and profits, as has been the case for Elton John, U2, Dave Matthews, and Billy Joel. If todays rock-and-roll darlings have disappointing sales on their second go-rounds, marketing and PR dollars disappear, new stars are created, and the process repeats itself. And after a decade of hits by flash-in-the-pan artists, who sang what becomes a blur-band loyalty as known in previous decades is rare, and so is the sense of relationship of music to personal life events. On the other hand, once bands and their music are adopted as part of a culture, the role of advertising, promotion, and other branding activities take on different dimensions and goals. Rather than selling the band or creating awareness, branding activities can focus on evolving the band to maintain its emotional and cognitive connections to the culture. For example, the Rolling Stones and Neil Diamond know that when they announce a tour, they can count on a large proportion of their fans to buy tickets and concert garb. And many of their fans are of the generation that still buys music, opting to pay for CDs rather than invest the time to learn how to download music and then actually do it. As long as the band remains relevant, it can count on a certain level of support from the culture that adopted it-much as Crest can count on a certain level of sales because it is the brand consumers grew up with and have little reason to abandon. Compare that to a band that     has had a few hit songs but has cycled in and out of popularity and relevance to its audience. With each appearance or new release, not only does the message need to promote the event, it needs to remind people of the bands identity and why they should attend the concert or buy the album. Without an emotional connection to fans, the base- line levels of sales and support are unknown and unpredictable. That is the value of creating brand equity in the market.       Lessons fro m Rock-and-Roll M arketing   The rock-and-roll bands featured in this book have spent their careers generating their own versions of tried-and-true branding strategies, from the brilliant to the bizarre. At times they needed to bolster recog- nition among would-be fans; at other times, a complete reinvention or repositioning of the band was required after years of absence from the music scene. GMs Cadillac division-a cultural icon of the 1950s and 1960s-could certainly learn from the brand-reinvention strate- gies of Aerosmith, while Swiss Army knife maker Victorinox might very well benefit from the transgenerational marketing strategies of Elton John. Entrepreneurs looking to get onto retailers shelves can learn from fledgling icons, such as Madonna, while existing brands can learn about maintaining shelf space from the Rolling Stones. All of the bands and performers highlighted in Brands That Rock have stuck closely to their core sounds and strengths over the years, but they have evolved to stay fresh and viable in a dynamic market- place. They have mastered the art of evolving at a rate that doesnt alienate their current customers and attracts new fans. Rock artists understand the role that repetition, accessibility, entertainment, and emotion have in