Hip-hop then and now.

Englis, Solomon and Olofsson (1993) Our study

Year 1993 2008

Music television program(s) Show: Yo! MTV Raps Channels: MTV Jams, BET
Hip Hop

Top artists MC Hammer Lil Wayne

Vanilla Ice The Game
Bell Biv DeVoe Jay-Z
Rick Ross

Sample size 33 USA (55 total) 203 total

Brand references 32.7% 93.1% (188 videos)

78.8% (1990s only)

Modality Visual-only (47.27%) Visual-only (56%)a

Audiovisual (40%) Audiovisual (12%)
Verbal-only (0%) Verbal-only (32%)

Connotation Positive (34.1%) Positive (10%)a

Negative (45.5%) Negative (0.4%)
Neutral (89%)
a
Percentages based on all consumption references captured (n ¼ 764); rounding errors may be present.

private. All other product categories, however, were significantly more likely to be viewed
in public.

Prestige
There does not appear to be a statistically significant difference between the percentage of
prestigious (52.27%) and non-prestigious (47.73%) brands referenced (x 2 ¼ 1.54, df ¼ 1,
p ¼ 0.21). However, there is a significant association between whom the brand is associated
with and the prestigiousness of the brand (x 2 ¼ 8.86, df ¼ 3, p , 0.05). While it is more
likely that a brand associated with an individual will be a luxury (55.5% of the time for main
artists, 50.7% of the time for subsidiary figures), when the brand is associated with both the
main artist and subsidiary figures 60% of the time, the brand is a necessity.
In our analysis, products consumed publicly (94.4%) were significantly more common
than those consumed privately (x 2 ¼ 4.10 £ 102, df ¼ 1, p , 0.05). We found no
statistically significant association between public view and whom the product was
associated with, nor did we find any such relationships between view and prestige or view
and connotation of consumption.

Discussion and implications

This investigation has expanded the heretofore limited scope of brand placement-focused
research to further integrate music videos, providing valuable insights to practitioners and
academicians alike, as non-traditional forms of advertising become increasingly important
in reaching America’s youth. With over 90% of hip-hop videos containing brand
references, there is something to be said about the pervasive role of the music video as a
 Journal of Marketing Communications 377

Table 5. Summary of statistical results.

Modality

Visual Verbal Combined

56% 32% 12%
x 2 ¼ 251.92, df ¼ 2a
Association with product categories: x 2 ¼ 1.42 £ 102, df ¼ 54a

Character association

Main Other Both

67.12% 20.58% 12.3%
x 2 ¼ 3.825 £ 102, df ¼ 2a

Connotation of imagery

Positive Negative Neutral

10% 89% 0.4%
Association between character association and connotation of imagery: x 2 ¼ 3.251, df ¼ 4b

Product categories

Association with connotation of imagery: x 2 ¼ 7.16 £ 101, df ¼ 56b

Association with public view: x 2 ¼ 8.99 £ 101, df ¼ 24a

Prestige

Prestige Non-Prestige
52.3% 47.7%
x 2 ¼ 1.54, df ¼ 1b
Association with character association: x 2 ¼ 8.86, df ¼ 3a

Conspicuousness

Public Private
94.4% 5.6%
x 2 ¼ 4.10 £ 102, df ¼ 1a
a
Significant at the 0.05 level.
b
Not significant.

marketing communication tool. Based on our findings, there is heavy visual display of the
brand as opposed to merely a verbal representation through musical lyrics. This may
correspond to the relatively quick production of the music video. Inclusion of brands in
television programming or films takes a considerable amount of pre-planning, often
several months if not longer prior to the release of the movie or TV episode. However,
with visual placement of brands in a music video, there is the opportunity for relatively
‘last minute’ decisions given that the visual placement of brands does not necessarily have
to coincide with the lyrics of the song, which are written in advance.
Our findings reveal an apparent increase in music video brand references as compared
to previous studies. Thus, while big businesses may have relied on more traditional
advertising methods in the past, the marked increase in brand references noted here may
indicate that firms have begun to seek out more non-traditional marketing methods such as
paying artists to ‘name-drop.’ This is supported by reports of firms such as McDonald’s
378 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

and Reebok reaching out to hip-hop artists with endorsement deals as mentioned earlier.
Other firms have also engaged in such practices. For example, Wrigley paid Chris Brown
to pen the song ‘Forever’ that is a reimagining of the Doublemint gum jingle (Smith and
Jargon 2008), and Snoop Dogg was hired as a brand ambassador for Executive Branch
cigars (DelaCuesta 2012). Finally, Petey Pablo’s deal with Seagram’s Gin is even
referenced in his 2004 chart-topper, ‘Freek-a-leek’:
‘Now I got to give a shout-out to Seagram’s Gin “cause I drink it, and they payin” me for it.’
One of the most interesting findings of the analysis is an indication of a subtle shift of
the hip-hop genre as it has crossed over to the mainstream, something that is definitely
capturing the attention of marketers. Much of the popular press has labeled hip-hop as
placing heavy emphasis on indulgence, excess and material possessions. While luxury
brands remain a mainstay in hip-hop and are heavily displayed in some videos, our
findings indicate that a relatively equal number of brands featured in videos are non-
prestigious and commonplace. Examples of ‘average’ brands referenced include Nike,
New Era and Chevrolet. This trend toward reaching the masses parallels the practices of
marketers of traditionally elite brands (e.g., Coach, Mercedes Benz, Vera Wang) reaching
out to a wider base of consumers making them more accessible to the average consumer.
The linkage of brands with individuals of varying levels of status in the video may allow
marketers to be more strategic with brand placements. Findings indicate that, over-
whelmingly, the majority of placements are featured in the background of the video and with
neutral connotations. The music video may allow marketers an opportunity to strategically
position brands by showcasing positive associations with the brand. Just as traditional
advertising has relied on celebrities’ credibility and positive interaction with brands to
influence viewer attitudes, there lies an opportunity for placements in music videos to generate
similar positive influence. With the flexibility that music video producers have in developing
video images that relate to the lyrics in the song, brands can be strategically placed to associate
with positive aspects of the song as opposed to being merely neutral props.
This investigation will also inform future research, providing the groundwork needed
to address questions related to placement saturation as outlined by Balasubramanian,
Karrh and Patwardhan (2006) such as understanding the benefits of category exclusivity
(the absence of competing brands) and exclusive placements (no other placed brands from
any category) as well as the optimal levels of prominence and exposure time. Additionally,
this assessment may allow researchers to leverage theories related to modality to evaluate
the effectiveness of hip-hop music video brand placement.
Music has been shown to provide powerful benefits to advertisers – whether the music
is simply liked, from a specific genre, or happens to be a chart-topper (see Oakes 2007 for a
review). In addition to taking advantage of these many benefits through traditional
advertisements, practitioners may also find these and other benefits with music video
brand placement. For example, practitioners can leverage the hip-hop artists’ lyrical
abilities and may later be able to use the potential chart-topping lyrics in traditional
advertisements and promotions. Future research may investigate which route – music
video brand placement or use of popular music in traditional advertising (Allan 2008) – is
most effective with respect to a variety of consumer (awareness, intent, etc.) and producer
(sales, brand image, etc.) outcomes. Further, since both music and brands have been said to
have the power to create subcultures, future research may look at the interplay of these two
powerhouses in the development of youth subcultures, focusing specifically on how brand
managers may better use music to their advantage.
 Journal of Marketing Communications 379

As managers struggle to keep their brands relevant in the eyes of youth, it may also
become increasingly important for them to understand how brand placement, across media
types, may compare to traditional forms of advertising. Such knowledge would allow for
more informed decision making for practitioners and, perhaps, further identification of
factors that impact consumer information processing and decision making. In terms of
generalizability to other media types, there is consistency with findings of the current
study and research examining other media. For example, Pervan and Martin (2002) found
that there was a high level of product placements in television soap operas both in and
outside of the U.S. Russell and Russell (2009) found visual prominence of placements to
be significant in television with strong associations of the product with the main character,
much like was found within the music video context. In the case of film, visual placements
were predominant with automobiles and beverages being among the most common
categories featured (Galician and Bourdeau 2004) – a finding similar to that of the current
study. Also, in movies the majority of placements were associated with the main
characters or stars as was the case with music videos (Galician and Bourdeau 2004).
Studios have several options regarding how many versions of their music videos to
develop as well as the various venues to which they may want to release these videos –
whether through the traditional television channels, Web sites where they can watch these
videos for free, user-generated sites such as YouTube or through fee-based download
services such as iTunes. Learning how youth access and interpret music videos may be
helpful in understanding how studios and brand managers may best take advantage of
these many outlets as some individuals may utilize specific forms of media as information
sources (Kim and Kang 2001).
Finally, future research should include consumer interviews to better understand these
proposed benefits of music video brand placement as well as consumers’ view regarding
the ethics and acceptability of such tactics.
In terms of managerial implications, music videos may also present extraordinary
opportunities for organizations wishing to place not products but messages. For instance,
during the late 1990s, major television stations were integrating anti-drug messages into
the programs – and getting paid for it via a bill passed by Congress (Lacayo, Branegan and
Jackson 2000). Additionally, managers may also consider the possibility of extending
comparative advertising to the realm of brand placements by associating their products
with the main artist(s) and competitors’ products with other characters.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Danny Bellenger for feedback during the early conceptualization of
this research.

Note
1. Email: cthornton@gsu.edu.

Notes on contributors
Janée N. Burkhalter, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University. Her
primary research area is new media and the consumption behaviors of subcultures. Her work has
appeared in the Journal of Entrepreneurial Education, Journal of Financial Services Marketing and
the Journal of Business and Economics Research. Dr. Burkhalter holds both a B.S. and M.B.A. from
Florida A&M University as well as a Ph.D. in Marketing from Georgia State University.
Corliss G. Thornton, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Georgia State University. Her
primary research area is advertising and promotion and the buying behavior of ethnic-minority
380 J.N. Burkhalter and C.G. Thornton

consumers. Her research has been published in numerous marketing journals including the Journal
of Marketing, the Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal of Advertising, the Journal of
Retailing and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Dr. Thornton holds a B.B.A. degree
in Marketing from Howard University and a Ph.D. in Marketing from Florida State University.

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