CONSUMER MARKETING 2017 Guest Q&A with Danielle Lee of Spotify
In 2016, we learned a lot about how complicated it is to gather and interpret data that will help brands uncover people's motivations, interests and behaviors. At Consumer Marketing in NYC next month, we'll be taking these topics head-on, trying to understand how far data can go to helping us understand and target the right people at the right time.
One of our guests who I'm most excited to hear from on this topic is Danielle Lee, Global VP, Partner Solutions at Spotify. I had a chance to chat with her about some of her thoughts around deterministic targeting and music-based insights. Here's what she had to say:
How do you define "people-based marketing" and why do you think it will become the gold-standard?
People-based marketing represents an industry shift from targeting devices to connecting with the right people at the right time, with the right message. Rather than targeting ads to devices based on cookies, which is fraught with inadequacies, marketers can now reach people across the many devices they use, thanks to persistent identity.
The reason we’re so excited about it at Spotify, and the reason we think it will become the gold standard for marketing, is because it works. With people-based marketing, you have greater assurance that your message is reaching your known customer and driving measurable results.
Even better, we’re beginning to see measurement of both the online and offline impact of these ads. None of these capabilities were available 15 or so years ago, and they’ve really transformed the way marketers leverage data and shape their strategies.
How are the insights you're able to glean about people from their music habits different than the insights marketers get from other kinds of behaviors and data? And how can marketers use these insights to achieve their goals?
More than any other kind of content, music reflects who we are and the moment we’re in. We might listen one way when we’re waking up, another when we’re getting amped for a workout, another when we’re decompressing after a long day, and so on. Since people are 100% logged in on Spotify and engaged across devices, we’re really starting to mine this streaming data and understand how the way people stream correlates to their affinities, attitudes towards brands and offline behaviors. It’s a rich cross-section of insight, rooted in a passion point that is deeply human and universal.
What do you think the future of audience intelligence looks like?
It’s all about personalization. Streaming intelligence will help us develop a deeper understanding of people than we’ve ever had. As Spotify captures more signals from our growing audience, our intelligence becomes more contextual and predictive. We’re applying that insight to bring highly personalized experiences to our audience, and we can help marketers do the same. Marketers will be able to reliably reach their relevant customer in a meaningful moment, and measure the reach and ROI of their message. And that connection to their audience will become increasingly seamless and intuitive across devices. I can’t wait to see what’s next.