"Elevator Music" phrase signals Muzak Re-Branding Effort

Muzak (http://music.muzak.com/) was a multi-million dollar company and over the years had created the largest digital music library in the world. Despite their past success, they were not conveying the modern image they wanted to the public. This led the new senior management team at Muzak to implement change.

Problem Definition

Muzak is a company that has been around for decades and is mostly known for their “elevator music”. In the late 90’s, Muzak’s reputation for “elevator music” began to lead the company down a path of little growth and increasing financial hardships. The company’s negative public image reflected the same image 

Muzak’s employees had of their company culture. With over 200 offices, 3,000 employees, and 450 different versions of their business cards, they did not have a uniform company image to sell to their clients.

Company Objectives

Muzak’s strategy was to move away from the “elevator music” label and work towards conveying a hipper, more modern image. They wanted to get away from depicting music as a science and instead depict it as an art. In order to re-invent their company, Muzak had to develop a unifying symbol. They chose to use a silver and black “M” in a circle. Their new logo replaced all the separate identities that once represented Muzak. It was a great first step in how they wanted to be perceived by new clients.

Muzak wanted to convey the message that they were a company of creative “audio architects”. To do this, they created an aggressive marketing campaign, which included new brochures with more color, graphics, and brief text. This was a complete change to the serious charts, graphs and presentations they had used for years. They designed their new brochures to be art. This was a huge selling point for the company, which began to generate new business almost instantly.

Data Analysis

These new changes helped Muzak’s business to grow 16% and in three years they were worth $750 million, up from $100 million in 1997. Muzak was rapidly growing financially, artistically, and everyone had more confidence in the future with this business. This lead Muzak to re-locate their business from Seattle, Washington to Charlotte, South Carolina; building a new headquarters that was less traditional and geared more towards their new image of young, modern, and creative. Their new headquarters, described as an Italian piazza with conference rooms, desks on wheels, and no private offices, had a fresh and original atmosphere they are proud to bring their clients to.

Alternative Strategies

Muzak did an exceptional job in changing their company image. They went forth with their objectives to become a new company with a central logo and a place that clients can trust. It is difficult to determine where they could have done better or what they could have done differently because they have had such a positive outcome. However, there a few things that could have been considered before this change took place while still obtaining their desired outcome.

Case Study Questions

1. What tactics did Muzak implement to change brand perception of the company? Describe the various elements of their re-branding program. (Use the case overview, website review AND other sources to shape your responses).

2. What other corporate communication “levers” did Muzak have at its disposal to signal change?

3. How did changing its identity help/hurt Muzak’s overall strategy? Short-term? Long-term?

4. How important is it, and should the parent company educate franchisees about the new identity?

5. Compare and contrast Muzak's repositioning with the work you are doing for your client. Describe any similarities or differences between the branding efforts. Can you apply any of the strategies that Muzak employed to your IMC class project(s)? Why or why not? (2 or 3 pages)

There is no specific length requirement, however, 4-7 typewritten pages is a reasonable estimate. The assignment is due on Friday, February 18 at the start of class.   

Please be prepared to share your analysis with the class on that day. As per our process, this assignment is also posted to Blackboard. 

Good luck!

Professor Berry