Mitsubishi crowdsources a driving anthem

Client: Mitsubishi Motors Australia 

Agency: Jamshop

Market: Australia

Campaign scope: Accelerate, a contest for upstart music artists to contribute an anthem for the brand.

Details: The winner will receive A$10,000 (US$8,802), "national exposure through Mitsubishi Motors advertising" and A$5,000 worth of paid studio time (in addition to the chance to professionally record the winning track). The contest also includes smaller prizes, plus lucky-draw enticements for people to vote. Promotion has taken place mostly through social media, with a "small paid online media component", the agency said. Entries close this coming Sunday. 

Press release quote: Darrel Jacobs, head of marketing communications at Mitsubishi Motors: “The brief is to create a piece of music that can express how people feel when they drive their cars. From that new car smell to driving on your own and singing your lungs out, nights out on the town with your mates, to family road trips, surfing getaways, and off road adventures."

Comments: We like the idea of support for independent artists, and thus far the contest has generated more than 14,000 unique visitors and 4,200 votes, while artists have uploaded nearly 300 entries, according to the agency.

That said, we're not sure how many artists are actually recording to the brief versus uploading pre-existing work. For example, this "trending" track has appropriate lyrics evocative of a road trip, but we can't imagine the brand will be pleased if the winner turns out to be the "headbanging riffs" of a track called "Contamination" by The Frequency.