The Brief:

To launch the 12 Pro 5G, Xiaomi needed to communicate standout features with an audience base of tech-savvy individuals who appreciate seamless integration and design finesse—and those that seek exceptional digital experiences.

Xiaomi also needed a campaign that would resonate with their customer’s personalities and interests and leave them with a premium impression of the brand and the product. In order to do this effectively, Xiaomi turned to Spotify to learn more about their audience and the behavioral differences.

The Solution:

Spotify helped Xiaomi create a 360-degree audio journey for listeners. The ad delivery was focused on relevant devices, with 83% served to Android users. Depending on the time of day, device, moment and playlist, seven different dynamic audio ads were served to listeners. Listeners would be exposed to different ads that would adapt based on listening context:

• A person listening to a Sleep/Night playlist towards the end of the day would hear an audio creative that called out the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G’s ultra night mode camera and adaptive overnight charging features.
  

• Someone listening to a Travel playlist would hear an ad that called out the phone’s all-day battery life, hypercharge technology (“a full charge in only 18 minutes!”), and its triple 50MP camera for travel photography.

Hear the spot for yourself

With these dynamic ads, Xiaomi was able to highlight different aspects of its flagship product in an interesting, contextual manner. Rather than interrupt the moment, the ads seamlessly fit into the listening experience and were able to effectively communicate the right standout features of the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G.

To dial up recall, Xiaomi leveraged many of Spotify’s ad formats - Audio, Mobile Overlay, Sponsored Sessions. The brand also deployed a Mobile Headliner on Spotify—a 24-hour multi-format impact campaign. During this period, Xiaomi’s ads were prioritized over other advertisers’ to deliver the highest possible reach and share of voice.

The Impact:

The campaign exceeded performance benchmarks in terms of reach, unique impressions, and click through to the product page.

Listeners exposed to the ads found them interesting, easy to understand, and easy to link back to the Xiaomi brand. Even better, 50% of listeners were left with a positive impression of the 12 Pro 5G.

Spotify’s Streaming Intelligence was able to uncover fascinating audience insights for Xiaomi:

• The highest CTR (1.32%) came from those aged 35-44 despite only accounting of 9% of impressions served

• Male listeners had a higher CTR than female (1.07% vs 0.95%)

• Party and Workout playlist listeners were highly engaged with CTRs of 1.81% and 1.44% respectively

• Gaming playlist listeners had a phenomenal CTR of 3.06%, indicating the potential to tap this segment further

These granular insights were used to fuel recommendations for more effective future campaigns, including sharper targeting to a 21+ age group, stronger focus on display creatives to support the audio, tapping into passion points in creative.

The Takeaway:

The most successful advertising campaigns enhance audience experience rather than interrupt or annoy. And when it comes to delivering the message, subtlety, clarity and context mean everything.

Xiaomi’s successful campaign is proof that unique, personalized communication attuned to the user’s context and moment will truly resonate and leave a lasting impression. It also highlights Spotify’s unique advantage compared to other digital media—when you have a deep understanding of audience behavior, mood, and mindset, you can stand out and be heard over the clutter.