As part of Wrapped 2024, Spotify and creative agency Happiness Saigon gave Vietnamese fans a chance to steal their favorite artists’ looks. In Vietnam, photos of celebrities are regularly displayed on hair salon walls, serving as style inspiration for patrons. In December 2024, at salons across Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, generic celebrity images were replaced by portraits of three popular local artists: Vũ Cát Tường, Wren Evans and MONO. If a customer’s Spotify Wrapped showed that their ‘Top Artist’ of the year was one of the featured artists, they could get a free cut inspired by their idol’s hairstyle.
Expanding the experience from salons to streets, Spotify also partnered with Đông Tây Barbershop to roll out mobile haircut trucks in Ho Chi Minh City, amplifying the activation’s reach. Additionally, the streaming platform hosted a pop-up hairstyling experience at HOZO Festival 2024, one of Vietnam’s premier music festivals.
The campaign shifts Spotify from just another content streaming service to a platform genuinely connecting fans to musicians. By inviting listeners to ‘steal’ their favorite artists’ hairstyles, Spotify enables them to feel closer to their idols while physically expressing their identity as fans. It also marks eligible consumers as among an artist’s top listeners, a status badge some fans will proudly wear and share.
Ultimately, celebrating fandom is good for business, too. Through this initiative, Spotify essentially rewards on-platform activity and incentivizes further engagement. The lessons here extend to brands beyond the entertainment industry, too. How could recognize your most fervent fans and reward their loyalty?