Kaiser Chiefs strike deal for Five promo

Channel Five has struck a marketing deal with indie band Kaiser Chiefs to promote its youth-focused channel Fiver.

The group's new single Never Miss a Beat, featuring Lily Allen, will be used in idents for Fiver during October.

The deal ties in with a wider marketing push for the launch of Kaiser Chiefs' album Off With Their Heads, created with producer Mark Ronson.

Channel Five is aiming to reinforce the credentials of Fiver, which was rebranded from Five Life in April this year in a bid to make it "younger, faster, louder".

"Fiver's audience is lively and likes things with a bit of edge. Championing commercial tracks adds character, surprise and relevance," said Nol Davis, the Five head of creative services.

"Tapping into the music that our primary target age group listens to and likes extends the brand influence".

Fiver has previously been promoted using tracks such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's seminal track The Message and Salt-n-Pepa's Push It.

For the music industry, the deal is the latest in what has become increasingly varied and innovative marketing strategies to reach consumers - who are buying fewer albums.

"Ten years ago the music industry charged a lot of money for music to be used in TV ads," said Mark Boyd, the creative director for content at ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

"Now times have changed and the music industry needs brands, advertisers and media as much as they need the music industry".

Last year, the Mail on Sunday gave away Prince album Planet Earth, pushing sales of the newspaper to more than 2.8m in the most successful promotion in the paper's 25-year history.

There is also a long history of TV commercials and music having a symbiotic relationship.

BBH's famous Levi's TV ad featuring Nick Kamen, called "Launderette", made Marvin Gaye's 1960s rendition of Heard It Through the Grapevine a massive hit in 1986.

And in 2002 Nike created the "Secret tournament" ad featuring Eric Cantona and a string of soccer stars playing in a cage football competition set to Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation.

It was so popular that the remixed song went on to give Presley another number one hit.

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