EMI Music and Zip Television are to partner on interactive TV advertising, with a view to enabling users to access and download music tracks by remote control.

It follows a highly successful campaign for the Chemical Brothers and their aptly titled album Push the Button published by EMI Virgin. That campaign was created by Weapon7 and built by Sky Interactive.

The new partnership between Zip and EMI Music aims to make more use of music in interactive campaigns.

“The partnership with Zip Television is part of our ongoing strategy to extend our relationship with consumers innovatively; taking it beyond traditional outlets and further into digital channels,” explained Danny Van Emden, digital media director at EMI Music UK. “For brands, this partnership provides a means to communicate more effectively with viewers, reaching them on a greater personal level.”

The EMI executive says that music is the glue that provides emotional engagement with a brand, making brand content more “sticky” and reinforcing brand loyalty.

“While music is an established element in emotionally engaging viewers in above-the-line advertising, we are yet to maximise the potential within interactive campaigns,” said Guy Abbott of Zip. Music was an essential element in the recent interactive TV campaign for Honda Diesel, which used the “Hate Something Change Something” theme tune and according to Abbott “shows how effective music is in the interactive space.”

EMI and Zip will be announcing plans for their first campaign in the coming weeks.

www.ziptelevision.com