Remember back in April, when we told you about the Smirnoff Equalizer? It’s a partnership between Diageo and Spotify to help promote female musical artists while reaching consumers with Smirnoff’s message. Fun idea, right? Well, here we are six months later, and according to Smirnoff’s global marketing director, Neil Shah, per Marketing Dive, the Equalizer drove 630 million impressions among Spotify users.
The Smirnoff Equalizer analyzed users listening habits and produced a new playlist, based on their musical preferences, that included more female artists. According to Shah, the campaign helped generate a 52% increase in the number of female artists streamed on Spotify (beyond Beyoncé and Taylor Swift), which is a powerful indication of how engaged users are with the platform and how readily Smirnoff’s messaging is reaching Spotify users.
Any link between the program’s success and increased sales of Smirnoff is “a hard thing to quantify,” Shah said, but there is an undeniable value to the reach this partnership has had in putting Smirnoff in front of consumers. Shah told Advertising Week, "I don’t think you necessarily look to see if we’re supporting female DJs, then we’re selling more Smirnoff." He continued, "that seems a bit disingenuous, but we are a business, not a charity, and we believe those things can live in parallel."
Diageo has a long-term commitment to improving communities worldwide, particularly as related to gender equality, and the Smirnoff Equalizer is one more highly visible way the company is promoting these values to Millennials and Gen Zers of drinking age, for whom a company’s actions carry substantial weight in purchasing decisions. Smirnoff already has a rich history of outreach and celebrity endorsements that have proven popular with younger consumers, and the Smirnoff Equalizer builds upon that reputation.
How many of your customers use Spotify? Talk to your Breakthru Sales Consultant to learn more about how you can leverage Smirnoff’s reputation for fun, quality and equality to help your business grow this season.