Calvin Harris
By leveraging Sponsored Snaps, Calvin Harris proved the power of direct connection. Collaborating with Snapchat to promote his latest track, the DJ not only reached millions of users on Snapchat, but even went viral on other social platforms.
Reaching Gen Z in today’s digital landscape is hard. Making a real impact is even harder. Cutting through the noise calls for genuine innovation – and that’s why Calvin Harris turned to Snapchat. The iconic British DJ wanted his new single, Blessings, to be heard by as many young music fans in the UK as possible, and Snapchat knew exactly how to make that happen.
Not only does Snapchat reach 90% of the Gen Z community in the UK 3, its latest ad format allows brands to connect directly with them. Sponsored Snaps brings brands closer to their target audience than ever by enabling them to send messages directly to users’ Chat. Within a week of choosing Snapchat to promote Blessings, Calvin Harris had a Sponsored Snap ready to drop.
In May, millions of Snapchatters in the UK opened their messages to be greeted by Calvin Harris sharing an unpolished, behind-the-scenes video. In the Sponsored Snap, the DJ speaks directly to the camera from his studio before dropping the track. This raw aesthetic, famously favoured by Snapchatters, fostered a sense of genuine intimacy and automatically encouraged interaction. Snapchatters who chose to respond to the Sponsored Snap received an auto-reply from the DJ which further deepened engagement among his target audience.
Regardless of how you spin it, surprising a generation of digital natives can be difficult. Calvin Harris’s Snapchat campaign proved how much easier Sponsored Snaps make it. In addition to reaching 11.8 million people, the DJ’s Sponsored Snap sparked conversation outside of Snapchat, piquing off-platform curiosity and generating organic buzz around the release.
After using Sponsored Snaps to promote the single, the DJ saw a distinct difference in the track’s streaming metrics, with Spotify accumulating over 329K streams the following day 4. Compared to the track’s release day, the Sponsored Snap contributed to 58% more streams on Spotify, and generated 15% more streams on Apple and 7% more streams on Amazon Music. Mic drop.
