Spotify Head of Sales: We Are Going Through An Audio Revolution
1 December 2023
For Ed Couchman, Head of Sales, UK & Northern Europe at Spotify, now is the time to improve creative effectiveness by incorporating audio in your marketing plan. His Shiny New Object is “Sonic Science 2” - a new study by Spotify following up on their previous report. It shows us how digital audio is more engaging than most other media and why it’s a marketing environment to explore.
Ed’s worked in digital advertising since the early 2000s, having held roles at UK media owners like Channel 4 and the Daily Mail, as well as at Facebook and Snapchat. While always working in audiovisual media, his recent move to Spotify has highlighted just how important and fruitful audio can be for advertisers.
“We are in the midst of an audio revolution,” says Ed, with lots of new formats and ways for audiences to get engaged in. In the UK, 1 in 4 people listen to a podcast every month and Spotify counts as many as 26 million active users every month. There’s never been a better time to seize on context and attention, while bringing in the sophistication of digital advertising to audio.
For Ed, this means following a method of 3 Ms: mood, moment, and mindset. Music and audio in general is an incredible mood booster and Spotify’s research indicates that ⅓ of study participants feel happy or cheerful after listening to their favourite songs. The moment (or context) is also very important: people are listening to podcasts, audiobooks, or a favourite playlist while exercising, but also walking their dog, cooking, doing household chores, and so much more.
Finally, the mindset piece is quite important and combines with the moment people listen to Spotify to create excellent digital advertising opportunities. For example, someone may be cleaning their house (moment), thinking of cleaning products (mindset) while listening to a murder mystery podcast. What better moment to tie in a blood stain on the carpet in the podcast, to a seamless ad about carpet cleaning products, which will blend into the listener’s life subtly, but effectively?
This is the sort of work and research going on at Spotify, with the ultimate goal of increasing marketing effectiveness and efficiency. There are opportunities for audio to be used widely by smaller businesses with lower costs, but high impact. There are also numerous opportunities from the world of generative AI, creating curated playlists and using an AI DJ, among others.
Tune in to the full episode to hear Ed talk about his favourite marketing books and learn more about sonic science and the audio revolution in marketing.
The host of the Shiny New Object podcast is Tom Ollerton, founder of Automated Creative.