Until this decade, brands tried to connect with people with a “we’re like you” or a “we’re like you want to be” approach. Then they decided it was better to be useful.
Spotify’s new campaign goes back to the old way of attracting customers. Ogilvy & Mather New and its Miami sister shop, David, are building a community for Spotify around the stories of people who are just like you. In Waterfalls, a man talks about TLC’s 90s hit, Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls, and how he will always associate it with his unrequited 4th grade crush for whom he taped the song.
In Drifter, a bloke remembers the boss who emailed him from the office next door so he could fire him via a Whitesnake track, Here I Go Again…
Yes, songs trigger memories. But the memories the campaign is triggering are events with which pretty much anyone can identify. Being rejected by a girl at school. Losing a job. Hanging out with the girls. O&M and David’s Spotify loyalists are being bonded by “OMG, I’ve been there.”
The campaign just launched in the US and will expand to the UK and Germany next, featuring localised content for each market.
Last year, Spotify went to Cannes to establish its cred in the world of creativity. The Spotify activation, created by Droga5 New York and called #60Inspirations, connected music and creativity AND Spotify and creativity legends. Clever stuff, yes.
To create #60Inspirations, Spotify invited 10 people at the spearhead of commercial creativity to share six songs that have inspired them, accompanied by a short commentary on each song’s significance. Spotify built these into a playlist of 60 songs beautifully dressed in personal, humorous and surprising stories.
#60Inspirations creativity legends were:
Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post Media Group
Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe
Shelly Lazarus, chairman emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather
Wendy Clark, senior vice president, integrated marketing, The Coca-Cola Company
Bob Greenberg, founder, chairman and CEO, R/GA
John Legend, Grammy award-winning musician
Steve Stoute, CEO, Translation
John Boiler, founder and CEO, 72andSunny
David Droga, founder and creative chairman, Droga5
David Lubars, chief creative officer, BBDO
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