Clever Hack Directs Spotify Searchers to Site of Organization for the Hearing Impaired

Spotify has been available abroad for years, but in Israel, it just launched in March of this year. Bekol, Israel’s Organization for the Hard of Hearing, used the opportunity in a unique way to reach the country’s youth.

Why?

“Because with most youngsters using earphones to listen to music at increasingly higher volumes, the average age for getting a hearing aid is dropping,” Bekol said in a release. “In fact, medical authorities have reported that people as young as 40 are now finding they need a hearing aid.”

With this insight, along with knowing that Israeli youngsters would search for Spotify on Google, the team behind the campaign bought Google AdWords and promoted a site with a very similar domain name as Spotify: spotify.org.il.

When clicked on, users are taken to a Spotify lookalike website and presented with a message they didn’t expect:

“Spotify is now available in Israel, but not for the thousands of hard of hearing.”

Check out the case study:

So as not to antagonize Israelis youngsters who’ve waited for Spotify for years, they were given 30 seconds to read the message (and hopefully donate) and then automatically redirected to the real Spotify website.

Credits:

Agency Credits: BBR Saatchi & Saatchi
Client: Bekol, Israel’s Organization for the Hard of Hearing
CEO: Yossi Lubaton
Chief Creative Officer: Idan Regev
Creative Director: Kobi Cohen
Creative Technology Director: Roy Zoaretz
Copywriter: Ran Even
Art Director: Shani Sofer
VP Content & Production: Dorit Gvili
VP Client Services: Ben Muskal
Account Executive: Shiran Atuan Rachamim
Marcom Director: Eva Hasson
Video Editor: Leehou Porat