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London is well known for its tradition as a breeding ground for marketing innovation (the Center for Integrated Marketing comes to mind), so it is not a surprise that the Tate Modern is offering us an interesting lesson through their new Tate Tracks.

As described in Tate Modern’s website, Tate Tracks is the result of an invitation to an eclectic group of musicians to walk around the gallery and “find a piece of art that inspires them to write a track.” Collaborators include The Chemical Brothers, Graham Coxon, and Klaxons among others. The tracks reside exclusively at the Tate Modern [next to the art that provided inspiration] during their first month of life, after that they are released to the world via the internet.

Without pretending to strip this initiative from its artistic value, we might want to look at it through the eyes of the marketer, in which case we will be able to see why this is such an important marketing piece as well.

Today’s marketing and communications industry is facing many issues mainly related to a simple fact: in a world without media options, ruthless irrelevant interruption could thrive; in the present multi-media society, every piece of communication must add some value in order to be considered. This is probably the most visible consequence of an applied attention economy.

Tate Tracks, as a communications program, is a clever initiative that accomplishes various objectives through one cohesive effort: It can potentially boost visits to the Tate Modern since it offers a fresh, new reason to experience art; it also becomes an excellent tool to drive traffic to their website after the one-month exclusivity of the track in the museum expires; and it gives people around the globe a reason to refer friends to the site or write about it, associating the Tate Modern with innovation in the cluttered world of modern art.

The most important characteristic of Tate Tracks, and probably one that is essential to the new school of 21st century marketing is that the program is real. The tracks are inspired by art, leading artists to create a piece that wouldn’t exist without the Tate Modern, and therefore adding significant value to anyone that appreciates the work of the artist, musician, or both.

According to the official press release, “The Tate Tracks initiative devised by Tate Modern, in partnership with advertising agency Fallon, will be supported by a range of promotional activity designed to reach fans of each act and each music genre. The project was developed to highlight the relationship between music and visual art and the role they play in stimulating and inspiring creativity.” We would certainly welcome an annual compilation, perhaps distributed via old-fashioned compact discs.