Spotify Gives Brands a Unique Look at Gen Z, Millennials in the US and Globally

 Spotify released its second annual Culture Next Trends Report Wednesday, with the aim of providing marketers with key takeaways on Generation Z insights and cross-generational views on key topics.

The streaming service teamed up with research agencies B3 Intelligence, Culture Co-op and Lucid to analyze Gen Z and millennials in the fall and winter of 2019 running into 2020, as well as July and August 2020.

Spotify streaming intelligence data was used to mine first-party data and insights from listeners’ streaming behavior, across moments and devices.

The work was conducted in 11 markets: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.

Topics that were explored include Black Lives Matter, brand values education, entrepreneurism, parent-child means for connection, societal norms and expectations and voting/politics.

Spotify also created five new Gen Z audience personas to make it easier for advertisers to connect with its listeners based on their distinctive traits and characteristics: family embrace audio at home; Gen Z starting from scratch; progress overtakes partisanship; self-discovery is communal; and sound is getting smarter.

Spotify shared some highlights from its new Culture Next Trends Report:

Progress over partisanship

• In January, 65% of Gen Zs in the U.S. aged 18 through 25 said they planned to vote in the upcoming presidential election, and that number jumped to 72% in August.
• 71% of Gen Z and millennial respondents were less interested in political parties than they were in moving forward.
• When asked what they wanted to see out of brands, 93% of Gen Z and millennials chose “purpose” over “politics.”

Gen Zs globally mean business

• One out of three respondents 17 and under worldwide said they may not go to college, preferring to start a business instead.
• 89% of Gen Zs in the U.S. considered education plans other than four-year degrees immediately following high school.
• 65% of global Gen Zs said they plan to be or already are their own boss.
• In July, over 50% of Gen Z respondents globally said they were more inspired to start a business than they were before the pandemic.

Gen Zs and millennials in the U.S. credit sound as therapeutic and a force for community building

• When Gen Zs and millennials in the U.S. were asked which qualities make sound powerful to them, the top three responses were emotional, therapeutic and personal.
• 72% said voice makes them more sentimental toward their devices, and 58% said sound is at the forefront of humanizing technology.
• 73% said they use audio to cope with stress and anxiety.
• 80% said music streaming services offer a gateway to other cultures.
• In one month last year, over 60% of Spotify users discovered an artist from a country outside of their own.
• 69% of Spotify users believe music is a great way to find community.

Getting to know (and like) mom and dad through music and podcasts

• 77% of U.S. parents said in July that music helps families connect.
• 64% of young people worldwide said listening to their parents’ music gives them a better sense of who their parents are.
• 78% of parents globally said music is a way they bond with their kids.
• 86% of parents globally said technology has fueled their family’s discovery exponentially.
• 72% of parents globally said today’s kids are “light years” ahead of where they were at their age as a result.

Smirnoff's Spotify API balances playlists to equally represent female, male musicians

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/smirnoffs-spotify-api-balances-playlists-to-equally-represent-female-male/518345/

Dive Brief:

• Smirnoff, the Diageo vodka brand, is partnering with music streaming service Spotify to launch Smirnoff Equalizer, an API to promote female musicians and let users discover how women are part of their own listening habits, a news release announced. The Equalizer API will run through the summer in the U.S., Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Mexico and Argentina.
• The Spotify API is an extension of the brand’s “Equalizing Music” campaign, which was announced last year with the goal of doubling the number of female music festival headliners by 2020. 
• Smirnoff Equalizer analyzes the number of male versus female artists Spotify users have listened to over the past six months. The platform then offers a tailored playlist where both genders are represented equally. Users are also offered a personalized slider, where they can increase the number of female artists in their playlists and can hear from female musicians about gender bias in the music industry. 

Dive Insight:

Diageo is going all-in to update the image of some of its most popular brands so they appeal more to women, a quickly growing segment of alcohol drinkers. The company’s Johnnie Walker brand recently unveiled Jane Walker, a female version of its Striding Man logo, which will appear on limited edition Black Label products. The whisky brand is also donating $1 for every special edition bottle sold to women’s causes. Diageo also launched the “Free the Bid” initiative across all of its brands, calling on ad agencies and content producers to include at least one female director in its creative bidding process. 

For the Smirnoff initiative, linking it to Spotify could help the brand raise its awareness among younger consumers. None of the top 10 most-streamed tracks on Spotify in 2017 were performed by female artists or bands, according to data cited in Smirnoff’s news release. Smirnoff’s goal of getting more people to listen to more women artists is a cause that many younger consumers will rally behind as well as musicians, who get paid based on how often their songs are listened to and who, as they build their fan bases, will get more opportunities to perform. 

DJ Honey Dijon, who is a transgender woman and advocate for LGBTQ and women’s rights, will share her story of gender bias in the music industry on the Smirnoff Equalizer platform. These stories could resonate with consumers, especially millennials and Gen Zers, who tend to be socially conscious and have been known to shrug off traditional notions of gender — and, they expect brands to nurture their beliefs. Millennials and over-21 Gen Zers also comprise a large portion of Spotify listeners. These age groups appreciate opportunities to engage with brands that offer relevant experiences and reward brands that promote social issues like gender equality.

Smirnoff also introduced limited-edition "Phenomenal You" Smirnoff N. 21 vodka bottles, which aren't available for purchase but will be gifted to 100 “phenomenal women around the world,” and a donation will be made in their names to She Runs It, a nonprofit focused on fostering more female leadership in the workplace. Smirnoff kicked off the Equalizer campaign with an event in New York City, where attendees were encouraged to create a video of themselves looking in the mirror and saying what makes them phenomenal. 

Recommended Reading:

•  SmirnoffSmirnoff and Spotify debut new experience enabling you to uncover your listening habits to promote phenomenal women
•  Marketing DiveDiageo pushes for gender equality in advertising industry