Spotify, a fast growing music streaming service was valued
at a staggering $5 billion in early 2015. The company’s revenue is generated
from a range of different advertising platforms on the service as well as an
estimated 15 million people paying subscriptions monthly. They have marketed
the service well thus far by forming partnerships with music magazines,
festivals, radio stations and charities. Furthermore, they have invested in
creating online adverts ranging from 75 to 90 seconds, one of which is shown
below featuring themes of Spotify’s advanced social media influence.
Although, they have not yet ventured into TV advertising due
to the company’s opinion that it may not be as effective as online advertising.
I believe this may be the wrong approach. The company knows it has captured the
attention of younger audiences well through online advertising and social media
but consequently they have not engaged with sections of the older audience who
may rarely use social media related platforms. Evidently,
people aged 45 or over only make up 25% of the demographic for Spotify Usage in
the US.
It is widely understood that TV is still the most effective
way to connect with a wide demographic, especially with the older
audiences. Potential themes needed to connect with a wide audience on
television would be ‘Music and its power to bring people together’ (a theme
already being used in their online adverts) and ‘The Functionality and Ease of
Use of Spotify on many devices’.
Outline Idea for Theoretical Advert
Scene 1:
Unknown Girl aged 16-18 is shown doing some school work
listening to Pop music on Spotify desktop. She gets message on her computer
from her Aunt saying ‘Hope your work is nearly finished, can’t wait to see my niece
tonight!’ the girl smiles at this message.
Scene 2:
Unknown Man (roughly in 40’s) is in a kitchen stressing about
the evening meal and simultaneously has some chaotic opera playing on Spotify
laptop. He gets a message on his phone from his father ‘Food better be on point
tonight, hungry!’ he sighs with hands on hips clearly slightly anxious.
Scene 3:
Unknown Boy aged 14-16 is doing some art in his room
listening to Spotify on iPad with rap/indie music playing. He gets a pop up
from Facebook or related service saying ‘Event Tonight’ he laughs texting his
cousin ‘Bring the football, got some new skills to show off ;)’.
Scene 4:
Unknown Woman (roughly in 40’s) finishing work and plugs
headphones in Spotify’s mobile app and listens to some vibrant jazz. She gets a
text from daughter ‘Hurry up, you’ll be late for tonight!’ and smiles, breaking
into a jog.
Final scene:
All four of these individuals present at home in their
living room with extended family having fun, laughing and joking with Spotify
playing in the background on a TV screen (music choice to be suitable for whole
family and upbeat). A big faded green comes over the screen, shrinking to a
deeper green in the shape of the Spotify logo with quote ‘Bringing Music Lovers
together’.
Reasoning
The whole advert centres on these different people, doing
different things with completely varying music tastes. It conveys the wide range of devices Spotify can be used on and also how easy it is to use the service due to Spotify’s compatibility on each application which will appeal to the older audience. The final scene is the crux of the
piece and shows how everyone is brought together and their time enhanced by the
Spotify platform. It must be noted the viewer does not know these people are linked before the final scene to highlight this theme of togetherness. Also, the final caption ‘Bringing Music Lovers together’ sums
the dynamic and versatile nature of the brand to the viewer. The advert as a
whole convinces viewers to see Spotify as a must need technology for both
social and personal usage regardless of age.
They could also use a recurrence of this advert format in
later adverts to allow viewers to feel invested in the brand, much like the BT
adverts centred on a dysfunctional family which started in 2005. In later
adverts Spotify could use four 25-30 year olds going about work, sport etc. in
their daily lives and then they could all end up at a party in the final scene
where a DJ or Host is using a Spotify playlist to entertain everyone. They
could also create a Christmas related advert with a similar format with the
final scene cutting to Christmas Eve at a family house. In essence, I
definitely think this format with the main theme of ‘Music and togetherness’
could identify well with all audiences, especially older audiences and hence
boost revenue from this demographic.
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