What it had to solve
The insight: music is woven into India's daily social fabric, used to cope, celebrate and navigate the clash between personal ambition and social norms. Spotify needed to reach users across the whole country, not just digital-first metros.
How it works
Four TVCs in Hindi, Telugu and Marathi aired on general entertainment, movie, English and regional channels, with digital and OOH plus interactive social activations featuring Kapoor, Khattar and influencers; Shakun Batra directed.
What it did
Gave Spotify its first TV-led and first multilingual campaign in India; managing director Amarjit Batra framed the promise the films dramatize as 50 million tracks and 3 billion-plus playlists available anywhere, any time.
Background
In July 2019 Spotify went live with its first TV-led marketing campaign in India, created by Leo Burnett India. It was also the brand's first multilingual campaign in the country, built around Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar as father and son.
The casting carried the idea: creative chief Rajdeepak Das described Kapoor as 'a cool dad, who even in his 60s, is as young and energetic as a 20 year old', with Khattar playing India's new generation. The films, directed by Shakun Batra, stage everyday household moments — cooking included — where music is the companion through judgment, individuality and social pressure.
The campaign ran four TVCs in Hindi, Telugu and Marathi across general entertainment, movie, English and regional channels, supported by digital, OOH and interactive social activations. Spotify India MD Amarjit Batra tied the work to the product: 50 million tracks and 3 billion-plus curated playlists, available while working out, cooking or multi-tasking.
Why it lands
It was Spotify's first TV campaign and first multilingual campaign in India, a deliberate step beyond the digital-only launch work 'There's A Playlist For That'.
The insight was cultural, not product-led: music as the medium Indians use to navigate life's dichotomies, from coping to celebrating.
Casting did the persuasion: a 60-something star matching his 20-something co-lead dramatized music as ageless companionship without a feature demo.
Regional language films on regional channels acknowledged that one national ad cannot cover India.
What you can take
When a digital-native brand goes national in a multilingual market, TV still carries the reach — and Hindi, Telugu and Marathi films beat one English master ad.
Since then
The campaign aired from July 2019 across TV, digital and OOH. LBB reported it as Spotify's first TV-led marketing campaign in India, with creative activations across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook extending the films with Kapoor, Khattar and other artists and influencers.
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