Speaking as a game designer, Long said “art is the attempt to capture emotion. Music does that best. The complex rhythms of music bring order from chaos.”
MacKenzie said “the two elements to engagement for the NBA are the ‘in-game experience’ which includes the music and entertainers. Secondly, unlike most other major sports, there are no barriers that keep the fans from the action.”
Harris explained that “the central thought process we go through with our clients like OLG is to have a specific purpose to adding music to the brand mix. It is one thing to want to connect with music but you have to have a purpose to be there. There is something specific about music, culture and art that has an implied ownership. If you do it in a pedestrian way, it will come off opportunistic. Music has to be part of the experience. We help define purpose.”
IPSOS’ Colledge explained that marketers are connecting with older people realizing that this is not our grandparents’ retirement. “This is an entire new leisure market opening up that is being driven by buckets of money. Seniors have already bought the toys, the lawnmowers and ladders,” he said.