From being the driving force behind social media to running the economy, data has become such prevalence in our lives today. Somehow, I’ve always dreaded data. All my interactions with data – from collection to inference – the facts, figures and numbers have been dull and lacklustre. This all changed to the point where I was eagerly looking forward to accessing and understanding my data when Spotify Wrapped rolled out in 2017. Music is a common thread that helps us connect with people, so having data-driven conversations was an unforeseen change for me. One of the pivotal reasons Spotify Wrapped struck a chord with me was because it helped me share an aspect of myself – my personality and interests online. I found it to be the perfect amount of information about me without giving away too much!

1. Unwrapping Spotify
Wrapped

2. From being the driving force behind social media to running the economy, data has become
such prevalence in our lives today. Somehow, I’ve always dreaded data. All my interactions
with data – from collection to inference – the facts, figures and numbers have been dull and
lacklustre.
This all changed to the point where I was eagerly looking forward to accessing and
understanding my data when Spotify Wrapped rolled out in 2017. Music is a common thread
that helps us connect with people, so having data-driven conversations was an unforeseen
change for me.
One of the pivotal reasons Spotify Wrapped struck a chord with me was because it helped me
share an aspect of myself – my personality and interests online. I found it to be the perfect
amount of information about me without giving away too much.

3. Spotify started very humbly back in 2015 by curating the top 100 tracks of the year which
was rebranded as Spotify Wrapped in 2016. It has now become a highly anticipated affair
across the globe.
Spotify Wrapped was a huge success, given that they had the first mover’s advantage in this
field, but the long-standing success of this campaign was because they started small and
scaled it bigger and better over the years.
The company’s ingenuity in compiling personal statistics into a story with vivid aesthetics
and tongue-in-cheek humour pushed us into a new era of data visualization. This trend has
caught on with everyone from food delivery apps to Google maps – who share yearly data in
a more interesting way. In specificity, this trend works for Spotify because they understand
that music is a reflection and extension of your personality.

4. Soundtrack
of the Year
(2017)

5. 2018 Goals

6. Decade of
Discovery
(2019)

7. 2020
Wrapped

8. Although Spotify Wrapped is classed as a marketing campaign, it’s much more than that. A
marketing campaign aims at informing their audience and a brand offers experiences. Spotify
Wrapped is an extension of the Spotify experience, in essence, a brand in itself. A brand built
for data and visualisation.
Brand engagement through personalised interactions is the way forward. Brands interact with
consumers through several touchpoints, so drill down to a specific touchpoint where the
audience’s interactions are unique. Lastly, keep in mind that, Spotify Wrapped works because
the audience gets to share an aspect of their personality, which is distinctive yet contextual to
every individual – this motivates audiences to share it organically.