(CRM) software, all the rage among marketers, helps identify behaviors of the most profitable customers and encourage those behaviors among other segments of the customer base. It helps mar- keters cross-sell other products to loyal customers and increase the productivity of marketing resources. However, CRM can only guide strategies and tactics to develop profitable customer relationships. The human, emotional side of relationship building and connection goes beyond even the best computer software. Scott Elias, founder of New Yorks Elias Associates, a firm heavily involved in music-partnered commercials, explains, "Classic rock has been effective because its nostalgia, something people know and     love."2 His analysis indicates that about 75 to 80 percent of national television ads now add music to the ads, compared to only 25 percent just a few years ago. Compared to words in the content of an ad, Elias states, "Music is more primal, and is the most effective emotional communicator. You can communicate with smells, words, and pic- tures, but the most direct and powerful is music and thats why its the universal language."     Making Connections with Music   Central and peripheral processing of messages, the focus of much research in consumer behavior, explain how music affects the per- sonality of a brand. When direct claims are made about a product and its attributes-the brand promise-they are processed cogni- tively by the consumer. Consumers understand what the brand claims to be and evaluate it using their reasoning abilities. Peripheral processing involves cues that the consumer doesnt usually think about-things such as background music, the color of the ad, feel- ings toward the actors, and other elements that pass into the brain without thinking about them, passing into the consumers memory without the filter of conscious thought. Music is one of the most powerful of the peripheral cues, going directly into the brain, and hopefully resonating in the mind at the time the consumer drives by a store or searches among brands on a shelf. It doesnt pass through the cognitive filter that evaluates the more direct, or central, mes- sages contained in the ad claims and copy. When consumers carefully consider the messages content, then the presence of compelling claims about the advertised brand is essential to develop favorable attitudes toward the brand. However, when consumers do not think carefully about the message claims- probably the reality with many products ranging from colas and beers to personal care and household items-the strength of the ad claims becomes less important. Instead, the ads persuasive impact depends on whether it contains positive peripheral cues. This is why back- ground music by the Rolling Stones or Elton John may affect attitudes toward the brand even without much conscious awareness of the music. Ad practitioner Elias explains, "Im not sure that the consumer     listens as much to the copy as the advertiser might think. I think the