Tag: advertisers

Spotify Advertising Kicks Off Spotify Sparks in Brazil to Bring Marketers and Listeners Closer Together

September 27, 2023

Audiences worldwide are tuned into digital audio at record rates, and Brazil is no different. Our platform already reaches more than half of the Brazilian online population each week. More than one in two Brazilians online use Spotify at least weekly, making Spotify the most-used digital audio platform in the country. When it comes to finding a deeply immersed and engaged audience, advertisers in the market don’t need to look far. 

Plus, Spotify has long been bringing audio advertising into the modern age with tools like Spotify Ad Studio and Spotify Ad Analytics. Our leading tech innovations help us deliver impact for advertisers and drive growth for creators and publishers. Our connection to culture helps brands reach listeners on their most trusted ad platform. 

But since not all brands fully understand the opportunities they have to join Spotify’s ecosystem, we recently launched Spotify Sparks. This summit is designed to educate companies on why they should turn to Spotify to reach the most engaged audiences and leverage our culture-shaping content for meaningful advertising opportunities. Brazil has proven to be perfect ground, so we made São Paulo Spotify Sparks’ first stop.

Head of International Sales Kristiana Carlet Shares How We’re Taking Advertising to the Next Level at Spotify Beach

June 19, 2023

Each year, Spotify showcases how our platform inspires creativity, connection, and innovation for advertisers and brands at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in France. This year, we’re also able to spotlight the tremendous growth we’ve seen recently—our ad-supported revenue grew 17% year over year in the first quarter of 2023—and how we’re moving toward a future where ads account for 20% of Spotify’s total revenue. 

Kristiana “Kri” Carlet has witnessed this growth firsthand. Since joining Spotify as the Head of International Sales, she’s taken our efforts in Europe, Asia, and Australia to new heights. The Italian native, who moved to the U.K. in the early 2000s to start her career in advertising, says that her desire to learn something new every day and her international branding expertise are a winning combination of tools to make Spotify a leader in audio advertising globally.

“We’re already seeing the forward momentum in Europe, so now I’m excited to turn my sights to the emerging markets like Japan and India, where we’re just getting started with our ads business,” she explained to For the Record on the ground in Cannes. “Every time I’m in those markets with the team and our customers, I’m blown away by the excitement around our brand, the creativity there, and the opportunity that audio represents for them! We’re going to have a huge ability to test new ideas and ways to advertise in those markets—I’m very interested in seeing that come to life.” 

We’re kicking off another standout year at Cannes. What are you most looking forward to this week at Spotify Beach? 

I’ll be very honest—I’ve done so many Cannes—but when I came with Spotify for the first time last year, I was blown away. And I wasn’t sure how we could top it! So I’m very proud to say that this year, Spotify Beach will come to life with even more interactive, playful experiences, from enriching masterclasses featuring the world’s most influential voices to truly FOMO-worthy evening concerts. 

Visitors can get excited for interactive experiences such as a Songs of Summer soundscape, an FC Barcelona partner zone, and an AI DJ interactive experience. Plus, Spotify Studio is back again and fully booked with creators, advertisers, and press taking advantage of our state-of-the-art audio-video facilities. We’ll also host a series of masterclasses featuring exclusive opportunities to hear from Spotify executives including CEO and founder Daniel Ek, brand partners like Coca-Cola and Samsung, and some of the world’s most exciting creators, including Emma Chamberlain, Trevor Noah, Issaa Rae, and Alex Cooper.

We’re also hosting a series of playdates that bring the magic of Spotify to life by inviting guests to get out of their seats and play. And of course, it wouldn’t be Spotify Beach without a lineup of can’t-miss evening performances, including Foo Fighters, Florence + the Machine, Jack Harlow, A$AP Rocky, will.i.am, and more. All of this makes Spotify Beach the perfect spot to meet our clients and partners and show them they are part of an amazing journey with us at Spotify! 

We’re constantly innovating new technologies and formats for content creators and advertisers. What are some ways we’re demonstrating these at Cannes?

Ahead of Cannes, we announced Spotify Ad Analytics and our new B2B podcast, Perfect Pitch, inspired by our Cannes Lions award-winning campaign, A Song for Every CMO. We also recently shared our Sonic Science 2.0 research study, which demonstrates how audio content connects both emotionally and physically with listeners. We found that Spotify listeners are bringing audio into their lives literally 24 hours a day—and are primed to embrace brand messages. Most recently, we’ve been focused on using AI to enrich the listening experience—like with our AI DJ, where each user’s own DJ creates personalized listening experiences for them. Now that I use it, I can’t live without it! 

But I think the best way to absorb everything we’re innovating on is our session with Daniel Ek, Trevor Noah, and our Global Head of Advertising, Lee Brown, as they share their perspectives on how to best leverage new technology to tell stories and drive deeper connections with audiences. I’m really looking forward to sitting in on that one myself.

Cannes Lions is also about awarding the most impactful, creative advertising campaigns and the people behind them. What are some of your favorite Spotify campaigns from the last year?

There’s been so much that we’ve been working on with the partners around us—I can honestly say that we get to work with the world’s most innovative marketers to create original and engaging ad experiences for digital audio. My favorites have been Destination Canada, easyJet, and especially Disney+, which allowed us to bridge our work with Disney to launch a new campaign that combines the worlds of music, film, and TV in a delightful and immersive experience. With it, Spotify listeners across Germany, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, and Spain were able to explore personalized recommendations, as well as new genres and titles from Disney+’s catalog based on their listening habits. It’s personalized, innovative, and meets music and television lovers right where they are—truly a Spotify experience. 

Why should advertisers visit Spotify Beach on the Croisette?

During typical client meetings, you focus on the brief and the specific business challenge that your customer needs you to meet. You can’t always bring the examples to life. I think events like Cannes give us the opportunity to give them a 360-degree view about the power of Spotify advertising and showcase how we’re really only at the beginning of this journey. 

Spotify Beach is really going to bring our creativity and innovation in the streaming industry as a whole to life. It will demonstrate the power that our creator and industry relationships have and how we make them available for our bands and partners. Clients and partners will get to see and experience the overall Spotify ecosystem. Spotify has such an impact on people’s lives, and coming to Spotify Beach shows that without question. 

What’s your personal work mantra?

When you come with a great deal of experience, it’s important to remind yourself that you don’t know it all—and you have to be very good at listening. Because of where I am on my personal journey, I have a lot of reminders to remove my bias and spend time listening to my team and customers. If we want to be successful in business, it always starts at the end of the day, with the people. Then I can help supercharge the experiences of my team and my customers. 

Finally, what would we find on your “On Repeat” playlist? 

At the moment, anything Harry Styles. I’m obsessed—and it’s a common passion I have with my 17-year-old daughter. We’ve been trying to learn the lyrics from Spotfiy on our car journeys so we can belt them out when we see him in concert. As an Italian, I also love Maneskin. They are so fun and they’re going to become an iconic global band.

Catch more of our full Cannes lineup here.

Spotify’s Presence at Cannes Lions Is Bigger Than Ever. Lee Brown, VP, Global Head of Advertising Business & Platform, Explains How—And Why

June 21, 2022

Lee Brown at Spotify's Cannes Lions Beach

This week Spotify has returned to Cannes Lions with a robust and reinvigorated presence, combining insightful panels, stunning activations, and unforgettable entertainment. It’s a jam-packed week that highlights the creativity happening at Spotify in a refreshing, interactive setting.

But our physical presence at Cannes isn’t the only thing to write home about: A wave of announcements have been coming out of Spotify in the weeks leading up to the beachside event, including news about a first-of-its-kind third-party brand safety partnership with Integral Ad Science, a new podcast ad deal with Omnicom Media Group, and the drop of our fourth-annual Culture Next trends report. 

Lee Brown, Spotify’s Global Head of Advertising Business & Platform, summed it up well: “Since we last came to Cannes in 2019, we’ve built an entirely new business around podcasting,” he told For the Record. “And now, we know we can provide tools and confidence to help our advertisers show up in the right locations and use the right content to market their brands. And Spotify Beach is the place to demonstrate that—in-person, feeling the energy, hearing about the creative process directly from the source. That goes a long way in building relationships and our business in the years to come.”

For the Record spoke to Lee ahead of the event to get a sneak preview of what’s in store. 

This year, Spotify has a bigger presence at Cannes than ever before. What sort of events and activities can attendees look forward to this year?

We’re all super excited to be back in Cannes doing our iconic activation on the Spotify Beach. It’s been a long time since the industry has had a chance to get together, to celebrate and recognize all the creative and inspiring work that’s happening. During the day, Spotify leaders will host thought-provoking panels and talks with some of our podcast creators and industry leaders, including podcaster and journalist Jemele Hill, Batman Unburied actors Winston Duke and Hasan Minhaj, and Teenager Therapy podcast co-hosts Kayla Suarez and Thomas Pham. 

And then at night, when the sun goes down, we have live performances from a few of the world’s hottest artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, and Dua Lipa. We’re bringing together some of the best creators and musicians in the world because we know that without creativity, there’d be nothing. 

We’re holding several panels at Cannes themed to our ads initiatives including Outside Voice and Culture Next. How does bringing these to the stage help us tell the stories behind them?

Our Outside Voice panel features Jemele Hill, who, along with other BIPOC leaders in the creative space, is taking matters into her own hands to build platforms that amplify underrepresented voices. So to hear directly from Jemele, to learn from her experience, to make sure that we understand the content and the audience—that just gives the advertisers a much closer look at what the process looks like, the goals of that creator, and the needs of their audience. 

Something that brands are struggling with today is how to show up authentically in environments where a new generation of audiences have different platforms, ways of consuming content, and ways of communicating. Brands have to constantly evolve how they show up authentically, with impact, and really make that genuine connection with the audience. So for Culture Next, we’re giving them the opportunity to hear directly from Gen Z about how they create and consume culture—and what advice they give brands trying to reach them.

Daytime stage at Spotfiy Cannes Beach

What are some of the benefits to Spotify of merging our relationships with creators like Jemele Hill and the cast of Batman Unburied with advertisers at an event like this?

Creators are the backbone of our business. And so we take enormous pride in connecting them not only with listeners, but also with advertisers to help them monetize their work. There’s just something so great about getting to experience these remarkable creators in-person, feel their energy, hear about their creative process directly from the source—that goes a long way in building relationships and trust with advertisers.

It also allows us to demonstrate the many kinds of content on our platform and how we’re relevant to and attract and appeal to an incredibly broad audience. Shows like Batman Unburied and other highly produced shows serve as a really great entryway to Spotify for audiences. Then they stick around to discover other amazing content from smaller creators. 

Cannes Lions is also about awarding the most impactful, remarkable advertising and the people behind it. What are some of your favorite campaigns from the last year?

There are so many. I really love the Rocket Mortgage Barbie campaign for its relevance and IP creativity. It’s so timely; it’s so spot on. And it’s taking a commodity product like a home loan and just making it super relevant and timely for today’s environment. I also love what Raja [Rajamannar], the CMO of MasterCard, is doing with his multisensory approach. I think they’re just in the early innings of defining what that looks like for MasterCard. And then Carl [Loredo] at Wendy’s has really embraced and done some amazing work with Web3, with the Wendyverse. 

And then, lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention our own campaign, All Ears On You, Spotify Advertising’s first-ever brand campaign, which launched last fall. The campaign video is stunning, showcasing just how powerful audio can be for listeners, showing them in personalized little audio bubbles as they move about their noisy cities or their daily lives. It also features a super killer song from Joy Crookes, “Feet Don’t Fail Me Now,” and it’s become one of my favorites. I’m sure it’s going to be in my Wrapped this year for sure. 

Why should advertisers come visit Spotify Beach on the croisette?

Creativity and innovation are in our DNA at Spotify. That’s exactly what Cannes Lions celebrates, and that’s why we’ve been attending the festival for so many years. I also think it gets back to that earlier point about having our brand show up in-person, bringing our brand to life through entertainment, education, and inspiration. I think there’s no better way to showcase the Spotify brand than in real life—by bringing that to the advertisers and to the audiences at Cannes. We’re excited about building the future of digital audio and want to bring the advertisers and that community along for this journey because what’s coming ahead is going to be amazing.

Tune in Live on Tuesday, June 21 at 2 PM CET, Unbothered host and sports journalist Jemele Hill will moderate our Outside Voice panel, “Representation Behind the Mic,” featuring panelists Co-founder, and Vice President of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Joan Baker, Spotify Vice President and Global Head of Marketing Taj Alavi, and Spotify Advertising Senior Manager of Creative Development Tye Comer.