Spotify’s In-house Agency Propels Its Pivot to 'Playfulness'

If you’re one of the 433 million people who have opened Spotify recently, you may have noticed the app has become more interactive. There are Q&As on podcasts where audiences can offer suggestions for future guests. Some audio ads have clickable links. You can even create your dream band—and corresponding playlist—via the Super Grouper feature (Abba x Fleetwood Mac, naturally). None of this is a coincidence. Spotify’s top marketer Taj Alavi has been on a mission to strengthen the platform's interactivity since joining in June 2021. Spotify wants to capture young, millennial and Gen Z audiences who expect real-time feedback and immersive experiences from brands. Spotify's annual Culture Next report proved it: what was once a dynamic built around a one-to-many broadcast is now a transactional exchange. "We’re moving from being a one-way listening platform toward a two-way, interactive experience with audio," Alavi told Adweek. The strategy from the Instagram, Uber and Chime veteran was further crystalized in July with the Swedish company’s acquisition of music trivia game Heardle. State of the Sound: How the Media Industry Grapples With Audio Accessibility Bodman said Spotify, as a platform and a brand, will be guided by the North Star of "believing in a world more playful." "We’ve always been that type of platform. It comes through in everything we do and we’re going only going to get more [interactive]," he told Adweek. Spotify In-house In recent years, agency of record relationships have given rise to hybrid arrangements, with several brands bringing more creative capabilities in-house. In 2020, the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and The Observatory International, reported the pandemic had accelerated this trend with 57% of multinationals saying they had internal creative departments and a further 17% contemplating the same set up. I’ve come from other companies where in-house agencies have been their own islands... Here [Spotify In-house] is our creative partner.Taj Alavi, VP, global head of marketing, Spotify Spotify, though, has been ahead of the curve. Bodman joined from Razorfish in 2015, which was then Spotify's agency. Now, Spotify In-house is the sole guardian of the brand’s creative output, collaborating with its marketing, performance and design teams. Media is still handled by UM while some smaller agencies, like UK-based New Stance, have responsibility for influencer marketing. Over the last seven years, Bodman has grown the team from 12 to 70 people across 10 countries. "There was no empire-building ambition, or never any intention to create an in-house monolith. We’ve grown organically and to meet the needs of the company," he explained. Now, the business needs to push more of Spotify’s creativity out to the world, at scale, in a way that gets young people engaging with its app. For Alavi, having been at the helm of several major culture brands, an internal creative setup is key to acceleration. "I’ve come from other companies where in-house agencies have been their own islands, and they can be precious," Alavi said. "Here [Spotify In-house] is our creative partner, they don’t sit separately, they’re part of the marketing team. Alex is in every one of my leadership team meetings." Unwrapping success The brand’s annual "Wrapped" campaign is a testament to the relationship between Spotify In-house and the marketing function. The personalized year-in-review playlist and slideshow serves audiences their individual data points from the past year of listening. In 2021, "Wrapped" featured new experiences, including a tool that read people's "audio aura," a sharing function which allows them to test their friends with "two truths and a lie" and a tool which indulged users to create their own movie soundtrack. Wrapped has become our Super Bowl. People get so playful with it.Alex Bodman, global ECD, Spotify As a result, it engaged 120 million monthly active users, an increase of 29% year over year. On TikTok, the hashtag #spotifywrapped gleaned almost 35 billion views. For Bodman, this is an ongoing exercise in interactivity ensuring Spotify is part of the cultural conversation. Spotify Wrapped was used by 122 million people in 2021 Super Grouper is an interactive experience that lets users build the band of their dreams. "It’s become our Super Bowl. People get so playful with it. People were using their 'Wrapped' results as green screens on TikTok. The meme culture around it was incredible—people were sharing artwork and getting their nails done based on their 'aura.'" Spotify will continue to double down on "Wrapped." It's also experimenting with giving users a "constant drumbeat" of ways they can express themselves using the platform. The Super Grouper feature was the first in a long line of these experiments. The arrangement was seamless, Bodman says, pointing to the other teams Spotify In-house has to involve in order to pull off these projects, from labels marketing, to artists, podcast studios to the platform team. "It might feel and look like a quick, nimble idea but 100 people often work together to pull off these visions," he explained. What's to come One big shift Alavi has helmed is increasing a focus on fandoms. In May, "Spotify Island" debuted on Roblox, which included an interactive game centered on all things K-Pop. It's also appealing to soccer fans, signing on as FC Barcelona’s title partner. "We're working out where our next 500 million users will come from, and we want to make sure that creative experience sets the tone," she said, adding, "There's a consistency that's pretty special about what our team does, but also how it's going to scale to other markets." In May, “Spotify Island” debuted on Roblox With 31% growth in ad revenue in Q2, to $367 million, Spotify In-house won't be slowing down any time soon. "You might be partnering on an artist release, or you might be supporting a partnership release with DC (Comics). Then there's Roblox. And you've got to figure out the metaverse. Then you might work on a beautifully-crafted performance campaign that draws in 4 million subscribers," said a breathless Bodman. "No one gets bored here, it's just not an issue. I've been at my fair share of agencies and I've never seen talent retention like this," he said. Spotify Revolutionized Podcasting. Can It Do the Same for Podcast Ads?

Business Podcasts

Spotify’s In-house Agency Is Propelling Its Pivot to 'Playfulness'

Gamifying marketing, eying a more interactive focus on Gen Z

Rebecca Stewart

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Rebecca Stewart