Spotify went big again on experiential this year at the Cannes Lions with top talent, a highly curated experiential beach and the debut of new Gen AI Ads, bringing the digital brand to life in the real world and vying for brands to see its platform as the ultimate place to reach fandoms.
“Our strategy here is to make sure that people know that Spotify is a creative playground,” said Bridget Evans, global head of business marketing at Spotify, in an interview with Brand Innovators.
The event featured daytime panels with emerging creators and more well-known talent across music and podcasts. “We are having amazing discussions all about how sound can be used within brand work and how the emotional power of sound can really translate for brands and creatives,” said Evans.
Evans added that the focus of the beach is on entertainment at large – exemplified with performances by Cardi B, Charlie Puth, Jake Shane, Lola Young, Louis Theroux, Mark Ronson, sombr and Royel Otis. The streaming platform is also hoping to inspire brands and creatives that Spotify can be a great place for their brand.
“Everyone uses Spotify. It is one of the most homescreened apps. We all have it on our phones and we are using it every day. That experience is digital but the cultural relevance of Spotify and the creators on our platform, that is in real life too. The biggest thing is just having the chance to get together in person and have people physically experience what the platform is and the fandom and the creativity in real life,” explained Evans.
The beach includes an immersive Cover Art Creator zone to design custom playlist cover art, a special flavor bar offering sweet treats to “taste” this summer’s top audiobooks, and the Soul Coffee Cafe. There was also a Billions Club room based on a recent campaign celebrating artists like Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande who have been streamed more than a billion times. It also featured a “Songs of Summer” room, based on another campaign, this one decorated with vinyl and posters like any respectable teen’s bedroom.
“Spotify is the best place to be a fan. My Spotify looks very different from your Spotify even if we have the same interest in music and podcasts, it is so specific to what I am listening to and Spotify serves up what you’ll like next,” said Evans.
Spotify announced Gen AI audio creation tool at the event. The ads, which debuted in the spring in the US, are now available to brands in the UK as well. The goal of these ad units is to create high-quality audio ads at scale. In addition to the new ads, Spotify used the Cannes stage to talk more about the benefits of using video on its platform.
“Spotify is not just audio, people are spending so much more time on their phones, building playlists, looking at lyric videos and certainly watching podcasts in addition to listening to podcasts,” said Evans. “There is a lot around ok, how can I as a creative or how can I as a brand tap into both sound and audio but also visual to complement the experience to fans that you are bringing to fans on our platform.”
Brand Innovators went behind the scenes and took a tour of the Spotify Beach with Keyana Kashfi, global senior director and head of experiential & content production at Spotify. Check it out!
