Spotify & Storytelling
We are in this new digital era of marketing and advertising and along with it, comes change. Once upon a time, advertising used to be all about hard selling, essentially here is a product and you should buy it for these reasons, but this isn't the most effective key anymore, specifically within this digital world more than ever. “The issue with the hard sell method is that is often impersonal and is often very priced based or product specific driven. Its main purpose is solely drive in sales, website clicks, and other "easy to measure" metrics instead of connecting and building up your brand and its reputation" (Lundbäck, 2018). We run into advertisements every single day whether they are physically printed like in a magazine, mail, or billboards or digital like on the radio, social media, or streaming services.
I’m sure we all have had those instances when we open social media, and a place or store pops up on your feed that you were just looking or thinking about. I always use the example of a fashion brand, like Forever 21. I am notorious for browsing online at clothing for fun, but never actually buying anything and every time, I get an ad on Instagram for what I was just looking at. From a consumer’s perspective, I have been here numerous times and do feel annoyed when I get these ads. There are reasons I don’t buy when clearance is final sale or something is cute, just not in my price range and so being shown the same items immediately exiting off the browser is intrusive advertising.
It is easy to pump out targeted hard-sell advertisements left and right, but is it effective at capturing your audience? Most likely not. As consumers on digital platforms, they likely experience ad fatigue with the high volume of ads that exist. Not only this, but people are also being presented with extremely extrusive ads or completely irrelevant ads they have zero interest in. It leads to frustration amongst consumers (or possible consumers) and can possibly affect the reputation of the brand all together.
So how can we fix this on the marketing side of things? Storytelling is the way to go. “Crafting compelling narratives is a powerful tool that enables brands to engage with their audience, build brand identity, and create meaningful connections. Implementing storytelling into a brand’s digital marketing strategy will help them to differentiate in all the clutter that exists and will make them stand out. Storytelling has always been a fundamental aspect of human communication and connection. Storytelling…
Has the power to evoke and appeal to our emotions, which makes it a potent tool to influence consumer behavior
When we can tell a story that resonates with our audience based on both experiences and aspiration, a brand builds connection by being empathetic and relatable
A brand has the power to tell a captivating story that can keep them at top of mind and create a lasting impact on a consumer’s memory (The Art of…2023).
There are so many brands that are implementing this into their own marketing strategies that constantly appeal to their consumers in creative and enjoyable ways. Below is how Spotify uses storytelling effectively every year.
Spotify:
Spotify does collect consumers data… but then uses it in creative ways that are appealing (ever since 2016 in fact!). Spotify Wrapped analyzes user’s data throughout the whole year, then showcases the most popular songs and artists paired with fun and cool visuals that are super appealing. Knowing you are in your favorite artist’s listening community resonates with fans and is always a great way to create engagement amongst consumers themselves by sharing each other’s wrapped recaps. Another reason this works is because Spotify will do artists recaps with the total amount of streams, total listeners, total hours, etc. and as a fan of an artist, it is cool to know you contributed to those numbers.
For me personally as a user of Spotify, I think it is neat to see how my taste of music changed throughout the year/ years by comparing different artists songs etc. I also enjoy that they make a Spotify Wrapped 2023 playlist with all my most played songs from the year. As a consumer, it is something I always anticipate every single year and I always look forward to the fun visuals that come with it.
Spotify was the first to do this amazing and innovated marketing campaign that user’s love, and many music streaming platforms have followed in their footsteps including Apple Music and Youtube Music.
Resources:
“The Art of Storytelling in Digital Marketing: Crafting Compelling Narratives.” Digimid, 2 June 2023, www.digimid.com/storytelling-in-digital-marketing/#:~:text=Storytelling%20in%20marketing%20refers%20to%20the%20strategic%20use,emotional%20connection%20and%20capturing%20the%20attention%20of%20consumers.
Dan, Avi. “7 Reasons People Hate Your Ads and What Do about It.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 Nov. 2022, www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2022/06/27/7-reasons-people-hate-your-ads-and-what-do-about-it/?sh=28a7f9634eaa.
McNab-Lundback, Alex. “Why Does the ‘hard Sell’ Not Work on Social Media?” LinkedIn, 23 Nov. 2018, www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-does-hard-sell-work-social-media-alex-mcnab-lundb%C3%A4ck/.
“Spotify Wrapped: The Secrets behind the Marketing Masterpiece.” Kimp, 28 Feb. 2024, www.kimp.io/spotify-wrapped/#g9587f0a82cbb.