Spotify: African Heat to the Streets
Case Study
Role: Lead Creative Strategist | Agency: FourTwo Creative | Client: Spotify | Year: 2021
FourTwo Creative team: Oyinkan Olojede, Sinat Giwa, Hanan Osman, Antoinette Isama, Damola Durosomo
Shortlisted — Music Ally Sandbox Best Music Marketing Campaigns 2021 (Issue 283) | Listed #2 in publication, opening the year-end edition
Results at a Glance
102%+
daily active listeners
133%+
increase in UK listeners
53%+
increase in US listeners
45.8M
paid social impressions
854K
playlist impressions (launch week)
298.9K
clicks to playlist
28K+
New playlist followers
28M+
Press impressions
Context & Brief
In late February 2021, Spotify launched in 80+ markets, including Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya — three crucial markets for listener acquisition and cultural relevance in the African music industry. This came at a moment of surging global appetite for African pop, evidenced by the international success of artists like Burna Boy and WizKid.
Spotify brief to FourTwo Creative: Create the first-ever global marketing campaign for the African Heat playlist — connecting it to fans across the diaspora, maximising listener acquisition in the new markets, and establishing African Heat as the definitive platform for African pop globally.
Audience: Ages 19-34 | Markets: US, Canada, UK, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa
The Insights
African pop music had gone global — but the story of how it got there had never been told. The insight that shaped everything: it was not just the music that crossed borders. It was the dance.
The Afro-dance community — dancers, choreographers, and creators across Africa and the diaspora — had been the underground engine driving African pop into streets, studios, and social feeds worldwide. They were the cultural connectors. Making them the heroes of the campaign was not just an aesthetic choice. It was the truth.
Strategic territory: African Heat to the Streets — a celebration of the Afro-dance community as the living proof of African music's global reach.
The Creative Strategy
The campaign was built across three interconnected components:
1 OFF-PLATFORM: The Dance Film
A digital video campaign built around the #africanheatchallenge — featuring dancers and choreographers from across Africa and the diaspora: Johannesburg's Kamo Mphela, Nigeria's Boluwatife, Ghana's DWP Academy, NYC's Izzy Odigie, and more. Directed by Zandi Tisani, set to Focalistic's amapiano hit Ke Star. Filmed across Johannesburg, Lagos, Accra, London, and New York. The 60-second spot was the cultural anchor — designed to travel across social platforms and invite participation.
2 ON-PLATFORM: Spotify Playlist Stories
Seven influential African artists — Focalistic, Fuse ODG, Lady Du, Moonchild Sanelly, Sho Madjozi, and Tekno — spoke on the influence of Afro-dance culture on their music. Their stories lived on the African Heat playlist and across Spotify social channels, bridging the off-platform video campaign with the on-platform listening experience.
3 OOH & ON-PLATFORM: Visual Identity
Cape Town-based designer Sinenhlanhla Chauke (99 Perspective) redesigned the African Heat playlist cover, featuring Moonchild Sanelly, Olamide, Focalistic, and Sho Madjozi. The artwork ran on prime billboard placements in Times Square (New York) and Toronto — the first time many featured artists had appeared on OOH in the US. Media partnerships with XXL and Hypebeast extended the cultural narrative into press.
My role—Lead Creative Strategist
As Lead Creative Strategist at FourTwo Creative, I was responsible for the campaign's strategic foundation, creative direction, and concept architecture. Production and talent management were led by my FourTwo co-founders.
Developed the campaign insight and strategic territory — identifying the Afro-dance community as the lens to tell African Heat's global story
Conceived the three-component campaign architecture and the strategic rationale connecting each element
Led creative ideation and wrote the briefs for all production, talent, and design partners
Directed talent sourcing strategy — dancers, choreographers, musicians, and the visual designer across Africa and the diaspora
Developed the Playlist Stories concept — selecting artists and defining the editorial angle for each conversation
Oversaw brand alignment across all deliverables, ensuring consistency with Spotify's platform identity and African Heat's cultural positioning
Campaign Deliverables
Creative ideation & integrated campaign strategy
Dance film concept & creative direction (talent from JHB, Lagos, Accra, London, NYC — dir. Zandi Tisani)
Talent sourcing & casting direction across Africa and the diaspora
Spotify Playlist Stories — artist selection and editorial direction
OOH & on-platform visual identity — commission of Sinenhlanhla Chauke / 99 Perspective
Media partnership creative concepts (XXL, Hypebeast)
Influencer marketing strategy & execution
Social, display & OOH asset suite
Recognition
Shortlisted — Music Ally Sandbox Best Music Marketing Campaigns 2021 (December, Issue 283)
Listed #2 in the publication — the opening campaign of the year-end special edition, selected from a record number of entries on the basis of originality, creativity, and impact. Peer campaigns shortlisted in the same edition included Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia, Billie Eilish, Arlo Parks, Little Simz, and Ed Sheeran.
