Spotify Riffs on Meme Culture in a New Global Brand Campaign

Everyone loves a good Spotify billboard, and its latest out-of-home work riffs amusingly on meme culture—as part of a big new global brand campaign that also includes some TV. 

The campaign is broadly divided into two parts. There is one set of creative work for the brand's mature markets, and another set for emerging markets. 

In the mature markets (like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.), the brand is looking to deepen its bond to its core millennial users as well as drive consideration among other audiences. 

Spotify has long used OOH to drive droll, data-driven messaging. The new billboard and poster ads were inspired structurally by online memes, and wittily suggest different playlists for various emotional states. The tagline is, "Music for every mood." 

See some of the executions here: 

The campaign also promotes Spotify podcasts. The tagline on those is, "A podcast for every mood." Below is one of the ads, focused on the podcast Over My Dead Body. 

There is also TV work, which humorously depicts how certain playlists can improve your day—whether you're heading into work or just lounging on the couch. 

See three spots here: 

The work was all done in-house, with David Kerr of Hungry Man directing the spots.

"Spotify has transformed the way people find and enjoy music and podcasts, giving people around the world easy access to the content they can't get enough of—as well as the ability to discover new favorites along the way," says June Sauvaget, global head of consumer and product marketing at Spotify. 

"This multifaceted campaign sets the stage as we seek to deepen our connection with the people who already know and love Spotify and cultivate relationships and moments of discovery in areas of the world where we are looking to expand." 

Spotify is also breaking new creative in emerging markets where it's looking to expand its presence—such as Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, France, Italy, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa and Spain. 

The overarching theme for these markets is "What's Next," with work that positions Spotify as the best way to discover new music and the best way for young people to make music more a part of their lives. 

For example, below is a billboard in Brazil, where the campaign is called "Vem de Spotify" ("It Comes from Spotify"). The ad features Brazilian hip-hop artist Baco Exu do Blues. The copy reads, "Come to Spotify and discover your favorite new artist."

CREDITS

—Spotify
VP, Global Brand: Alexandra Tanguay
VP, Global Executive Creative Director: Alex Bodman
Global Head of Brand Design: Rasmus Wangelin
Director, Integrated Production: Belinda Lopez 
Global Director, Brand Strategy: Zach Pentel
Head of Global Brand: Lauren Solomon
Creative Director: Alexandra Sobiecki, Rajeev Basu
Senior Art Director: Erik Herrström, Felipe Rocha
Designer: William Oswin
Copywriter: Colette McIntyre
Brand Strategy Manager: Nathan Doiev
Senior Producer: Jenna Allchin, Natalie Espinosa
Producer: Gabrielle Kreutter, Kenzie Tankersley
Brand Manager: Kimberly Summers
Associate Brand Manager: Christine Motch, Claire Ulak 
Director, Social Media Campaigns: Robert Waite
Global Brand Lead: Payman Kassaie
Global Head of Consumer Marketing: June Sauvaget
Global Head of Marketing Strategy: Neal Gorevic
Director, Global Marketing Strategy & Planning: Emmanuel Orssaud
Head of Global Media: Scott Marsden
Associate Media Manager: Sarah Schlein

—Production Partners
Film Director: David Kerr
Film Production: Hungry Man
Editorial + Audio Mix: Mackcut
Color: Company 3
Finishing: MPC
Animation: Hornet  
Print OOH: The Resize Guys
Sound Design: Skillboard