By mid-December, my Instagram feed is overflowing with my mates’ Spotify Wrapped playlists.
So I began my festive, well timed dialog with Spotify’s Head of World Enterprise Advertising, Grace Kao, with a straightforward one: What’s on her Spotify Wrapped?
“I positively channel my 12-year-old daughter proper now,” she instructed me. “So feminine energy singers: Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo… Beyoncé, clearly.”
Within the spirit of reflection, I provide you with “Advertising Wrapped”: Kao’s high advertising and marketing methods of 2024, and what to convey into 2025.
Lesson One: Personalization creates connection.
If Kao had to decide on a cornerstone of 2024’s Advertising 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 instructed me, “Spotify Wrapped does so effectively as a result of it is private, but it surely’s additionally about group. All we need to do is share our Wrapped with others. I need to hear about your Wrapped as a result of it is a connection we each share.”
Whereas I will 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 unhealthy 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 latest Coke and Oreo “Bestie Mode” collab, during which customers might obtain curated Spotify playlists that mixed their fav hits with their finest mates’ high songs.
“In 2024, we noticed individuals wanting extra music and extra connection, so this was an ideal alternative to convey two iconic manufacturers collectively and do one thing enjoyable that introduced worth to our prospects.”
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 keeping 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 sensible to me. I lately bought a Ninja blender as a result of I heard a podcaster within the well being area rave about it. (I am additionally a infamous shopaholic, although, so take word: I require minimal convincing.)
Kao boils the reasoning right down to authenticity: “I believe it is as a result of podcasts are unscripted in a sure sense. It is like listening to an natural dialog.”
Should 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 high podcast genres for Gen Z is enterprise and know-how.
So in 2025, Kao’s suggestion is to lean into podcasts as a lead gen alternative, particularly in case your audience contains Gen Z.
Lesson Three: Be the primary.
“Spotify is a each day companion all through your life. We’re there to your first dance at your marriage ceremony, your first kiss, your first job interview, or the primary tune you play in your new automotive,” Kao quips.
“And that first expertise is what drives model loyalty.”
She’s not improper. I am nonetheless loyal to Lululemon years after Alo Yoga, Vuori, and Out of doors Voices hit the scene as various athletic attire corporations. For no purpose aside from the only one: I shopped there first.
“Numerous model loyalty comes from being first to market. And so when manufacturers take into consideration 2025, it is vital to think about: How are you going to be first, or at the very least a part of a consumer’s first expertise?”
Whether or not you promote software program, collaboration instruments, or automotive tires, the purpose holds: You may not 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 affect you have had on their first moments — be it a primary advertising and marketing job, first crew venture, or first huge advertising and marketing marketing campaign.
And that is one thing to rejoice.
