The year 2020 has been so unprecedented that Oxford Dictionaries has included it as word of the year. It is based on that insight that Spotify MENA team sat at the virtual drawing board six months ago to kick off planning for 'Wrapped', Spotify’s annual end of year campaign. And they all agreed that unprecedented times beget unprecedented approach, therefore they had to tackle this campaign unlike year’s past.
This year, Wrapped is about telling a story of gratitude and resilience, brought up through various means.
Spotify wanted to celebrate and recognize the artists and the passionate listeners that kept the music platform buzzing.
A print campaign was rolled out via outdoor media in Riyadh, Jeddah and Cairo, Egypt.
Through the key visuals of the campaign, Spotify MENA is encouraging people to find beauty in the chaos. These images are paired with thoughtful reflections on 2020--from a note of gratitude to Ramy Gamal for making the platform “clap” this year with his energetic song “Sa’af”, to Latifa for supporting Arab emerging female artists and lending her voice to SAWTIK, and to icons like Nancy Ajram, Ali Saber, and Abdul Majeed Abdullah who have been there on Spotify right from this year’s start.
On another level, Fan films were released. In these spots, Spotify hands the mic to its listeners, portraying how they might thank their favorite music creators for making home a better place to be. In Wegz’s fan film, the ‘Dorak Gai’ singer is shown gratitude for giving one Egyptian fan the opportunity to express his hopes and worries through music and in Amr Diab’s fan film, the legendary 'Hadaba' is shown love for being by another Egyptian fan’s side, no matter what she was going through.
Fans in Saudi Arabia are seen expressing their appreciation to ‘Al Mafrood’ singer Aseel Hameem and Fahed Bin Fasla for helping them get through 2020 with nothing but hope and optimism for the upcoming year.
It is gratitude and resilience all around.
“In a year that has taken on so many twists and turns, a first reaction might be to look forward and forget the challenging times. However, that would discount all of the amazing work that creators, fans, venues and activists have poured their hearts into this year,” said Dan Brill, Global Group Creative Director at Spotify.
“That’s why, instead of turning our backs on 2020, we wanted to give our appreciation for those who gave us hope -- the people who, despite challenging circumstances, found ways to infuse magic into our world and give us hope for a better tomorrow.”
The campaign is running across OOH, online video and social media in KSA and Egypt.
