Spotify lets the puppets do the talking

Let’s face it, it can be hard for couples to share a music streaming service like Spotify when one person’s idea of good music is “Master of Puppets” and the other’s is “I’m Your Puppet.”

That’s the idea behind Spotify’s new Premium Duo service—a new subscription plan specifically aimed at people living in the same household. The streaming service is promoting the new service with a fun new spot developed by Argentinian production company Tronco in partnership with the U.S. company 1stAveMachine.

It features interviews with real-life couples talking about their personal musical tastes (like a fondness for Christmas music during the summer) with one major twist: all of the couples are portrayed by puppets.

According to Spotify, 73% of couples say they listen to music together as a way of remembering happy memories, while 63% say they listen together as a way of building their identity or creating memorable moments.

Is Twitter working on a subscription service? 

Twitter stock rose sharply on Wednesday afternoon following published reports it could be developing a subscription service. The Verge reported the potential shift after finding a job posting for software engineers to work on a new team called Gryphon.

“We are building a subscription platform, one that can be reused by other teams in the future,” read the job description, which was changed after the Verge story broke. “This is a first for Twitter! Gryphon is a team of web engineers who are closely collaborating with the Payments team and the Twitter.com team. We are looking for a full-stack engineer to lead the Payment and Subscription client work.”

Aside from making Twitter less dependent on ad revenue, some digital media experts believe a subscription service would provide a better user experience, with fewer “trolls” and anonymous users posting sensational, antagonistic and even hateful content.

Stella Artois daydreams of better days 

We’re all imagining a life outside the house as the pandemic stretches into its fourth month. That’s the basis of a colourful new summer campaign from Stella Artois that presents a “daydream version” of its drinkers.

Developed by agency Pereira O’Dell, “You’re never too far from the life Artois” shows homebound people experiencing the joys of summer through an imagined version of themselves.

The three-minute musical is soundtracked by indie artist M. Ward‘s version of the 1966 hit song “Daydream,” and stars actors Eva Longoria and Liev Schreiber, as well as NBA star Blake Griffin. Director Paul Hunter enlisted choreographers Mandy Moore and Jillian Meyers, who worked on the musical La La Land, to bring the spot to life.

“In these times, our imaginations have been more active than ever because it’s as close as we can get to living the summer we had envisioned,” said Stella’s vice-president of marketing Lara Krug.

London Advertising advertises advertising

Agencies around the world have been hit hard by the coronavirus, with widespread furloughs and layoffs. And while experts have urged marketers to keep spending during the economic downturn, recent ad spend reports suggest that many cautious clients have ignored that advice.

But agencies are experts in the power of persuasion, and U.K. agency London Advertising has launched its own campaign called “This is an advert for London Advertising” that urges clients to consider opening their wallets.

“[R]ather than sitting on our butts, we decided to take the advice we give clients during a crisis or recession: advertise,” says the agency in a note introducing the campaign.

The agency also added what it calls “a dollop of star quality” to the campaign by recruiting well-known actors Dame Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson to appear in a series of TV ads. In one spot, Mirren simply repeats the name “London Advertising” over and over, adopting a variety of inflections.

London Advertising created a series of 10 video ads, as well as out-of-home and digital elements featuring messages like “It’s time to get this recovery started” and “How many advertising agencies can you name? Well now you can name one more.”