Spotify: Stepping up Music Streaming and Digital Campaigns
As a budding public relations professional, PR campaigns are one of my favorite things to discuss and examine. Campaigns are hard work for a PR team, but they have the potential to turn heads and change how the public views a given company. In order for a PR campaign to be successful, it must include a few key components: a clear audience, no confusion, originality, and a strong impact. My favorite campaign that met these requirements was a digital campaign by Spotify. This campaign allowed users to view their most liked music of the year and put it all into one personalized playlist. As a Spotify subscriber, this is something that I look forward to every year. With this campaign, Spotify has stepped up the music app game and in the next few paragraphs, I’ll explain how Spotify is moving up on the digital campaign charts.
Establishing a Clear Audience
As a consumer, a clear audience is key. I enjoy when the message is direct and made for me, which is why I appreciate Spotify’s personalized playlists. Paying attention to the audience and their needs makes a PR campaign all the more effective. Consumers appreciate when a company includes them and understands them, which Spotify did with this campaign.
Eliminating Confusion
No one likes being confused, so a message that does not have a clear goal or message is typically not very effective. If a consumer is unsure of a message’s purpose, it is likely that they will not follow up with the brand or company. Spotify eliminates confusion by knowing their audience and meeting their needs. It is also important that a company’s message to consumers correlates with their campaign. If a brand is highlighting a company update, there is no need for the company to share about brand history in their campaign. Messages that are short and straight to the point are targeted toward the audience in an effective way, as they clearly convey what an audience needs to know about a given brand. If the message is repetitive and wordy, consumers are likely to become disinterested.
Maintaining Originality
I love Twitter, but I hate when a tweet goes viral and then everyone tweets something similar. This can happen in PR campaigns: a brand can see another campaign and put a twist on it, but in the end, it’s all the same. Consumers don’t want to see the same marketing strategies over and over again. The public is much more likely to appreciate and support a brand’s originality.
Making a Strong Impact
The most successful campaigns are the ones that leave a lasting impact. A good PR campaign can change the culture of a company and how a brand moves forward. Campaigns that leave a strong impact to keep the brand entertaining and fresh. Spotify’s personalized yearly playlist added originality to their app and created a different bond between users and the app. Their campaign allowed users to feel like Spotify is listening and trying to make the best playlists just for them.To recap, in order to be successful, public relations campaigns must have a clear audience, a straightforward message, originality, and a strong impact. With their personalized playlists, Spotify was able to create a PR campaign that created lasting change. In the future, brands can continue to learn from Spotify’s efforts and make their campaigns just as great.
About the Author:
Damaiya Harper is a student at Grand Valley State University studying Advertising and Public Relations. Damaiya is eager to continue working on her media planning skills, media writing, and overall skills regarding public relations in general. She actively involves herself in school and hopes to continue to learn new things as life goes on.