Spotify - Spreadbeats

Case VideoSpotify 2024 Hijack the Medium Attack a Boring Truth Media & Entertainment FCB, New York

Spotify needed to inspire its B2B agency and brand partners to perceive its media plans as dynamic and creative, reflecting the brand's energy. The goal was to encourage more imaginative media buying and engagement with Spotify's diverse ad formats.

Creative Idea

Spotify created a music video coded entirely within a media plan spreadsheet.

Spotify transformed a mundane media plan spreadsheet into a vibrant, interactive music video, coded entirely within its cells, to inspire B2B partners and agencies to view their media buying with the same creativity and energy as the Spotify brand itself.

Spotify has launched a new B2B campaign, ‘Spreadbeats,’ featuring a music video created and distributed entirely within a media plan spreadsheet. Aiming to make media plans as vibrant and energetic as Spotify’s brand and platform, the campaign follows a single cell—E7—and its evolution into a colorful 3D character. This transformation acts as a metaphor for the creative ways brands can reach audiences through both audio and visual formats. “The media plan is the unsung workhorse of our industry, and it’s not necessarily the first thing you’d think of to tell a story creatively,” said Rich Frankel, global creative director at Spotify. “Through Spreadbeats, we are using the analytical tools of our trade to deliver a memorable experience. We hope to inspire our brand and agency partners to never look at a media plan from Spotify the same way again.” Adrian Bingham, Head of Sales, AUNZ, added, “We know how important media plans are to our industry and that they are generally the unsung heroes of our campaigns. With Spreadbeats, we wanted to inject some of the creativity and energy the Spotify brand is known for, to create something unique for the industry.” The campaign is backed by a soundtrack produced by US DJ John Summit. “I know my way around a spreadsheet almost as well as a DJ mixer,” Summit said. “My first ever job was in accounting, where I got really good at using spreadsheets and I think there can be creativity in every job. That’s why I was so excited to partner with Spotify on this project and to use my track, ‘Shiver,’ to convey emotion where people might not typically feel it.” Rather than inserting a pre-made video into the spreadsheet, Spotify coded the music video directly within the spreadsheet, using built-in functions such as ASCII, Graphs, Unicode, and conditional formatting. The project was created in partnership with Uncharted and FCB NY. After weeks of testing across 14 markets—including the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, India, and Singapore—Spreadbeats dropped directly into unsuspecting brand and agency inboxes, inviting recipients into a world they may not want to leave. AWARDS Cannes Lions 2024 Digital Craft Grand Prix Gold and Bronze in Digital Craft Gold in Direct Silver and Bronze in Creative B2B Silver in Entertainment Lions for Music Bronze in Creative Data Shortlisted in the Dan Wieden Titanium Lions category CREDITS Brand: Spotify. Global Creative Director: Rich Frankel. Head of Sales, AUNZ: Adrian Bingham. Creative Agency: FCB, New York. Production Company: Uncharted Limbo Collective, London. Post Production Company: Colossal, Curitiba. Other: Bogota Curitiba ; DaHouse Audio Los Angeles ; Spotify New York.Spotify has launched a new B2B campaign, ‘Spreadbeats,’ featuring a music video created and distributed entirely within a media plan spreadsheet. Aiming to make media plans as vibrant and energetic as Spotify’s brand and platform, the campaign follows a single cell—E7—and its evolution into a colorful 3D character. This transformation acts as a metaphor for the creative ways brands can reach audiences through both audio and visual formats. …

Creative Strategy Deconstructed

Company

Spotify's brand identity of vibrant creativity and its platform's ability to deliver both audio and visual experiences through innovative formats.

Customer

Advertising partners and agencies desired more creative and engaging ways to connect with audiences, even within analytical tools, seeking inspiration.

Culture

A growing appreciation for unexpected creativity in everyday tools and a desire for brands to demonstrate their values through action, not just words.

Company

Spotify's brand identity of vibrant creativity and its platform's ability to deliver both audio and visual experiences through innovative formats.

Strategy:

Transform a mundane industry tool into an unexpected canvas for brand creativity, inspiring new approaches.

Customer

Advertising partners and agencies desired more creative and engaging ways to connect with audiences, even within analytical tools, seeking inspiration.

Culture

A growing appreciation for unexpected creativity in everyday tools and a desire for brands to demonstrate their values through action, not just words.

Strategy:

Transform a mundane industry tool into an unexpected canvas for brand creativity, inspiring new approaches.

Strategy Technique

Attack a Boring Truth

The campaign transformed the inherently dull media plan spreadsheet into an engaging, vibrant music video. This made a typically unexciting industry tool unexpectedly entertaining and memorable for B2B partners.

Explore Technique

Creative Technique

Hijack the Medium

Spotify used a media plan spreadsheet, an analytical tool, to create a vibrant music video. This transformed a typically mundane medium into an unexpected, creative canvas for brand expression.

Explore Technique

Craft Breakdown

This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its groundbreaking use of a spreadsheet as a creative canvas, transforming hyper-rational data into a deeply emotional and visually rich music video. It masterfully blends old-school computing techniques with modern storytelling.

Digital CraftExceptional

The entire concept of building a music video within a Spotify media plan using only native spreadsheet functions is an unprecedented and highly innovative feat of digital craftsmanship, pushing the boundaries of what is conventionally possible with rudimentary tools.

Art DirectionExceptional

The art direction brilliantly merges retro-digital aesthetics (pixel art, ASCII, early compression visuals) with a contemporary narrative, creating a unique visual language that is both nostalgic and forward-thinking, demonstrating a deep understanding of visual history and data visualization.

Animation

The animation is remarkably inventive, using conditional formatting, Unicode characters, and 3D character translation into cell-based visuals to create dynamic, expressive movements and elaborate scenes within the restrictive spreadsheet environment.

Storytelling

The campaign uses a compelling narrative arc, personifying a spreadsheet cell (E7) to convey a universal message about seeking emotional connection and belonging within a hyper-rational world, making complex technology relatable and engaging.

The true magic of this campaign lies in the synergistic combination of Digital Craft and Art Direction, where the seemingly mundane spreadsheet becomes a vibrant, emotional canvas, elevated by innovative animation techniques and a poignant story.