• Ad Age, Tuesday, September 7, 2010 10:44 AM

Back in the Aughts, you couldn't get away from Sixties, Seventies or Eighties icons from Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney lending their music to sell cars, watches, lingerie or coffee. Not to mention the indie bands and artists -- remember Feist's "1,2,3,4" -- who gained notoriety with catchy tunes. Nowadays, though, the original jungle is making a comeback, Andrew Hampp reports.

Jason Peterson, executive creative director for Interpublic's Translation, believes brands are starting to realize the invaluable equity that comes with a recognizable jingle. "Taking something new and inherent to their brand, which has a deep sort of meaning, and making it relevant and interesting and bringing that into popular culture is a big task in itself," he says.

Meanwhile, the line between commercial content and art continues to blur. Alexandre Sap, CEO of Euro's The:Hours, points to Peter Gabriel asking to cover Lou Reed's "The Power of the Heart," a song written for Cartier's Love Collection. "It's all about quality," he says. "It's about the fight between music-production companies making music just for advertising or having clients come into the record company with the right connections."

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