How Erste Bank used Spotify audio ads to reach Gen Z

Written bySpotify Editorial Team

Financial know-how is important at any age—but it can be difficult to get younger people interested in learning about money matters. To engage teenage audiences and their parents, Erste Bank worked together with Spotify on a campaign to promote their spark7 youth account, which aims to teach Gen Zs the basics of financial literacy.

Media mix:

Brand vertical: Financial Services
Objective: Brand Awareness
Target audience: Teenagers in Austria
Targeting used: Age
Market: Austria
Flight length: 6/1/2022–8/31/2022
Format: Audio Everywhere, Sponsored Sessions

The Brief:

spark7 focuses exclusively on Gen Zs, encouraging them to learn more about financial literacy via a "modern, safe, and fun approach" and choose spark7 as a first banking product. With the campaign on Spotify, Erste Bank's goal was to raise awareness about their youth brand spark7 among teenaged listeners. The company hoped their unique message would appeal to future Gen Z banking customers—and their parents.

The Solution:

In the first quarter of 2022 alone, 18 to 24-year-olds played more than 578 billion minutes of music on Spotify—more than any other cohort. While Erste Bank's campaign targeted Gen Z, it's clear that younger audiences who are primed to make their very first financial commitments (e.g., opening a current or savings account) are highly active and engaged on Spotify.

To reach these audiences, Erste Bank enlisted the help of ASMR sound effects to make the most of their Gen Z-focused banking ad. ASMR—the tingling sensation you can get when listening to a soft, repetitive sound like fingernails tapping, paper crinkling, pages turning, or soothing whispers—is a trend many young social media users are familiar with.

Given the soaring popularity of ASMR in recent years, Erste Bank's creative team hoped using it in their banking ads would grab listeners' attention. The brand created an ASMR effect with the rustling sound of banknotes being counted, while a voice actor whispered softly into listeners' ears.

They also used 3D sound at the recommendation of their ad agency, Jung von Matt / Donau, who consulted on the brand's efforts to promote spark7. Together with their media agency Wavemaker, Erste Bank planned a Spotify campaign with 3D audio ads to create the effect that the ad was coming from different places around the room, making for a more immersive experience. Check out the spot below.

00:00 / 00:00

🎧 Sound check. Turn on your audio.

The Impact:

By using two unique types of sound effects in their audio ads, Erste Bank was able to capture attention and maximize the impact of their campaign. The team saw an increase in both Message Association and Recall.

+31
pts in Ad Recall
(among the Gen Z cohort they were targeting)
+32
pts in Message Association
(among the Gen Z cohort they were targeting)

The Takeaway:

For banking brands who want to reach Gen Z in a non-invasive way, Spotify is a proven media channel for getting a message heard in the right environment, where younger audiences are immersed in the digital content they love.

"Through Spotify, we were inspired to spread our message in a unique and creative way. The results clearly show how much impact was created and how well audio, in combination with a trend such as ASMR, performed within our target group."

- Maja Kölich, Head of Advertising & Sportsponsoring

Want to increase awareness for your own brand? Get in touch with your Spotify Advertising team today—or get started with our self-serve platform, Ad Studio.