Spotify Has the Ultimate Captive Audience in Pitch to Advertisers

Spotify floats its advertising proposition past brands in “All Ears on You,” a bubbly campaign from FCB New York and director Amber Grace Johnson.

We watch Spotify listeners rise waaay above the chaotic daily grind. Sailing through the sky inside giant bubbles, they groove to playlists and immerse themselves in podcasts.

“Advertisers are struggling to break through to reach consumers who are constantly bombarded with messages and more distracted than ever before,” says Spotify head of advertising business marketing Khurrum Malik. ” ‘All Ears on You’ highlights how Spotify is able to cut through the clutter better than any other advertising platform thanks to an immersed and engaged audience deep in the listening experience.”

So, the target audience rides in a pleasant bubble of sound, presumably relaxed, refreshed and highly receptive to brand messages.

Joy Crookes’ soulful (and suitably uplifting) “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” helps drive the commercial, which was shot in Mexico City and smoothly syncs live action and effect.

“This film is a window into the life of someone truly present—a young woman who defies the gravity of today’s experience by way of music,” Johnson says in Spotify blog post. “Our main character is able to rise above the ambush of the digital zeitgeist, an at-times suffocating frenzy.”

She adds: “In this piece, we revel in a spirit so comfortable in herself that she makes you feel free enough to do the same. If anything, we want people to watch this and feel inspired to romanticize their lives, add a bit of spice—no matter how mundane—to something like a dizzying commute home from work. My goal is to sweep you off your feet with some Spotify.”

Johnson chose “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” for the soundtrack because it “just hit differently. It has this Amy Whitehouse-meets-Bond feeling.”

Ultimately, the campaign invites marketers to “Reach the most immersed audience” on Spotify and arrives along with research that touts the streamer’s offerings as “more engaging than radio, TV and social media.”

You can sample other campaign elements below, including a cheeky audio spot.

The work dovetails nicely with Spotify’s “A Song for Every CMO” initiative from last month. Also devised with FCB, that effort featured tunes in various genres celebrating specific brand marketers who advertise on the platform, including execs at CVS, Indeed and Frito-Lay. (Spotify more than doubled its global ad revenue in the last quarter and seeks to maintain that momentum in its battle with Apple Music and YouTube.)

On the consumer side, the company launched a ’90s country music microsite last week and asked diverse stars to reinterpret classic tracks to boost its Gen-Z appeal.

CREDITS

Spotify

Khurrum Malik – Head of Advertising Business Marketing

Andrea Kim – Global Strategy Manager

Sarah Kiefer – Global Director Enterprise Marketing
Richard Frankel – Creative Director
Tammijean Triplett – Global Creative Lead

FCB NY
Michael Amiette – Co-Chief Creative Officer
Gabriel Schmitt – Co-Chief Creative Officer

Gary Resch – Executive Creative Director

Alexandre Abrantes – Creative Director

James Meiser – Associate Creative Director

Justin Batten – Senior Art Director
Ken Syme – Senior Copywriter
Chris Lenz – Executive Producer
Tara Graff – SVP Business Lead
Sean Kittredge – Account Supervisor

Object & Animal
Amber Grace Johnson – Director
James Cunningham – Executive Producer
Myriam Schroeter – Producer

Editorial
Lost Planet
Ben Rodriguez – Editor 
Krystn Wagenberg – Executive Producer
Casey Cayko – Sr. Producer
Rachel Butler – Sr Cutting Assistant 

VFX / Color / Finishing
The Mill
Blake Druery – VFX Supervisor / Sr. Lead 2D Artist 
Ajit Menon – VFX Supervisor / Sr Lead 3D Artist
Corey Brown – Creative Director 
Mandy Harris – Executive Producer
Catherine Fischer – Producer 
Michael Rossiter – Colorist 
Evan Bauer – Color Producer 

Sound Design/Mix
Wave Studios 
Chris Afzal – Senior Audio Engineer/ Sound Designer
Vicky Ferraro – Executive Producer 
Eleni Giannopoulos – Producer 

Music
Feet Don’t Fail Me Now – Artist Joy Crookes