Why is this work relevant for Media?

Spotify was coming to India. Being a global brand, it was imperative to build local connect with the masses so as to establish relevance. We decided to run a hyper-contextual campaign on the back of one simple insight – living in India is chaotic, but the right kind of music can help one deal with it. But how does one pin-point chaos? After conducting some ground research, we realized that every city has specific chaotic hotspots. We chose OOH as the medium to address these hot-spots, and to suggest contextual Spotify playlists that could help India deal with the chaos.

Background

Spotify, the world’s favourite music app was coming to India at a time when the music streaming market was inundated with numerous local players. Additionally, Indians were still in the process of developing a music streaming habit. They were far more content to listen to (and watch) their music on YouTube. Given the sheer range of music that Indians listen to - from Bollywood to regional hip-hop, rap and love ballads – the challenge for Spotify was to prove that even though it was an international brand, it had the capability of understanding life in India. The objective: To drive awareness about Spotify now being live in India with an offering of over 3 billion playlists, and to showcase how those playlists can Indians get through the chaos of daily life.

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

India is home to over 1.35 billion inhabitants from varied socio-economic backgrounds, who speak multiple languages, and subscribe to different ideologies and customs. However, they are all united by one common truth. ‘Who you are, where you come from, what you do – it doesn’t matter, you cannot escape the chaos of living in India.’ Creative Idea: There’s a playlist for that. With over 3 billion playlists available at the touch of a button, Spotify was in a position to help Indians navigate this chaos. We scanned our target cities and realized that a significant percentage of their daily struggles are concentrated to specific high-footprint areas or streets. Geo-targeted social media listening and sentiment analysis helped us identify the mood of each location, based on which we crafted hyper-contextual messaging and featured a relevant playlist that would help Indians deal with the chaos generated by that location.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

We decided to talk to two sets of music streamers (100 million) – • Young International Streamers: 15-27 years old habitual music streamers who had likely heard of Spotify from their global counterparts, through their travels or via pop culture. • Urban Streamers: 20-35 years old local music streamers who have an affinity for Bollywood and regional music In India, brands usually rely on television or digital (or both). The geographical spread of our audience meant that we had a lot of ground to cover. What’s more, every geography had their own definition of chaos. What would be relatable to the north of the nation, might not pan out in the west or in the south. In order to ensure that our campaign would hit the right note, we decided to roll out a hyper-contextual campaign, supplemented by digital films and influencer marketing.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

After scouring 29 states across the nation, we finally settled on 1153 unique sites. For every site, a hyper contextual message was crafted after a sentiment analysis of the mood of the area. For example, at off-shore call centers regular night shifts became the woe of all. Using geo-targeted media listening, Spotify wanted to let every Indian know that no matter what he/she is going through in that particular location, there’s a playlist by Spotify to help deal with it. With 1153 unique messages and playlists for 1153 locations across India, Spotify was able to bring alive this message – Whatever the situation maybe, whether it is celebratory or sad, relaxing or heartbreaking, Spotify has a playlist for that. Our digital films and influencer marketing campaigns helped support the message we were driving in.

List the results (30% of vote)

The ‘There’s a playlist for that’ OOH campaign was a resounding success with the youth of India, with 641,600 people engagements and 185,000 unique mentions on social media. And resulted in over 2 million monthly active users. What’s more! We also got a PR Reach worth 49 Million with this campaign.