Audio giant Spotify and advertising agency WPP have announced a “first-of-its-kind” global strategic partnership that will see Spotify integrate its digital audio platform directly into WPP’s products and solutions.
Spotify’s integration includes a connection into WPP’s global data company Choreograph. The advertising agency will look at developing integrations on the platform that use Spotify’s first-party data intelligence to help clients understand listening patterns and inform their digital audio advertising strategies. WPP clients will also get early access to new ad products from Spotify.
“In the fast-evolving media and entertainment landscape, audio streaming has become an integral part of everyday life,” said WPP chief technology officer Stephan Pretorius. “At WPP, we recognize the power of audio as a critical component of marketing. The intent of this first-of-its-kind partnership is to integrate Spotify’s insights with the Choreograph platform to create more innovative and relevant ways to connect our clients with their customers.”
Additionally, WPP will leverage Spotify’s research capabilities to look at audience trends and patterns. As part of the partnership, Spotify has already conducted a version of its Sonic Science Volume 1 study with research firm Neuro-Insight, which was conducted by WPP-owned agency Mindshare and used audio ads from WPP clients to look how digital audio triggers memory, emotional intensity and more.
Findings from the study include strong engagement with listeners across both podcast (+36%) and music (+29%) environments, higher levels of engagement on Spotify than other visual, audio, and social media formats and increased ad engagement when listeners went from listening to music or podcasts to an audio ad.
“We’ve long partnered with WPP to enable agency planners and buyers to make more informed decisions when planning for digital audio,” said Spotify global head of advertising sales Brian Berner. “With our new global partnership, we’re helping WPP clients modernise their strategy and planning.”
“As we continue to drive innovation in audio and the advertising industry at large, partners like WPP are critical to delivering for advertisers, creators and audiences wherever they are.”
In addition to leveraging Spotify’s first-party intelligence, WPP will also be working with the audio platform to deliver training programs for employees and clients focusing on digital audio creativity and Spotify’s innovative ad products with additional early access to Spotify neuro-insights research.
