It’s fun when celebrities show up to help a company market to the construction industry, but I seldom take them very seriously.
When I heard Case Construction Equipment had exclusively released country music star Kip Moore’s music video of the new song On the Case, the title and the corporate sponsor’s name made it challenging to see this as the “a personal homage to his fan base and the hardworking people,” described in the press release.
My cynicism started to fade with just a little research on Moore (confession: I’m not much of a country music fan).
In today’s On the Case press release from Case, Moore is quoted, “These folks come out to my shows after working long shifts, 50-60 hour weeks, and I never forget that. They take extreme pride in the work they do. It inspires me to put on the best show I can every night.”
Moore says he has limited the scale of his road-show production specifically to keep ticket prices down so working people and their families can come to his concerts without “feeling like they’re strapped for two or three weeks after.” General admission tickets for his Up in Smoke tour are priced from $25 to $35. VIP packages are $99.
And he is making a very public and energetic stand against ticket scalpers, exchanging harsh words via social media with ticket-resale supporter Jeff Thurn, of ESPN radio this summer. The two talked on air about ticket scalping in July.
"I am trying to make an affordable ticket," Moore told Thurn. “And you are telling me it's OK for some weasel behind a computer to get on there and take my $45 ticket and turn around and sell it for $150?”
Moore could charge more for concert tickets.
He could ignore scalpers.
Instead, he’s fighting to keep his music accessible to people across the broadest possible range of financial means (you should hear him talk about it with Thurn).
It’s hard to make a PR stunt sound this genuine.
Case got together with Moore over a shared interest in building communities. The equipment maker brought him to CONEXPO last March, and continues to work with him on VIP events at his shows. Somewhere along the way, the idea of a song “honoring men and women of the construction industry,” as the On the Case press release describes it, came up.
I’m not sure whose idea it was. But I tend to believe Moore when he says his hard-working fans inspire him, and, “I wanted to thank them and honor their work and commitment with something they can relate to. The lyrics for On the Case were written to do that.”
Case worked with Moore’s producers to develop the video you see today. There’s a contest to get as many images as possible from contractors building communities to use in a second fan cut of the video due out in November. Fans who submit photos will also be entered to win concert tickets for the upcoming CMT ON TOUR 2014: UP IN SMOKE tour.
