Spotify’s inventive shift: Kay Hsu on why manufacturers wish to watch podcasts

It’s a herbal development for Hsu’s workforce. Since launching in mid-2024, the Creative Lab she heads up has acted as a 40-strong in-house company, serving to manufacturers flip Spotify into an inventive playground, blending local audio commercials, video codecs, in-app reviews, reside occasions and, now, experimental AI gear. “We’re not here to push media,” she says. “We’re here to build stories that feel right on the platform.”

The gear to scale and the council to steer it

The new Creative Lab Hub objectives to do exactly that. It’s a web based useful resource constructed to assist advertisers transfer from concept to execution, that includes structure explainers, prototyping gear and real-world case research. The Creative Council, in the meantime, brings in combination inventive leads from manufacturers similar to Coca-Cola and Ulta, in addition to businesses similar to R/GA and VML, to form what inventive excellence on Spotify may just (and must) appear to be.

But it’s the shift in consumer habits that’s truly atmosphere the tone. More than 300 million customers have now streamed a video podcast on Spotify. Time spent with video content material is up 44% yr over yr, with Gen Z main the fee, spending 81% extra time with video content material than they did a yr in the past. And at the writer facet, per thirty days video uploads are up over 50% yr on yr.

Spotify is making an investment accordingly. “We’re building for how people are actually consuming content,” says Hsu. “And right now, that means more video, more visual storytelling and more creative ways for brands to show up.”

From playlists to product love

Take Bestie Mode, for instance, a up to date collaboration between Spotify, Coca-Cola and Oreo tied to their limited-edition Coke-flavoured Oreos and Oreo-infused Coke. The marketing campaign invited listeners to reply to questions on their absolute best pals’ musical tastes and, in go back, generated customized playlists to proportion with them.

“We knew Gen Z treats music like a love language,” says Hsu. “So we used AI and real behavioural data to create something playful, personal and properly scaled. It wasn’t an ad break; it was an experience.”

The characteristic introduced with centered audio placements throughout Spotify’s loose tier, the place customers spend on moderate two hours an afternoon attractive with content material.

Rethinking what a Spotify marketing campaign can also be

This is precisely such a marketing campaign Spotify’s Creative Lab is designed to ship. Past efforts come with the Press Play live-streamed Stormzy live performance for Rockstar Energy and a rising selection of AI-assisted audio gear that assist creators and entrepreneurs generate customized scripts and voiceovers on call for. “It’s about helping brands move faster, test more and create with confidence,” says Hsu.

And with ad-supported income up 5% year-on-year, Spotify is underlining that inventive chance and business enlargement can move hand in hand.

Don’t underestimate audio

Despite the controversy of video, Spotify is evangelical concerning the energy of audio. Hsu argues that many entrepreneurs haven’t absolutely clocked simply how potent it may be. “We’re in people’s ears when they work out, when they commute, when they wind down,” she says. “That’s intimate. And it’s not background noise – it’s chosen time. It deserves better creative.”

She issues out that manufacturers can goal by way of second, temper and mindset – one thing nonetheless now not extensively understood. “You don’t need to be loud to cut through. You just need to be relevant.

“We’re not a social feed,” she provides. “We’re in people’s lives. And we stay with them whether they’re watching, listening or somewhere in between.”