When reaching out to the 18-to-25 crowd, marketers have learned a couple of things; they don't want in-your-face marketing, and they want new music to be part of the marketing mix. With the slowing of revenue in the music industry, they are waking up to the potential that his has for them and their artists.
As a result, ad agencies are hiring musicians to write original music clips for their commercials. Toby Keith is doing it for Ford (F), Jadakiss for Reebok Interantional, among many others.
"The realities of the music industry have changed," said senior analyst Geoff Mayfield at Billboard. "If you're a musician, aside from touring, 
you can't count on established models to provide money and exposure."
What's important about this to me, is what performers represent. Those that have been true to who they are and what they represent, should do great in this market.
In the case of Toby Keith, people know who he is and what he represents. In other words, he's predictable. There won't be any suprises for those who get him to write jingles for them.
The other factor concerning Keith, that all musicians and marketers can learn from, is that he loves the product he represents. His manager, T.K. Kimbrell, said that Keith and his family have owned Fords for three generations and would recommend them whether he was famous or not.
They're the type of representative companies are looking for.
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