Applebee's Starts Year Rolling With The Stones

One way brands can get audience attention? Using a popular song like The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up,” as Applebee’s did early this year. Songtradr data shows that in the past four months alone, the song has been streamed nearly 30 million times on Spotify. That consistent and increasing volume helps a brand like Applebee’s, which receives repeated brand equity that won’t fade given the song’s lasting popularity.

• The brand’s ad strategy understands this too, as it’s the predominant Applebee’s ad on TV over the course of the year’s first two months.
• Despite the long-term popularity for “Start Me Up,” the song hasn’t been licensed much for TV or movie purposes. Songtradr data has just one appearance (during a 2021 episode of Blue Bloods) in the last two decades.