Spotify Advertising Campaign - Listen Like You Used To 2019
Aims and Objectives -
The aim for this advertising campaign was increase brand awareness and product sales, in this case the sales refer to the amount of traffic Spotify receives which could then lead to actual sales in Spotify premium subscriptions. Spotify made this objective since they had seen a gradual decline in listeners between the ages of 35-45, therefore they wanted to re-advertise to this audience using adverts that would connect to their "golden era" for music.
Target Audience -
The demographic of the target audience is people between the ages of 35-45, as this is disclosed within the advertising agencies page, Spotify would not have targeted specific races or genders as the aim of their campaign was to get people between the ages of 35-45 to listen to music like they used to so targeting different races or genders within this campaign would be pointless due to the main focus of the advertisement being on age and creating nostalgia for this specific age group. Spotify may target people due to there income for this campaign as Spotify premium is a luxury which people may only purchase if they have enough disposable income, however the aim of the campaign was to get more people using the Spotify app and not necessarily subscribing to their premium service therefore targeting people on income may not be relevant for this. The target audience would have a broad range across the NRS grading system as no matter your income you are able to listen to music on Spotify for free however if there had to be one social class they had to target I believe it would be skilled manual workers and the lower middle class, social grades C1 and C2. I think this was the target audience for the Spotify campaign as this social class is most likely to go to concerts and have connected to music more when they were younger as they would have been more involved in culture than the middle and upper class ( B and A social grade ) and have more disposable income than the working class in order to be able to go to music concerts.
Spotify may have separated the target audience via geographical segmenting since different types of music are popular in different areas of the UK however the advertising agency would have to look at past data to work out what bands were popular in what geographical areas at the time they are referencing, for example they would need to know what bands were popular in 1979 so they can connect and create nostalgia for audiences in that area using the music that was popular in the time they are targetting.
Spotify choosing the target audience based on consumer behavioural characteristics could be affective in order for segmenting the audience. For example Spotify are trying to target older customers who have been consumers in the past and the Spotify service is now in decline stage of it product life cycle with these target consumers and Spotify are trying to extend the growth stage any making them listen again. The target audience for this Spotify campaign may follow behavioural characteristics such as the device that the consumer would listen to music on since this may help the listening experience for the consumer. Behavioral characteristics Spotify would also need to consider the customer loyalty of the consumers they are targeting, since the aim of the campaign is to almost re-ignite the lost customer loyalty of Spotify users.
The psychographics that Spotify may have mainly been aiming for is people who look for comfort in music and people who believe in the message behind generational songs of their childhood, this is so a campaign aimed at re-inspiring people to listen to the popular song of their generation, could also remind them of what the song made them want to be in the future when they were younger and can compare it to where they are now, all because of the music Spotify provides.
Slogan -
The slogan for this advertising campaign was "Listen like you used to" whereas the normal slogan for Spotify as a brand is "Music for every mood". I think Spotify used a different slogan to their usual slogan because the aim of their campaign was to remind existing consumers of Spotify, and how much they used to listen to music. Spotify would have used a different slogan to their normal slogan because of the different aims the two slogans have. Spotify's usual slogan "Music for every mood" is aimed at a much larger audience than their campaign slogan and is designed to showcase the amount of songs available on their platform. Spotify's campaign slogan "Listen like you used to" is designed for the purpose of getting consumers too used to listen to music again, on their platform again.
Key Messages Portrayed Through the Adverts -
They key message throughout this advertising campaign in the campaign slogan, listen like you used to. This key message is aimed at almost exploiting Generation Z, making them realise that life may have passed them by, but the classic songs they used to listen to have not change. The campaign is successful at conveying this message with clever word play referencing popular songs, artists or the sign of the times, throughout the the 70s, 80s and 90s and comparing it to what life is like in the modern day 20th Century.
Approach -
The approach for this advertising campaign was based around humour and being informative/rational as the advertising agency "Who What Why" created comical statements based off rational thinking about the changes in lifestyle the target audience has been through. This is effective as the target audience of users between the ages of 35-45 would appreciate this gesture of having their lifestyle made fun of so they may connect with the content more. It could be argued that there is also some celebrity endorsement within these adverts since they are using the fame of bands and their songs fame to promote the music streaming service.
Call to Action -The call to action for this Spotify advertisement campaign is "Listen like you used to" as this is what Spotify wants consumers of their service to do. Spotify must have seen a decline in streaming users between the ages of 35-45, possible as this is the conventional time for generation Z to be starting a family so Spotify gave the call to action, listen like you used to to prompt these users to open the Spotify app and get back into the music they once loved. The call to action is located beneath or next to the Spotify logo in all of the adverts and I think it is effective as it is a short statement which will not only prompt nostalgia within users but also make consumers of the advert think about their past and the things they used to do and enjoy and why they may not enjoy them anymore.
Representation -
There is little representation of people throughout this advertising campaign as most of the adverts are print adverts, however when there are visual, scripted adverts involving actors they are representing a whole generation, following the stereotypes of what generation Z was like in the 80s and the stereotype of what generation Z are like in the 20th century.
The adverts that Who What Why created for Spotify are all founded from stereotypes of Generation Z, all making comments about the lifestyle change that someone who fits into the generation Z category has undergone as they have grown up. The representation of this generation is not done in a malicious way and the comments made about generation Z are not offensive they just make honest remarks on how the generation has grown up. An example of this is the Spotify Ad "You're 24 hour party people" where we see a woman dancing with headphones on, then the music stops and the woman appears to fall asleep in her sofa then the caption "You're 2-4 minute party people" this comment is not offensive and it does not pick on a minority it just shows the reality of growing up.
Campaign Logistics -
There are three different types of advertising models: Continuity, flighting and pulsing, all which have different methods of connecting with your target audience.
The continuity advertising method is when you run your advertising campaign at regular fixed intervals so your target audience is constantly reminded of the product or service you are advertising. The continuity model is mainly used for products or services that are constantly in demand throughout the year, for example food products such as a mars bar is always in demand so a continuity model would be effective for this however advertising Santa hats with a continuity model would not be as effective.
The flighting advertising method, also referred to as the bursting method, flighting advertisement involves alot of adverts running for a short period of time, so the advertising is more concentrated but lasts for less time. This advertising method is designed for seasonal products such as Santa hats where demand for the product is only at certain, peak times of the year.
The pulsing advertisement method is a combination of both the continuity and flighting methods, this means that adverts run all year round like in the continuity method then at peak times for the product or service they are advertising it switches to the flighting method. An example of this would be advertising for bikes, all throughout the year there would be a low concentration of adverts then when it comes to summer where more people would be wanting to cycle then concentration of adverts would increase for this period of time, before the concentration of adverts goes back down after the peak time has passed.
The model I think Spotify used for this advertising campaign is a flighting model, this is because there was a great concentration of adverts across all different medias from social media, billboard prints and YouTube adverts. The advertising campaign was also released in September 2019 which is peak time for music listening due to September being the festival season for the UK, this means the target audience for Spotify may have already been thinking about music and seeing these ads simply clarified a platform to listen to the music they want to.
Choice of Media -
The choice of media Spotify used was to communicate with their target audience was primarily print adverts, targeted social media adverts, and some longer filmed adverts shown also on social media. Audience segmentation is identifying subgroups with the target audience so that you can develop stronger messages with that subgroup already within your target audience. This Spotify campaign was based off audience segmentation as Spotify segmented the audience of people who might want to listen to music into the subgroup of people who have already listened in the past.
The print advertising Spotify used to within their campaign were successful as they were directed towards their target audience, printed on buses, in tube stations and on side of buildings where there is major foot traffic around. These locations were appropriate to have print media in order to connect with Spotify's target audience since the target audience Spotify wants to connect with, is people between the ages of 35-45, this demographic will mainly be people who work and will be commuting between home and their place of work. Therefore seeing the adverts on the side of buildings, tube stations or buses on their way to work everyday may mean they act on the on call to action within the adverts.
The social media adverts are also effective at connecting to the target audience since Spotify can use the tool of cookies to target users of social media between the ages of 35-45 and ensure that their adverts are seen by the desired target audience.
Relevant Legal and Ethical Issues -
I think in the making of this advertising campaign they would have to consider not offending generation Z since the comments made in the adverts are making stereotypical comments about that generation and how they have changed. This means that the advertising agency Who What Why would have to be sensitive when writing these comments in order to not offend any of the target audience.
The CAP broadcasting code stands for the committee of advertising practise and is the organisation that are in charge of creating rules for all promotional communications. The rules dictate how an entity can promote their product or service following the rules about taste, decency and product placement. The main rules listed in the CAP broadcasting code cover topics such as:
- Compliance - adverts should not mislead or cause serious widespread offence or harm to the audience.
- Recognition of advertising - adverts should be obviously distinguishable from editorial content such as adverts mimicking the news flash sound effect.
- Misleading Advertising - adverts should not mislead or be likely to mislead consumers, for example red bulls advert that it gives you wings was sued for misleading content.
- Harm and Offence - adverts must take into account generally accepted standards of content to minimise the risk of causing harm or widespread offence.
- Children - children must be protected from adverts that could cause physical, mental or moral harm.
- Privacy - individuals should be protected from unwarranted infringements of privacy, for example an advert featuring an individual should not imply that the individual endorses a product that they do not.
- Political and Controversial Matters - The rule prohibits political advertising which may influence consumers decisions or opinions.
- Environmental Claims - Adverts that claim their product or service to be "green" should be backed up with evidence given to the advertising body.
- Prohibited Categories - Betting systems, tobacco products, guns, prostitution, obscene material, products for the treatment of alcohol, pyramid scheme, pornography.
- Competitions - Adverts which contain competitions should be conducted fairly and prizes and rules should be accurately described.
The BCAP code stands for the UK code of broadcast advertising and is the broadcasting equivalent to the CAP code so the rules are similar if not the same however the CAP code is in relation to non broadcast promotional messages whereas the BCAP code is in relation the adverts that will be broadcast. Since BCAP is in charge of what is broadcast on the TV or radio they have have another rule which we know as the watershed. The watershed is a time in the evening, in the UK it is 9pm, when it is thought that young children are no longer watching so advertisements for more adult content can be broadcast, still following the other BCAP codes.
The ASA stands for the advertising standards authority and they are the governing body to ensure that all adverts that are broadcasted or shown in the UK follow the rules laid out by the community of advertising practise and the UK code of broadcast advertising agency. If consumers of media see an advert that they believe infringes on any of the rules created by CAP and BCAP they can contact ASA who will then evaluate the advert to see it it breaches any of the rules.
I think that the Spotify listen like you used to advertising campaign would have had to be careful when creating their advertising campaign due to the nature of their messages, which some audiences may have found offensive. Despite some of the messages in the Spotify advertising campaign possibly causing offence to a few consumers the regulating body CAP dictates that for an advert to be unsuitable it must cause widespread offence which the Spotify adverts did not. There could have been an issue with the Spotify adverts being considered as misleading due to the comments they are making about what people between the ages of 35-45 are doing now, for example "2019, smashing avocados" could be considered misleading to younger people, giving them false impressions. However these are the only codes set by CAP within the Spotify campaign that they may have been cautious about since their adverts are easily distinguishable as adverts, are PG, don't cause any harm to children, don't involve any of the prohibited items and do not make any environmental or political claims.
Regulatory Bodies -
There are three regulatory bodies that the advertising agency for Spotify will have to take into consideration in order to not infringe on any codes or rules set by these governing bodies. These governing bodies are ASA, Ofcom, BBFC.
The ASA stands for the advertising standards agency and they have the responsibility to monitor all adverts publicised within the UK. It is the ASA's job to ensure that all the adverts released within the UK follow the codes of conduct set by BCAP and CAP.
Ofcom is the regulator for communication services that we use and rely on everyday, they make sure people do not get scammed and there is no bad practise within communications.
BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification and they are responsible for determining the age rating of all media products within the UK, so they decide which age range the media is appropriate for.
Spotify will have to take into consideration these three regulatory bodies when creating their advertising campaign in order to make sure they're advertising campaign does not break any rules or regulations. Spotify would have to use ASA in order to work within the rules they created so that the adverts they publish do not break any codes set by this regulatory body and can be shown to the mass public, which is the goal for Spotify to gain more sales. The advertising agency Who What Why will need to work with Ofcom in order to make sure that the adverts they are creating do not negatively affect any people or minority groups and represents equality throughout their advertisements. Spotify may have taken into consideration BBFC's rules on age classification in order to make sure that the adverts they are producing are suitable for all audiences since they are printed on the side of building where any age of consumer could view them.
The consumer protection from unfair trading regulations 2008 is a regulation set by the United Kingdom in-order to regulate advertising practises with consumers, specifically the regulations to protect consumers from unfair or misleading adverts and ban misleading or aggressive sales tactics. An example of adverts being misleading is the 2014 RedBull gives you wings campaigns and aggressive adverts such as adverts which cover your whole screen without permission being counted as aggressive.
