Tag: coca cola

Introducing AUX, Spotify’s First-of-Its-Kind Music Consultancy for Brands

February 21, 2024

With a music editorial team and recommendations that have created the most vibrant streaming ecosystem in the industry, Spotify is where more than 600 million fans around the world come to listen to their favorite artists. As a result, we believe there’s an opportunity for brands to connect with Spotify listeners through unique, music-driven campaigns. So we’re thrilled to announce AUX, Spotify’s in-house music advisory agency for brands.

With AUX, we’ll use our deep expertise to counsel brands about how best to use music to enrich their campaigns and connect them with emerging artists to help them reach new audiences.

“Spotify is always looking for ways to leverage our music ecosystem to deepen the connections between artists, brands, and fans,” said Jeremy Erlich, VP, Head of Music Content at Spotify. “AUX is a natural step for us to help brands strengthen their music strategy and better connect with new audiences through our expert insights and observations from our music team, tailored to meet brands’ needs.”

Marketing veteran Jean-François Pathy, who has been instrumental in AUX’s formation, serves as its Global Head. In addition to providing bespoke services for each individual project and helping brands create one-of-a-kind marketing initiatives, Jean-François and AUX will also work with artists to help them bring their music to life in new and compelling ways.

Case in point: AUX’s first partner, Coca-Cola. For the company’s new Coke Studio campaign, AUX connected the beverage giant with Peggy Gou, the Berlin-based producer-DJ-vocalist who struck gold last summer with her single “(It Goes Like) Nanana.” The brand and artist have built a long-term partnership that will span live concerts and events, social media content, a branded playlist, and on-platform promotional support.

“We are proud to be an early partner to AUX, which integrates Spotify’s expertise to enable authentic connections with music fans worldwide,” said Joshua Burke, Global Head of Music & Culture Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company. “This is a natural progression of our long-standing partnership with Spotify and marks a key milestone for our commitment to artists and the music community. We are excited to launch Coke Studio at Spotify LA, which will provide recording support for emerging artists and a platform to promote their music.”

For the Record spoke to Jean-François to hear more about AUX, the partnership with Coca-Cola, and what the agency is ultimately setting out to achieve.

How would you describe the relationship between marketing and music? Why is it so important for a brand to develop its music strategy?

Music has a unique ability to evoke emotions and create a profound connection with listeners and consumers. In a world where cutting through the noise via traditional advertising methods is becoming harder, using the influence and relevance of music culture makes sense. Music is arguably the most influential part of culture, as it’s embedded in nearly every corner of our society. Simply put, a distinctive music strategy creates an authentic relationship that sets a brand apart from its competitors.

How will AUX help brands strengthen their marketing efforts, and what kind of opportunities will this create for artists?

Spotify is a cultural hub with global impact and true local authenticity in over 180 markets. We can draw upon years of experience, connections, and insights to navigate fast-evolving trends. With AUX, our brand partners can now benefit from our blend of industry knowledge, global reach, creativity, and insight-driven precision to build authentic and multifaceted marketing strategies. Ultimately, this is about connection. AUX will connect brands to artists and their fandoms powered by the intel of Spotify’s connected platform.

For artists, AUX gives them the opportunity to live off their art. We’re here to champion artists and curate deep, meaningful collaborations, and we aim to play an active role in making their careers more successful and sustainable with the support of our brand partners. Spotify AUX will broaden the opportunities available to artists, offering them a platform for creative expression, financial support, and strategic partnerships that go beyond traditional industry avenues.

Coca-Cola is AUX’s first partner, and Peggy Gou is one of the first faces of the Coke Studio campaign. Can you tell us a little about how the campaign and the relationship between Spotify, Coca-Cola and Peggy came to life?

The Coca-Cola Company is known for its connection to music and culture, so it was a natural fit for Spotify AUX. We’re grateful to be working with an iconic brand that’s committing big to music and artists.

New collaborations and exclusive initiatives are central to Coke Studio, so we’re thrilled to play an active role in taking this program to the next level. We jointly identified artists with a strong creative drive as well as an appetite for collaboration, and Peggy Gou felt like an obvious choice. We’re working closely with Peggy and her team on a number of cool activations and we’ll have more to unveil in the coming weeks.

What kind of impact do you hope AUX will have on the music industry as a whole?

Sound surrounds us, and brands must think about music as a core pillar of their marketing strategy. But culture is fast-changing these days and not easy to navigate—we want to make this easier for brands. Spotify plays an active role in shaping music culture on a global scale. We have paved the way for how audiences interact with music, and now we can bring brands, marketers, and creators on that journey with us.

Our vision is to go beyond the conventional limits of brand partnerships. AUX isn’t just about placing brands alongside music; it’s about reshaping the way brands and music interact.

Dive Into ‘Screaming Creativity,’ a New Podcast Hosted by WPP’s Chief Creative Officer, Rob Reilly

September 19, 2023

What does it mean to be creative and who determines what creativity is? In Screaming Creativity, a new video podcast from WPP—the world’s largest marketing and communications company—listeners will be inspired to chew on those questions through frank conversations hosted by WPP Chief Creative Officer Rob Reilly. Each episode will feature influential creatives, ranging from C-Suite executives to musicians, comedians to corporate brand leaders. They’ll engage in candid conversations on their creative journeys, breakthrough career moments, the impact of technology on creativity, the ever-evolving industry landscape, and much more.

As a driving force behind some of the most iconic campaigns in the advertising industry, Rob Reilly brings a wealth of experience and an unmatched passion for creative excellence, and he couldn’t be more excited to work with Spotify on the production. 

“Our goal at WPP is to be the most creative company in the world,” he noted in an interview with For the Record. “We want to work alongside, and be compared to a brand like Spotify. I’m a big supporter of Spotify’s brand and mission. It’s seen as a highly creative company, utilizing data in very targeted and fun ways for advertising and marketing. I’m fascinated to see what Spotify does next.”

What’s the thinking behind Screaming Creativity? 

I love ideas that are loud. When an idea lands in culture and the press writes about it, ideas share and spread. Understanding that pipeline is the foundation of my entire creative process and how I judge ideas—I used to make people present the headline they’d want to win when the idea lands. I loved the idea of turning that concept into a podcast by talking to CMOs and people within WPP. It’s like a masterclass, listening to some of these people. 

It’s been so fun so far. I especially love the “rising star” segment where we feature younger people at WPP, but it’s also so fun to speak to creatives like Marlon Wayans—we have a two-part episode with him, and his family is such a standout brand in comedy and entertainment—and feeling like this could be the future, that maybe this can expand to more people talking about creativity and the things we’ve created that the world can’t ignore.

What’s been your experience with audio storytelling? 

One of my first assignments as a copywriter was in radio. As a young creative in the ‘90s, you had to learn how to captivate people and tell a story without pictures. I was always a strong radio writer, and I’ve always been fascinated by creating these worlds with audio. 

The first thing I did at my job at McCann, in New York, on the Coca-Cola account, was writing little signs on convenience store windows and radio for Coca-Cola. I did a radio campaign that was very popular called Coke Journal, and we brought Chris Rock onto it to develop it for some of the urban radio stations. It was called “Rock Logic,” and he was great. I saw him 25 years later and reminded him of working together and he said, “I’m available!” 

What changes have you seen in audio consumption recently? What excites you about the future of the medium?

The pandemic really put a spotlight on audio, and podcasts in general. I wasn’t listening to many beforehand and now I listen to dozens. The pandemic has changed so many things. How we all work, what a workplace is, our values, what we want out of life. But a lot of the last three years has created a reliance on content, especially when we couldn’t leave the house. For three years, we were listening to The Daily and getting into a routine. Or we were passing the time with The Rewatchables, or Smartless. And there’s something calming, about hearing people talk. People’s reliance upon audio is going to continue to rise, because the content is just getting more and more interesting. 

The podcast covers breakthrough career moments. Do you have any of these of your own?

I was one of those people in New York who worked at a big agency, and had a big job making a decent amount of money. I was maybe 33 or 34. But I realized that I wanted to create that “famous” work for myself. So I made the decision to cut my title and my salary and start over as a copywriter in Miami. I wasn’t married and I didn’t have kids, and I decided to take the risk. I thought I was on a path at being good, but not having enough work that people would follow, or would look to me for expertise. It was hard, no one liked me or respected me. So I put my head down and I just started making the work. And once I started making the work that people liked, that’s when the respect came. 

Your work is your calling card. Not your titles, not your experience. It’s the work you’ve made. 

Any innovative audio campaigns that come to mind?

“Bud Lite Presents: Real American Genius.” Funniest radio campaign you’ll ever hear. I think it was BB Chicago who did it. You heard it, and then you couldn’t wait for it to happen again. The audio, the delivery, the writing on it was so sharp. That’s an audio campaign I’ll never forget.

I also feel like Spotify falls into this category, it’s one of these products that have changed people’s lives. I was thinking recently about cassettes, and CD’s, and having to wait on the radio to play the song you liked so you could record it, and you would pray the DJ didn’t talk over it. Now you can stream something in a second. 

What do you hope listeners will take away from Screaming Creativity? 

I care about exposing more people to the vast array of creatives in the advertising industry. There’s so many young people who are so interesting, so many stories of CCO’s that you wouldn’t know. 

I think it’s going to be interesting to hear people talk about creativity as it applies to their lives, and then as it applies to business and marketing. And I think people want to hear the stories behind Fearless Girl, and some of the things Cadbury’s done in India, helping small businesses through AI.

I want people to see the value in creativity. That the future is creativity. I continue to think it’s going to be the world’s most valuable asset. It should be something we all use to solve big problems and take advantage of big opportunities. 

Stream Screaming Creativity, available on Spotify, now.

Spotify Pakistan Partnered With ‘Coke Studio’ This Season To Amplify Artists in the Region and Beyond

March 23, 2022

When Spotify launched in Pakistan at the start of 2021, we instantly encountered the presence of a fellow powerhouse in music and media: Coke Studio. Since the television show’s premiere in 2008, it has become the longest-running music franchise in Pakistan. Coke Studio’s unique format features in-studio collaborations with both music legends and industry newcomers. And since Coke Studio was already a household name across the South Asian diaspora, both Spotify and Coca-Cola Pakistan (which produces the show) saw that partnering up for Season 14 had the potential to bring generations of Pakistani music to an even larger audience around the world. 

“While Coke Studio has been producing music for years, it presented a new vision for 2022, which matched Spotify’s mission to unlock the massive potential of creators and music across Pakistan,” said Khan FM, Head of Artist and Label Partnerships in Pakistan. “At Spotify, we’re proud of our global reach in music, so it made absolute sense for the ‘Sound of the Nation’—Coke Studio’s tagline—to be heard all around the world.” 

This season, Coke Studio introduced fans to 13 new songs with contributions from more than 30 artists. And following this week’s season finale, they can all be found on Spotify’s Coke Studio: Pakistan hub.

Beyond the new tracks from Season 14, Coke Studio: Pakistan also gives fans access to all the hits from previous seasons. And listeners who want to dig deeper into the Coke Studio discography can find curated playlists like This is: Coke Studio Pakistan, Women of: Coke Studio Pakistan, Best of: Coke Studio Fusion, Best of: Coke Studio Sufi, Best of: Coke Studio Pakistan, and more. The hub is a destination for artists to share their music with Spotify’s 406 million listeners, many of whom can be found in the U.S., the U.K., Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

For the Record got to speak with Khan to learn about Spotify’s vision for music in Pakistan and what it was like to bring this Coke Studio partnership to life.

How would you describe Coke Studio‘s influence on the music market in Pakistan?

Coke Studio paved the way for music to remain consistent in Pakistan. It allowed Pakistanis to look forward to new music and stay connected with their favorite artists. The program itself has not only created immense pride in Pakistan, but it has also become a representation of South Asian music and culture. With the success of Coke Studio in Pakistan, several other markets like India, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Philippines have tried to activate their own versions of Coke Studio—the latest being in Bangladesh—proving it to be a very influential approach. 

How does a platform like Spotify help elevate the listening experience for fans of Coke Studio? 

Other than allowing fans all over the world to listen to Coke Studio’s latest music on Spotify, we enhanced the experience by creating exclusive content with the artists, which was released exclusively on Spotify Pakistan’s social media accounts. Moreover, we held three exclusive prerelease listening sessions with the creators and artists for the die-hard fans and senior members of the press, which had never been done before in Pakistan. 

What insights did you gain throughout Season 14 and after it had wrapped up? 

The biggest learning for us is to always have clear objectives from the beginning. We both knew this collaboration would have various challenges, but both parties had one very clear objective: amplify Pakistani music and represent it in the absolute best way possible. This objective became more of a passion point and therefore allowed us to work efficiently to ensure that all teams were aligned, that all artists were excited about the partnership, and that listeners all over the world would experience Pakistani culture unlike ever before. 

What is your goal when seeking out partnerships with brands? 

When collaborating with brands, one of my most important goals is to be able to select brands that match our values. Almost every brand out there is trying their best to succeed and roll out a plethora of activations. It’s important to understand the objectives of a successful brand collaboration. This will set the right tone and help us work toward a shared goal. In this case, it was the presentation of Pakistani artists and music to a global audience while highlighting the amplification of Gen-Z artists. 

What emerging-established artist duos were you most excited to bring together this season? 

For 2022, the most exciting duo was for the first single, “Tu Jhoom,” which brought together the living legend Abida Parveen with Naseebo Lal. The song resonated across South Asia and eventually the world, becoming one of the most sought-after releases from Coke Studio. 

A fan-favorite would be Ali Sethi’s “Pasoori,” which not only introduced the audiences to a new artist—Shae Gill—but also became one of the most-streamed tracks on Spotify’s global charts. Lastly, another favorite would be “Mehram,” a slow ballad of sorts that brings together Asfar Hussain (lead vocalist from the band Bayaan) and two-time Grammy nominee Arooj Aftab, who is also the EQUAL Ambassador of the Month for Spotify Pakistan this March.

Excited about Spotify’s partnership with Coke Studio? Check out the Coke Studio: Pakistan destination on Spotify to discover all of this season’s singles and more.