Spotify is calling on marketers to rethink their calendars, arguing that summer is an advertising season still underestimated by many brands despite the evidence showing listeners are more engaged, emotionally available and commercially active than ever.
Chatting exclusively to B&T, Adrian Bingham, Head of Sales ANZ at Spotify, said that while much of the industry still considers summer a “non-rating period,” Spotify sees the opposite.
“There’s this broader perception in the market that summer can be a non-rating period for a lot of different channels and publishers, but we actually see streams peak over that period,” he said. “We actually see more than two per cent increase in overall streams over the summer. And we also see some really interesting stats around podcast listening starts to increase post Christmas… car listening over summer is plus 50 per cent [and] TV listening’s plus 17 per cent”.
Spotify is framing itself as “the essential companion” to the season. As Bingham explained: “We were additive, so we’re always sitting alongside… road trips, cooking, summer barbecue. Even though the behaviour changes, where we’re quite uniquely positioned is we follow the user wherever they’re connecting and listening in”.
While brands often think of Spotify’s audience as young, Bingham noted that older demographics are increasingly leaning in. Spotify’s data shows that, over the summer period, millennials increase their listening by 5 per cent, while Gen X and younger Boomers are up 7.3 per cent across summer.
According to Bingham, the platform’s strength lies in mood-based listening and the halo it creates for advertisers.
“We’ve done a lot of research around attention neuroscience, and what we see is that people are coming to Spotify to lift their moods,” he explained.
“What we saw in our neuroscience was 88 per cent of the content engagement… actually transfers across into ad engagement. There’s this natural halo effect because people are in a more positive and uplifting mood on Spotify that transfers into the ad reception as well” .
That’s why, he argued, summer shouldn’t be skipped. “Unfortunately, many brands that rely heavily on major channels, which tend to go quiet during the summer, end up taking a pause themselves. But this is actually a missed opportunity, because during summer, people are out and about more, in a positive mindset, and more receptive. They’re engaged and paying attention, and brands should be showing up to meet them where they are,” Bingham explained.
Spotify sees its huge end-of-year Spotify Wrapped campaign as the gateway to summer, not the finale. “Rap kind of kicks off summer for us,” Bingham said. “That’s kind of the big pinball moment that everyone’s super excited about”.
Case study: Coles Liquor makes summer “non-negotiable”
Coles Liquor was among the brands that seized the summer opening. Mia Horner, GM Customer, Trade Planning & Loyalty at Coles, said the retailer strategically wove Spotify into its “Summer Upgraded” campaign to align with festive, screen-free moments.
“Summer in Australia is synonymous with outdoor gatherings, road trips, and relaxed social occasions, moments where audio consumption naturally spikes. Spotify offered a unique opportunity to reach audiences in these ‘screenless’ moments,” Horner explained.
By leveraging dynamic ad formats and contextual targeting, Coles connected with consumers at BBQs and parties, using curated playlists to “bring the vibes.”
Flybuys data proved to be a huge contributor to the campaign, helping the brand understand the spending patterns of its users. “Flybuys data revealed a strong correlation between liquor purchases and lifestyle patterns that favour audio consumption, such as increased travel, outdoor entertaining, and weekend shopping spikes. These insights highlighted a clear opportunity to engage customers during these summer moments,” Horner said.
Overall, Coles hit its sign-up, scan rate and sales targets across the 14-week campaign – making the platform an essential part of the brand’s summer media mix.
“Flybuys scan rates post-campaign showed a marked increase in transactions among exposed audiences… Even more impressive is that we saw greater increases in conversion amongst lapsed Flybuys audiences, proving that Spotify… was able to cut through to audiences who were initially less engaged and bring them back in to rejoin the party.”
Jack Daniel’s: Music, Social Moments and the Next Phase on Spotify
For Jack Daniel’s, the summer season is not just busy, it’s critical.
Ollie Dickson, marketing director, ANZPI at Brown-Forman Australia Pty. Ltd., explained: “Jack Daniel’s is the No.1 Spirits Trademark in Australia, and to maintain that position, it’s important for Jack to be present in culture at all times of the year. Summer, however, is a critical season for sales of our Jack and Cola RTD portfolio, as many consumers enjoy consuming these in outdoor, BBQ, camping and home entertaining occasions when they just need the convenience of a perfect serve in a can”.
“Many of these occasions are spent with friends and family, and more often than not, music plays a role. Jack has a long history of associating with music, from Sinatra in the 50s to some of today’s modern pop, country and rock heroes. The brand has always been present in the music scene, something which we continue to leverage to this day. At Jack, we want the brand to be available and consumed at concerts and festivals as much as we want it to be heard in all those other settings, which Spotify plays a key role in giving us that always-on connection, allowing us to target certain demographics across a huge variety of music genres”.
Spotify’s behavioural insights around social moments proved especially relevant. “Jack Daniel’s has always been a social brand; it’s a staple behind every bar, as well as many house parties. At Jack, we talk about the brand’s accessibility from bikers to bankers, from LDA (legal drinking Age) to DND (dam near dead), so ensuring that not only the product is available in these key moments of consumption, but also messaging to drinkers during these occasions with content that is credible and authentic is really important,” Dickson said.
That led to explorations of new creative approaches tailored to Spotify. “Currently, we are exploring 3D audio as a way to immerse listeners in the Jack persona and cut through regular audio creative. Another thing we are looking to leverage is through sponsored playlists, where we can own the most highly streamed Spotify playlists that over-index for our selected audiences. This will allow the brand to associate itself across these moments, such as roadtrips, house parties and summer sessions, even more effectively. We will also be able to utilise video assets across Spotify which can be shown on CTVs or on mobile while watching music videos, podcasting and other streaming.”
While future campaigns are still in the pipeline, the intent is clear. “Unfortunately we haven’t done any work with as of yet for the brand across Spotify, so future activity will be a first for us. However, based on the data we have seen, we are certain it’s a great platform for reaching a mass audience, in a targeted way, that feels deeply authentic for a brand like Jack, which has and always will have a connection to music.”
With streaming up, moods high, and both younger and older demos more engaged than usual, Spotify’s message to brands is blunt: while the world switches off, summer is no time for brands to slow down. Or, as Bingham put it, “Summer is the forgotten hero of the ad calendar”.
