Varilux spies success with audio and podcast media

The Brief

To promote its varifocal lenses in the UK, Varilux chose Spotify to help them reach and engage their target audience of eye-glasses wearers aged 40 and over. The brand was especially intrigued by the incremental reach of Spotify in the UK compared with other traditional media (+22%)¹, as well as the opportunity to target Spotify users across both music and podcast media.

The Solution

Varilux opted for Audio as the best format to deliver its message, which highlighted the technical features of the Varilux XR lens and the product’s innovative standard.

To help increase the campaign’s reach, Varilux decided to run ads across music and podcast inventory with two strategies in mind. Firstly, the brand directly targeted Parenting Hell, a Spotify podcast and one of the UK’s most popular with a high percentage of listenership that matched the brand’s target audience. Secondly, Varilux boosted the scale of its campaign by targeting podcast inventory available via the Spotify Audience Network.

The creative used for the campaign was developed in partnership with the Spotify creative team and clearly and concisely showcased the benefits of the Varilux XR varifocal lens. The ads followed Spotify Advertising’s creative best practices by highlighting the benefits of the product, mentioning the brand and product name several times over, and adding a clear and compelling CTA inviting listeners to visit one of the Essilor Expert Eyecare Providers or visit the website to learn more.

The Impact

The campaign delivered massive lifts across all brand metrics, according to the Nielsen Brand Effect measurement study. Ad Recall saw a +16 pts boost overall, while Awareness and Attribute Rating hit highs of +21 pts and +17 pts, respectively, among “heavy glasses users.”

Further, the campaign reached over 1 million unique users on Spotify, driving awareness of Varilux amongst the target audience of 40+ consumers whilst building perceptions that Varilux offers “cutting-edge lenses of the future”.

The Takeaway

Such great results were driven by the lateral approach of Varilux—opting to run ads across music and podcast inventory—and by finding the frequency sweet-spot which helped to drive strong lifts across the board.