Spotify is a global digital audio service that gives users access to millions of songs and other content from creators all over the world. While people young and old can and do use Spotify, some of the core users are Gen Z audience who are passionate about music.

While Spotify is well known globally, in Japan, Spotify is competing against the likes of Apple and Amazon to capture the attention of the Gen Z audience. In order to raise awareness and consideration of Spotify among Gen Z audience in Japan, simply running an advertising campaign was not going to be enough. Rather, we needed to tap into influencers whom Gen Zers followed and trusted to showcase the brand in an authentic way.

Gen Z in Japan have several interests but are particularly passionate about anime. Music is an integral part of anime, with popular anime driving discovery and popularity of many artists and songs in Japan.

During Covid-19, Japanese consumers became more and more involved in anime, streaming anime-related songs on Spotify in addition to watching the content at theaters, TV and on streaming platforms. At the same time, consumers found joy in talking about anime on social media, sharing content of their favorite anime and connecting with others who shared similar passions.

One of the trends we saw was anime illustrators becoming famous influencers on platforms such as Twitter, TikTok and YouTube. Their illustrations were sought after by consumers, and many Gen Zers eagerly waited for a new illustration to drop in their feed.

To take advantage of this Gen Z audience passion and trend, Spotify partnered with anime influencers on TikTok and Twitter to create original illustration and videos for the song "I forget the silent you in October" (10月無口な君を忘れる) that was featured in the Spotify brand campaign. The branded illustrations and videos dove deeper into the heartbreak theme of the song and were designed to fit the taste of Gen Z audience.

To identify the best illustrators for the campaign, we found illustrators who not only had a large following among Gen Zers across Twitter and TikTok, but whose drawings fit with the song, which was about heartbreaks. After screening multiple illustrators, we ultimately aligned with 4 illustrators – Naka Fukamachi (@monqkq), Tamimoon (@tami_moon02), Ragi (ragi404), and Tsuyoi Yode Yowai (yode_241_481) - who each had distinct drawing styles.

Spotify's mission is 'to unlock the potential of human creativity—by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.' As such, partnering with creators in an authentic way was critical.

We worked closely with the illustrators to ensure that the illustration fit with the Spotify brand but also had distinct styles that each illustrator brought to the table. The lyrics for the song was an inspiration for each of the illustration, as it told a story of heartbreak.

The resulting illustration and animation, coupled with the song, hit the chord with the target Gen Z audience, who found the characters resonate with their personal experiences.

The branded content was posted by the influencers on their respective account on Twitter and TikTok and drove viewers to the Spotify branded video on YouTube.

The influencer campaign generated significant engagement across social media platforms and raised Spotify brand consideration among Japanese Gen Z. Many commented on the uniqueness of the campaign as well as how innovative Spotify was to utilize these illustrators to promote its brand.

The campaign generated over 5MM impressions and over 860K engagements (at an extremely high engagement rate of 16%) with very limited budget. Furthermore, those consumers who saw the content from influencers along with the brand campaign were +10% more likely to consider Spotify. Lastly, the creative execution was seen as youthful and fit the Gen Z taste (source: campaign research).