Music plays an important role in advertising by enhancing elements like entertainment, structure, continuity, memorability, and targeting audiences. The song "Time of My Life" effectively enhances Sandals resort advertisements in these ways due to its immense popularity and association with the romantic film Dirty Dancing. While the song adds value to the ads, its preexisting popularity means it likely has a greater impact on sales than the ads do on promoting the song. The most important factor for Sandals' increased visits is portrayed through highlighting its beaches, warm weather, and lush landscapes in advertisements rather than equal contributions from various elements.

1. RonaldoDegazon – ANTH 086 – Final Paper– Marilynne Diggs-Thompson
1
How and why has music made an important difference inproduct demand?Whyor how has music
created interestinthe product or has enhancedproduct desirability--Wasthe artist the important
factor, or didthe product enhance the reputation and sales/ brand enhancementofthe artist? Could
you argue that an equal combination of factors was ultimatelyresponsible forincreasedsalesor
brand awareness? Alsodiscuss how and why music (or a particular type of music) has become an
essential part of consumermarketing and product sales.
Music has become one of the mostintegral partsof advertising.Musicinadvertisingaffectsthe
wayviewersperceive the brandbydifferentmeansandondifferentlevels.Inthispaperwe will lookata
specificcase of musicinadvertising–Sandalsadvertisementsandtheiruse of the song‘Time of My Life’
by JenniferWarnesandBill Medley.We will discusshow andwhymusichasmade an important
difference inproductdemand,the effectof the songonSandalsproduct versus the effectof the product
on the song/artistsandthe magnitude of the rolesplayedbydifferentfactorsinincreasingthe product’s
sales.
Before we delve intothe effectof ‘Time of MyLife’onthe Sandalsadvertisements,letus
establishsome backgroundinformationonthe hotel chainandonthe song.SandalsResortsisan
operatorfor all-inclusive resortsinthe Caribbean.The resortchainhassegmenteditsmarketintosix
distincttargetaudiences,eachof whichisreferredtobya nickname;Single Shannon&BachelorBrett,
HoneymoonHannah& Hayden,MarriedMark & Missy,FamilyFrank& Felicity,AnniversaryAngela&
Adamand RetiredRichard& Rhonda.Single ShannonandBachelorBrettconsistsof young,middleclass
singleswhoare lookingfor“afun vacationwiththe opportunitytomeetothersingles.” Honeymoon
Hannah & Haydenconsistsof young,upper-classnewlywedssearchingfor“a relaxinghoneymoon
getaway.”MarriedMark andMissy entailsmiddle aged,upper-classmarriedcoupleswhoseek“a
vacationawayfrom the kids.”The remainingthree categoriescomprise of upper-class,middle aged
parentslookingfora familyvacation,middle-upperclassmarriedcoupleslookingtorelive their

2. RonaldoDegazon – ANTH 086 – Final Paper– Marilynne Diggs-Thompson
2
honeymoonandmiddle-upperelderlycoupleslookingfora relaxing vacation. ‘Time of My Life’isa song
recordedbyBill Medley andJenniferWarnesforthe nineteen-eighty-sevenromanticdramafilm‘Dirty
Dancing.’The song haswon a numberof awardsincludinganAcademyAwardfor‘BestOriginal Song’,a
GoldenGlobe Awardfor‘BestOriginal Song’anda Grammy Awardforbestpop performance bya duet.
The film‘DirtyDancing’wasa hitamongstitsexpectedteenaudience butitwasevenmore popular
amongstadultaudiences.The filmwasthe firsttosell more thana millioncopiesonhome videoandas
of two-thousand-nineitearnedovertwo-hundred-fourteen-milliondollarsworldwide.
There are several waysinwhichmusicenhancesanadvertisement.DavidHuroncame upwith
six categorieswhichshowhowmusicimprovesadvertisements;entertainment,structure and
continuity,memorability,lyrical language,targetingandauthorityestablishment.The entertainment
aspectof musichelpsenhancesanadvertisementbyaddingaestheticvalue toit;anadvertisementthat
has more aestheticvalue will be able tocapture more attentionfromthe audience.Musicalsoplaysa
structural role by tyingtogetherasequence of visual imagesand/oraseriesof dramaticepisodes,
narrative voice-oversora listof productappeals;thisfunction of tyingtogetherdiscontinuousscene
changesor editsgivescontinuitytothe scenesinanadvertisement. Musicservesthe functionof making
a product more memorable toviewersasitis knownto“lingerinthe listener’smind”;thisfunctionis
particularlyeffectivewhenawell-knownsongisused.Musicservesasaform of ‘lyrical language’asit
permitsthe conveyance of averbal message inanon-spokenway;language utterancescansoundmuch
lessnaïve or self-indulgentwhen couchedwithinamusical phrase ratherthansimplyspoken. Musicalso
helpsanadvertisementreachitstargetaudience;certainmarketsegmentswill respondmore tocertain
artists/songs/stylesthanothers.Finally,musichelpswithauthority establishment;thatis,givingan
advertisementmore credibilitybecause of the artistbeingused.
In the Sandalsadvertisementwe cansee five of Huron’scategoriesatwork.The song adds
aestheticvalue withthe ‘feel good’,ecstaticmoodthatitconveys.Italsoadds structure andcontinuity

3. RonaldoDegazon – ANTH 086 – Final Paper– Marilynne Diggs-Thompson
3
by smoothingoverthe scene changes. The phrase ‘Time of MyLife’servesaslyrical language asit
conveysthe message thatSandalsvisitorswill have aonce ina lifetimeexperience.Moreover,the song
providesmemorabilitydue tothe simplicityof the hook‘Time of MyLife’andthe popularityof the song.
To elucidate onthe popularityof thissong,one needsnotlookfurtherthanitsgoldstandard
certificationineachof the U.S, AustraliaandCanadaand itsplatinumcertificationinthe Netherlands.
Furthermore, the song‘Time of My Life’ anditsassociationwiththe film‘DirtyDancing’also helpsthe
advertisementwithtargetingitsaudiences. The filmwaspopularamongstteensandadultsinthe
eightiesandninetieswhich correspondsyoung,middle agedandelderadultstoday;all of these age
groupsare targetedbySandals.Boththe song and the filmare extremelypopularromanticproductions;
Sandalscatersmainlytothose seekingnew romance (Single Shannon&BachelorBrett) orthose looking
to continue existingromance (HoneymoonHannah&Hadenand AnniversaryAngela&Adam).
It isdifficulttocompare the effectof the artists(MedleyandWarnes) onthe productversusthe
effectof the producton the artists;thisis because the versionsonthe Sandalsadvertisementsare cover
versions(notthe original versionsangbyMedleyandWarnes.) NeverthelessIbelieve thatthe artistsdo
more for the product thanthe product doesforthem.My main reasonisthat the popularity of the song
isimmense;once againIwill allude toitsgoldstandardcertificationsinthe U.S,AustraliaandCanada,
and itsplatinumcertificationinthe Netherlands.Toputthisfurtherintocontextthe salesbenchmarks
for goldcertificationsinthe U.S,AustraliaandCanadaare five hundredthousand,fifty-thousandand
fifty-thousandrespectivelywhilstthe benchmarkforplatinumcertificationinthe Netherlandsissixty-
thousand;thismeansthatthe song has at leastsix-hundred-sixty-thousandcertifiedsales,andlet’snot
forgetthe thousandsof uncertifiedbootlegsalesandinternetdownloads.All thesefiguresare to
emphasize the likelyimpactthatMedleyandWarnes’songhas hadon the Sandalsadvertisements - an
impactthat wouldbe difficult forthe advertisementtoreciprocate. Anotherreasontobelievethatthe

4. RonaldoDegazon – ANTH 086 – Final Paper– Marilynne Diggs-Thompson
4
advertisementdoesn’thave agreaterrelative effectonthe artistsisthat the artistsare past theirpeak
years.Both MedleyandWarnesproducedthe majorityof theirmusicbetween the sixtiesandnineties.
I don’tthinkthat an equal combinationof factorswasresponsibleforincreasedsales/brand
awarenessforSandals’hotel product.Sandals’mainattractionisitsthree S’s –sun, sandand sea.All the
resortsare locatedinthe Caribbean,aregionwhose greatesttouristpullsare itswarmclimate and
sandybeaches.The Sandalsadvertisementscapitalizesonthisbyshowingscenesof sunnyweather,lush
greenterrain,sandand beaches (nearlyall the scenesinclude abeach).Thisisnotto say that the song
doesn’thave muchof an impact onSandalsproduct;as alludedtointhe previoustwoparagraphs,the
songis immenselypopularandismore than likelytohave caughtthe attentionof new viewers.Alsokey
to the successof the advertisementisthe age andracial diversityondisplay.The advertisementsfeature
bothblack andwhite visitorswhorange inage fromyoung-adultstomiddle-agedtoelder-aged.This
sendsa message thatSandalsisfor everyadult.Tosummarize thisparagraph,Ibelievethatthe factors
rankedindescendingorderof importance are the attractionof the three S’s,the song ‘Time of My Life’
and otherfactorssuch as racial andage diversity.
In conclusion,musicinadvertisingenhancesproductdemandinseveral ways: entertainment,
structure and continuity,memorability,lyricallanguage,targetingandauthorityestablishment.The song
‘Time of My Life’enhancesthe Sandalsadvertisementsinall of the above waysexceptforauthority
establishment.Ibelieve thatthe songdoesmore forSandalsadvertsthanthe advertsdo for the
song/artists.Finally,Istronglythinkthatthe mainfactorresponsibleforincreasedSandalsvisitsisthe
attractionof the three S’sand howsuch isportrayedinthe advertisements.

5. RonaldoDegazon – ANTH 086 – Final Paper– Marilynne Diggs-Thompson
5
Bibliography
1. Why Today’sAdsNeed Amazing Soundtracks Retrievedfrom
http://www.adweek.com/video/advertising-branding/why-todays-ads-need-amazing-
soundtracks-video-162860
2. Music: The Unsung Hero of Advertising Retrievedfrom
https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/music-advertising-marketing.aspx
3. Music in Advertising:An AnalyticParadigm Retrievedfromhttp://www.musiccog.ohio-
state.edu/Huron/Publications/huron.advertising.text.html
4. SandalsPresentation Retrievedfromhttp://www.slideshare.net/sjohnson09/finalpresentation3
5. (I’veHad) The Time of My Life Retrievedfrom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(I%27ve_Had)_The_Time_of_My_Life