By mid-December, my Instagram feed is overflowing with my buddies’ Spotify Wrapped playlists.
So I began my festive, well timed dialog with Spotify’s Head of International Enterprise Advertising and marketing, Grace Kao, with a straightforward one: What’s on her Spotify Wrapped?
“I undoubtedly channel my 12-year-old daughter proper now,” she advised me. “So feminine energy singers: Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo… Beyoncé, clearly.”
Within the spirit of reflection, I provide you with “Advertising and marketing Wrapped”: Kao’s prime advertising and marketing methods of 2024, and what to carry into 2025.
Lesson One: Personalization creates connection.
If Kao had to decide on a cornerstone of 2024’s Advertising and marketing Wrapped, she’d select “Connection.”
Which is why Wrapped is such a robust advertising and marketing tactic. It isn’t about simply personalization — it additionally fosters connection.
As Kao advised me, “Spotify Wrapped does so nicely as a result of it is private, however it’s additionally about neighborhood. All we wish to do is share our Wrapped with others. I wish to hear about your Wrapped as a result of it is a connection we each share.”
Whereas I am going to admit my very own Wrapped is barely embarrassing (I do not hearken to something post-2020, so my Wrapped is caught in a time-loop of Taylor Swift’s Folklore… As an apart, I am dangerous with change), there’s one thing deeply gratifying about seeing all my social media connections on the identical web page for as soon as.
Whereas discussing how personalization creates connection, one other marketing campaign sprung to Kao’s thoughts: The current Coke and Oreo “Bestie Mode” collab, during which customers may obtain curated Spotify playlists that mixed their fav hits with their finest buddies’ prime songs.
“In 2024, we noticed individuals wanting extra music and extra connection, so this was an ideal alternative to carry two iconic manufacturers collectively and do one thing enjoyable that introduced worth to our clients.”
Lesson Two: Do not sleep on podcasts as a lead gen alternative.
Gen Zers do not similar to listening to podcasts — they like shopping for from them, too.
In accordance with one report launched in October of this 12 months, 82% of Gen Z listeners have taken motion on a model after listening to a podcast advert.
This does not shock Kao. As she places it, “Gen Z trusts podcasts greater than they belief influencers on social media proper now.”
This is smart to me. I not too long ago bought a Ninja blender as a result of I heard a podcaster within the well being house rave about it. (I am additionally a infamous shopaholic, although, so take observe: I require minimal convincing.)
Kao boils the reasoning all the way down to authenticity: “I feel it is as a result of podcasts are unscripted in a sure sense. It is like listening to an natural dialog.”
In case you assume this advertising and marketing lesson applies solely to B2C, assume once more: Spotify’s 2024 Tradition Subsequent report discovered that one of many prime podcast genres for Gen Z is enterprise and expertise.
So in 2025, Kao’s suggestion is to lean into podcasts as a lead gen alternative, particularly in case your target market consists of Gen Z.
Lesson Three: Be the primary.
“Spotify is a every day companion all through your life. We’re there to your first dance at your wedding ceremony, your first kiss, your first job interview, or the primary music you play in your new automobile,” Kao quips.
“And that first expertise is what drives model loyalty.”
She’s not mistaken. I am nonetheless loyal to Lululemon years after Alo Yoga, Vuori, and Outside Voices hit the scene as various athletic attire corporations. For no motive apart from the best one: I shopped there first.
“Plenty of model loyalty comes from being first to market. And so when manufacturers take into consideration 2025, it is vital to think about: How will you be first, or no less than a part of a person’s first expertise?”
Whether or not you promote software program, collaboration instruments, or automobile tires, the purpose holds: You won’t be top-of-mind throughout somebody’s first dance, however you can be the model they discovered first, and the one they select to stay with due to the small, measurable influence you’ve got had on their first moments — be it a primary advertising and marketing job, first workforce venture, or first huge advertising and marketing marketing campaign.
And that is one thing to rejoice.
