The Brief:

In 2020, a GWI study announced the arrival of a brand-new B2B audience—Generation Beta.³ These mobile-first, tech-native, purpose-driven decision-makers blur the boundaries between work and personal life. They want different things from their careers, as well as the technology they use both personally and professionally.

Technology brand Salesforce turned to Spotify to engage Generation Beta, which will mostly consist of millennials by 2025.¹ In a campaign promoting their Customer 360 suite, Salesforce wanted to target millennial Business Decision-Makers through the power of audio and other digital ad formats, plus a custom microsite. The goal was to enable listeners to learn about Salesforce Customer 360 as they streamed the content they love throughout the day.

Spotify is a top audio streaming platform for Millennials—with 65% using the app as their audio platform of choice²—so digital audio ads were a great fit for the software brand's telecom marketing strategy.

The Solution:

Salesforce partnered with Spotify to run a combination of audio, display, and video takeover ads across playlists and podcasts most relevant to millennial Business Decision-Makers—an audience that naturally gravitates toward Spotify. Not only do these listeners often turn to podcasts for the latest happenings in the business and tech world, they also count on curated playlists to be the soundtrack of their day.

The first step of the campaign journey was straightforward playlist sponsorship, targeting listeners in Salesforce's desired audience. Through in-playlist ads and targeted media, Salesforce also drove traffic to a custom playlist generator microsite, which let listeners create and curate custom playlist experiences.

This was an experiment for Salesforce, and a new way to engage their audience during the meaningful moments of their day—the morning routine and commute, deep-focus afternoon work sessions, out-of-office relaxation time, and more. The microsite, which encouraged visitors to "collaborate and listen", increased audience engagement with the campaign.

Spotify also helped Salesforce produce a suite of pre- and mid-roll podcast audio ads. These were voiced by a combination of voice actors and show hosts across big hits like The Watch—a pop culture show about movies and TV that we know Business Decision-Makers love, exceeding in audience share by +42% and 89%.⁴

Grab your headphones and hit play to hear what a pre-roll ad by one of our voiceover artists sounded like...

Finally, the campaign also leveraged targeted display media, including video ad takeovers.

The Impact:

Reaching Business Decision-Makers during their downtime helped Salesforce drive significant campaign results, including a boost in brand affinity, consideration, and unaided recall.

Ultimately, the campaign generated higher levels of interest and intent, and drove traffic to the Salesforce website. By connecting with their audience on the devices they use for work and play, the campaign went beyond standard media tactics to drive deeper success.

“We knew our audience was probably interested in podcasts that fall within Business and Tech categories, but Spotify helped us understand how they're streaming throughout the day—not just for work. Spotify was an ideal partner to help us highlight our innovative Customer 360 suite with an equally innovative campaign, reaching our audience with a uniquely effective and engaging approach."

– Lauren Collopy, Director Global Brand Marketing, Salesforce