Spotify has launched a new initiative, Spotify Hits, to celebrate innovative and effective advertising campaigns that have run on the platform over the past year.

The initiative aims to highlight brands that have utilised creative strategies to achieve impressive campaign results. Head of Global Sales & Partnerships at Spotify, Brian Berner, stated the initiative is designed to showcase brands that are defining what best-in-class looks like on Spotify.

The winners of the Spotify Hits initiative are Celebrity Cruises, Samsung NZ, Dan Murphy's, and Asahi | Great Northern Brewing Co. Celebrity Cruises won the 'Best Overall Campaign' for a campaign that used tailored creative to target specific audiences, a dedicated microsite, and a competition.

Samsung NZ won the 'Best Use of Format' for its campaign that capitalised on Spotify's yearly recaps and included an exclusive sponsorship of Spotify's top end-of-year playlists. Dan Murphy's won the 'Best Audience Strategy' for its 'Christmas Moments' campaign that used Spotify's first- and third-party audience segments to create highly targeted moments.

Asahi | Great Northern Brewing Co. won the 'Most Creative Test Hypothesis' for a campaign that used 3D audio ads with both male and female voice overs to reach their target audience.

"From Celebrity Cruises to Dan Murphy’s, advertisers are increasingly using digital content to create unique and engaging experiences for their audiences. With Spotify Hits, we want to showcase the brands that are defining what best-in-class looks like on our platform and give them a moment of well-deserved recognition for being creative leaders in this space," said Berner.

The Spotify Hits initiative not only recognises the creative efforts of these brands but also sets a benchmark for other brands aiming to leverage Spotify's platform for their advertising campaigns.