Spotify Launches In-House ‘Creative Lab’ Marketing Agency, Preps Generative AI Adverts

Spotify has officially launched a ‘Creative Lab’ in-house marketing agency, and Aperol is said to have signed on as a client. Photo Credit: Jannis Lucas

Spotify has officially launched “Creative Lab,” an in-house marketing agency designed to drive revenue by developing custom audio, video, and interactive campaigns for brands. Creative Lab’s debut entered the media spotlight in reports from outlets including TechCrunch. The newly minted unit has arrived not only as Spotify is working to optimize its financial performance, but amid a growing emphasis on personalization. That includes the “My Spotify” ad campaign, which Spotify reportedly developed in-house.

Running with those points, Creative Lab will reportedly look to attract brands to the platform, which had 615 million monthly users as of Q1, with custom marketing campaigns.

While time will tell precisely what those tailored initiatives encompass, video and audio ads, in-app experiences, and more are said to be on the table for Spotify, which is quietly continuing to bolster its advertising team.

Since the start of June alone, that buildout has included job listings for a senior manager of advertising financial planning and analysis, an advertising backend engineer, a manager for advertising creative partnerships, an executive assistant for the global ad sales head, and a director of sales, to name just a few.

The latter professional “will help define the go to market strategy and drive execution for some of the world’s top brands and agencies,” WPP-partnered Spotify spelled out.

Returning to Creative Lab’s specifics, a Spotify spokesperson drove home that each of the involved campaigns will be “‘highly customized to each specific brand and business need.’”Thus far, Creative Lab clients have included Rockstar Energy (which last year rolled out an “in-app concert experience on Spotify”), and Aperol is said to be teeing up projects with Creative Lab.

Also set for a near-term launch is an enhanced suite of AI advertising tools on Spotify, which has for some time been testing AI-powered soundalike spots for podcasters. Per TechCrunch, that includes “Quick Audio,” which will seemingly put the power of AI script generation and voiceovers in the hands of brands when it goes live “soon.”

Especially with Spotify continuing to tout its ability to provide personalized experiences based on unique preferences, it’ll be interesting to see where the ongoing advertising focus leads. Of course, even with all the planning and preparation in the world, a marketing campaign cannot succeed unless it resonates with a target audience – which, in this case, will consist of various Spotify users.

And on that front, the comparatively low revenue of ad-supported listening remains a key concern for the majors; Sony Music head Rob Stringer recently encouraged the implementation of a fee for unpaid streaming accounts in select markets. Meanwhile, even paid users, to their apparent frustration, have been unable to avoid Spotify ads entirely.