When Advertising Becomes Experiential

What began as just music-on-demand has become a major player in the digital media engagement sphere. And it is just beginning.

Last week Spotify hosted their latest edition of “Up Fronts”. (Can I have a ticket next time, please, Spotify?)

I have been a user and fan of Spotify since their early days and they could write a book about my changing music tastes over the last decade-and-a-half. I had a big Lady Gaga phase when I moved to New York in 2011. It was about that time when I got to see first hand one of their early offices in New York City; and where this photo was taken.

Spotify’s audience, when paying attention, is all-in.

-Richard Dedor, Growth Marketing Expert

Music is a form of entertainment and elicits feelings of positivity and nostalgia. It is through these sounds and rituals that consumers build a collective; a community of shared stories and experiences. Whether it is the Bee Hive, or Swifties, or just music fans like myself, the medium offers something for everyone. Over the last decade-and-a-half Spotify has worked to tap into that need for a community space for coming together around common themes. Rock. Blues. Stories. You name it, Spotify has it.

What I personally love about Spotify is how much it can be you. Playlists (private and public), collab playlists, podcasts, and now video!

I recently saw on Bluesky that the oft-described “second screen” (your mobile device when you’re “watching” television), is actually a first screen at the same time you’re watching a first screen. Both have your attention. Which, if I’m being honest, means none of them have your attention.

Spotify isn’t in the same boat. Spotify’s audience, when paying attention, is all-in.

A few key highlights about the community that Spotify has built:

• 93% of content engagement on Spotify translates into ad engagement.

  • Not only are people seeing the ads, they are engaging with the ads.

• Spotify listeners and watchers give Spotify (and thereby advertisers) 2X more attention than social media platforms.

  • It’s not doom-scrolling. It’s active engagement.

Marketers should be diving into Spotify head-first and leaving nothing to chance. Spotify is in the game of brand building, loyalty, and driving traffic and conversions.

But more than that, they are meeting their audience where they are. It is our job, as marketers, to do the same.