HubSpot - 🎧 Marketing: Spotify Wrapped Edition🎄

By mid-December, my Instagram feed is overflowing with my friends' Spotify Wrapped playlists.

So I started my festive, timely conversation with Grace Kao with an easy one: What's on her Spotify Wrapped?

"I definitely channel my 12-year-old daughter right now," she told me. "So female power singers: Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo… Beyoncé, obviously."

In the spirit of reflection, I give you "Marketing Wrapped": Kao's top marketing strategies of 2024, and what to bring into 2025.

MEET THE MASTER

Name: Grace Kao, head of global business at Spotify
Job: Helps brands connect with Spotify's 640m+ monthly listeners in meaningful and effective ways
Claim to fame: Spearheaded the Spreadbeats campaign, which earned multiple awards at Cannes; recognized on Adweek's Top 50 Indispensable Business Leaders

Fun fact: Grace and her family are big basketball fans, so NBA is always on in their house (Kobe Bryant is her favorite player)

Lesson 1: Personalization creates connection.

If Kao had to choose a cornerstone of 2024's Marketing Wrapped, she'd choose "Connection."

Which is why Wrapped is such a strong marketing tactic. It's not about just personalization — it also fosters connection.

As Kao told me, "Spotify Wrapped does 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 connection we both share."

While I'll admit my own Wrapped is slightly embarrassing (I don't listen to anything post-2020, so my Wrapped is stuck in a time-loop of Taylor Swift's Folklore… As an aside, I'm bad with change), there's something deeply gratifying about seeing all my social media connections on the same page for once.

While discussing how personalization creates connection, another campaign sprung to Kao's mind: The recent Coke and Oreo Bestie Mode collab, in which users could receive curated Spotify playlists that combined their fav hits with their best friends’ top songs.

"In 2024, we saw people wanting more music and more connection, so this was a great opportunity to bring two iconic brands together and do something fun that brought value to our customers."

Lesson 2: Don't sleep on podcasts as a lead gen opportunity.

Gen Zers don't just like listening to podcasts — they like buying from them, too.

According to one report released in October of this year, 82% of Gen Z listeners have taken action on a brand after hearing a podcast ad.

This doesn't surprise Kao. As she puts it, "Gen Z trusts podcasts more than they trust influencers on social media right now."

This makes sense to me. I recently purchased a Ninja blender because I heard a podcaster in the health space rave about it. (I'm also a notorious shopaholic, though, so take note: I require minimal convincing.)

Kao boils the reasoning down to authenticity: "I think it's because podcasts are unscripted in a certain sense. It's like listening to an organic conversation."

If you think this marketing lesson applies only to B2C, think again: Spotify's 2024 Culture Next report found that one of the top podcast genres for Gen Z is business and technology.

So in 2025, Kao's suggestion is to lean into podcasts as a lead gen opportunity, especially if your target audience includes Gen Z.

Lesson 3: Be the first to market.

"Spotify is a daily companion throughout your life. We're 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," Kao quips.

"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 athletic apparel companies. For no reason other than the simplest one: I shopped there first.

"A lot of brand loyalty comes from being first to market. And so when brands think about 2025, it's important to consider: How can you be first, or at least part of a user's first experience?"

Whether you sell software, collaboration tools, or car tires, the point holds: You might not be top-of-mind during someone's first dance, but you can be the brand they found first, and the one they choose to stick with because of the small, measurable impact you've had on their first moments — be it a first marketing job, first team project, or first big marketing campaign.

And that's something to celebrate.

DATA DIGEST

What’s top of mind for marketing leaders?

Last year’s playbook is basically ancient history. But 700+ leaders just spilled the tea on what’s actually working.

This 2025 field guide packs all of their insights into frameworks that can help you stay ahead.

Feast on our findings:

Four top trends everyone is watching
How strategists are integrating AI into workflows
How to elevate and differentiate your content
Notes on data privacy and intentionality
Survey data from chiefs in the trenches

Here’s what the heads have to say about exceeding expectations.

Top marketing trends

OPEN TABS

Discover HubSpot's extensive first-party data resources — which include reports, webinars, and video lessons — that will empower you to optimize your Google Ads performance, increase ad revenue, and navigate a privacy-focused advertising world.
Fellow MiM writer Laura M. Browning dishes the goods on how to run a good newsletter.
Cringing at the thought of drinking holiday eggnog on Zoom at 10 AM with your peers? Check out HubSpot's Alana Chinn's tips on more unique and interesting virtual holiday parties.

LINGERING QUESTIONS

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

How should marketers approach their strategies in verticals in which most competitors offer the same thing? How do you approach not only standing out, but also winning?—Chandler Quentin, CEO and co-founder of Video Brothers

THIS WEEK'S ANSWER

Kao: Meeting consumers where they are and in ways that align with their preferences allows brands to build stronger trust and true connection. So to stand out, it’s important for marketers to connect authentically with audiences.

At Spotify, we’re continuing to invest in innovative products and campaigns like Wrapped — our end-of-year thank you to fans, artists, authors, creators, and advertisers — and providing creative tools that enable brands to reach these audiences in the right moments and celebrate the fans who make Spotify, Spotify.

This week's email was brought to you by Caroline Forsey. Editing by Curtis del Principe and Laura M. Browning.

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HubSpot - 🎧 Marketing: Spotify Wrapped Edition🎄

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