Season 5, Episode 15: Spotify's down-funnel advertising ambitions (with Lee Brown and Per Sandell)
Apr 8, 2025
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Lee Brown, Spotify's Global Head of Ad Business & Platform, and Per Sandell, VP of Product, discuss exciting innovations in Spotify's advertising strategies. They dive into the launch of the Spotify Ad Exchange, the role of generative AI in creating automated audio ads, and how performance advertisers utilize this platform. The duo explores evolving user engagement techniques through personalized audio ads and contextual advertising, while hinting at a future of automated ad placements that promise to revolutionize the advertising landscape.
Spotify's advertising platform has transformed to offer greater flexibility for advertisers, allowing access through direct buying or preferred DSPs.
The recent launch of the Spotify Ad Exchange enhances advertisers' targeting capabilities by integrating with open and private marketplaces.
The incorporation of AI-generated ads simplifies creative processes for advertisers, making it easier to produce effective audio content.
Deep dives
Introduction to Clarisites' Benefits
Clarisites offers advanced performance marketing teams the ability to access internal data easily and generate insights quickly. By facilitating these features, the platform eliminates dependencies on data teams, allowing marketers to prove their impact efficiently. It assures users of a seamless experience that enhances creative optimization and supports in-depth analysis of different channels. Brands like Uber and Delivery Hero trust Clarisites for extracting meaningful marketing insights within minutes.
Evolution of Spotify's Advertising Platform
Spotify's advertising platform has evolved significantly since its inception, originally focusing on large enterprise customers. Over the years, as audience data improved and global reach expanded, Spotify recognized the need to pivot and provide advertising flexibility. This transformation included allowing advertisers to buy directly or through their preferred Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs). By modernizing ad technology, Spotify aims to enhance access and improve measurement tools for advertisers.
Launch of Spotify Ad Exchange
The Spotify Ad Exchange, officially announced at a recent event, marks a significant step toward expanding the advertising capabilities of the platform. This system allows advertisers to access Spotify's inventory through both open and private marketplaces, integrating it with various DSPs for enhanced targeting. The launch aims to streamline the advertising process, making it easier for advertisers of all sizes to engage with Spotify's audience. With advanced features like the self-served Spotify Ads Manager, the platform is poised to meet diverse advertising needs.
Innovations in Automated Advertising
Spotify is at the forefront of automated advertising, utilizing AI-generated ads to simplify the creative process for advertisers. This innovative approach allows brands to easily generate high-quality audio scripts that reflect their message while taking advantage of Spotify's extensive voice data. Advertisers can create their own ads in just a few clicks, making the platform more accessible to those without substantial audio assets. By streamlining ad creation, Spotify aims to enhance user engagement and improve brand accessibility.
Enhanced Measurement and Targeting Solutions
Spotify's advertising platform features robust targeting options and advanced measurement strategies to maximize advertising efficiency. Advertisers can target predefined audience segments based on interests and behavior, utilizing first-party data for better performance. The platform also includes tools for conversion tracking and custom audience integration, ensuring advertisers can optimize their campaigns effectively. This comprehensive measurement suite is designed to provide advertisers with actionable insights, enhancing the overall advertising experience on Spotify.
In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Lee Brown, Spotify’s Global Head of Ad Business & Platform, and Per Sandell, Spotify’s VP of Product, about Spotify's recent advertising product expansion, including its Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) and its mobile app install product. Among other things, we discuss:
The current state of Spotify advertising, including the product announcements made at Spotify's advertising event in New York City last week;
How Spotify is bringing generative AI to audio;
How performance advertisers use Spotify's advertising platform;
The options for targeting on Spotify's platform;
What role Spotify sees its ad exchange playing in the programmatic ecosystem;
How Spotify plans to eventually automate ad placements and insertions.
Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
INCRMNTAL. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Clarisights. Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to clarisights.com/demo to try it out for free.
ContextSDK. ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers.
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