The HP ads are running inside the Spotify iPhone application. The initiative is aimed at both driving sales and educating consumers about Windows 8.

“As of April 2012 estimates were that Spotify had a 3 million subscriber base,” said Marci Troutman, CEO of SiteMinis, Atlanta.

“A small base but specific and centered around a lot around social interactions,” she said.

“One could say that HP – or their marketing services group – is pushing a younger demographic with the Spotify advertising strategy. This is probably only one of several places that HP is marketing the Windows 8 PC product.”

Ms. Troutman is not affiliated with HP. She commented based on her expertise on the subject. 

HP did not respond by press deadline.

Mobile sales
HP is running 30-second audio ads in the Spotify app in between songs.

The ads promote two new laptops from its Envy line – the HP Envy 4 Touchsmart Ultrabook and the HP Envy 23 Touchsmart 23-DO4OT.

While the audio ad runs, a landing page features a picture of the products with a line of copy below that reads, “Learn more at hp.com/envy.”

When users click on the landing page, they are redirected to the site to learn more about the laptops.

From there, consumers can read reviews, view information about the laptops and share content via Facebook and Twitter.

Additionally, the mobile site includes click-to-call for users to place custom orders.

Although the products are not commerce-enabled, the click-to-call feature lets users buy the item while it is top of mind.

Consumers can also click over to HP’s main mobile site to view all of the company’s other products.

Marketing window
Microsoft has aggressively been marketing its Windows 8 operating system across multiple marketing mediums.

The marketing behind the new operating system is meant to show consumers how some of Microsoft’s devices such as the Windows 8 and Windows RT blur the lines between what is considered a tablet and what is a PC.

In HP’s case, using mobile advertising to show how the HP products work helps the brand capitalize on some of Microsoft’s marketing wave.

Consumers constantly have their mobile devices on hand, and since the ads are running as commercial breaks, giving users a way to act on an ad instantly is a smart move for HP.

“As with any new product release, some take more time than others to recognize real traction,” Ms. Troutman said.

“It would appear that in the near term Windows  is affected by actual distribution constriction,” she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York