And the Grammy goes to…top tracks at TGT

What a fortuitous promotion Target ran this week featuring a collection of nine Grammy Award nominated artists in its weekly ad. The awards program drew a record audience, and between ads during the broadcast and the artists featured in the circular Target gave a broad range of music lovers a reason to visit Target.com during the show or stop by their local store after the program.

No one in Target’s marketing department, or who was affiliated with the Grammy’s, could have known recording industry legend and troubled soul Whitney Houston would die the day before the awards show. Or that her passing and the enormous publicity it generated would propel Grammy Award viewership to a level not seen since 1984. An estimated 39 million people, 41% more than last year, tuned in to see what would happen, how Houston would be remembered and discover talented new artists.

The most notable of these was a British singer named Adele who cleaned up by winning six Grammys including the coveted album, song and record of the year awards. Adele’s album “21” was among the nine Grammy nominated titles Target featured in its ad. However, Target added value to the CD by including four exclusive tracks, which it called out in the ad.

Other artists featured by Target included Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney, Nick Minaj, Kanye West and J. Cole -- a little something to satisfy every musical taste.