Marketing is over for 2024 and the best strategies for the new year, according to Spotify’s global head of business marketing
By mid-December, my Instagram feed is full of Spotify Wrapped playlists from my friends.
So I began my celebratory and timely conversation with Grace Kao, Spotify’s Head of Global Business Marketing, with a simple conversation: What’s on her Spotify Wrapped?
“I’m definitely channeling my 12-year-old right now,” she told me. “So powerful singers: Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo… Beyoncé, obviously.”
In the spirit of reflection, I present to you “Marketing Wrapped”: Kao’s best marketing strategies for 2024, and what to bring in 2025.
Lesson One: Personalization Creates Connection.
If Kao had to choose a cornerstone of Marketing Wrapped 2024, she would choose “Connection.”
This is why Wrapped is such a powerful marketing tactic. It’s not just about personalization, it also promotes connection.
As Kao told me: “Spotify Wrapped works so well because it’s personal, but it’s also about community. All we want to do is share our Wrapped with others. I want to hear about your Wrapped because it’s a bond we both share.”
While I admit that my own Wrapped is slightly embarrassing (I don’t listen to anything after 2020, so my Wrapped is stuck in a time loop of Taylor Swift folklore… By the way, I’m bad with change), there is something deeply gratifying about seeing all my social media connections on the same page for once.
While discussing how personalization creates connection, another campaign came to Kao’s mind: the recent Coca-Cola and Oreo.Best friend fashion“, in which users could receive curated Spotify playlists combining their favorite hits with the best songs from their best friends.
“In 2024, we saw people wanting more music and more connection, so it was a great opportunity to bring two iconic brands together and do something fun that brought value to our customers.”
Lesson Two: Don’t sleep on podcasts as a lead generation opportunity.
Gen Zers don’t just like listening to podcasts, they also like buying them.
According to a report released in October of this year, 82% of Gen Z listeners have taken action against a brand after hearing a podcast ad.
This doesn’t surprise Kao. As she says: “Gen Z currently trusts podcasts more than social media influencers“.
This makes sense to me. I recently purchased a Ninja blender because I heard a healthcare podcaster rave about it. (I’m also a notorious shopaholic, so take note: I need a modicum of convincing.)
Kao sums up the reasoning for authenticity: “I think it’s because podcasts aren’t scripted in a certain sense. It’s like listening to an organic conversation.”
If you think this marketing lesson only applies to B2C, think again: Spotify’s 2024 Culture Next report reveals that one of the top podcast genres for Gen Z is business and technology.
So in 2025, Kao’s suggestion is to look to podcasts as a lead generation opportunity, especially if your target audience includes Gen Z.
Lesson Three: Be first.
“Spotify is with you every day throughout your life. We are there for your first dance at your wedding, your first kiss, your first job interview or the first song you play in your new car,” jokes Kao.
“And that first experience is what drives brand loyalty.”
She’s not wrong. I’m still loyal to Lululemon years after Alo Yoga, Vuori, and Outdoor Voices hit the scene as alternative activewear companies. For no reason other than the simplest: I shopped there first.
“A lot of brand loyalty comes from being first to market. So when brands think about 2025, it’s important to ask: How can you be first, or at least part of a user’s first experience?”
Whether you’re selling software, collaboration tools, or car tires, the point is valid: You may not be a priority at someone’s first dance, but you can be the brand they found first and the one they choose to stay at because of the small measurable impact you had on their first moments, whether it was a first marketing job, a first team project or of a first major marketing campaign.
And that’s something to celebrate.
