Spotify’s campaign showcasing Pope Francis aims to broaden its audience to an older generation.
Spotify, one of the top music-streaming services that targets the whims of music-loving millennials, has launched an advertising campaign with agency Wieden + Kennedy, this time catering to an older audience, and wielding an unexpected yet also wildly popular tool: the leader of the Vatican, Pope Francis. It is no secret that Pope Francis has gained the love and respect of the young generation, as apparent in his social media fame. His new Instagram account was launched March 19, Saturday, gaining no less than 1 million followers in less than 12 hours. His first post, worded with “Pray for me,” yielded more than 92,000 likes.
Spotify Launches Ad Campaign Featuring Pope Francis[/tweetthis]
This new ad campaign is sure to garner plenty of buzz, as Pope Francis whereabouts is usually followed by a trail of contemporary and traditional media. The campaign is launching today, March 28, and features a group of nuns who rock out and shake their heads to the tunes of the Pope’s new pop-rock album, Wake Up!, which is a compilation of 11 songs and lines from his speeches in four languages, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
Spotify Turns to Eighties Nostalgia, Pope Francis in Ad Campaign to Court New Users – Wall Street… https://t.co/64H7e8rteJ #PopeFrancis
— Jose Rizal (@NotJoseRizal) March 28, 2016
The album, reflective of the Pope’s persona, focuses on issues such as peace, dignity, the environment and helping the needy. The album was launched November 27th last year. Album producer and artistic director Don Giulio Neroni stated that he sought to be true to the Pope’s identity in producing the work: “As in the past, for this album too, I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality.”
Spotify also features the Pope’s soundtrack for his Washington D.C. visit, which consists of 53 songs that equate to three-and-a-half hours of music. It was created by a Notre Dame professor. The songs also include those that represent his travel destinations in the United States: Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia, Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind and Boyz II Men’s Motownphilly.
Spotify has over 75 million active users. According to the New York Times, such streaming services had a 35 percent sales share in 2015, placing it on top as a dominant force in the music industry.