Ivan Pehar (Spotify)
Thanks to our sponsor Jelly Academy. Jelly Academy has been helping professionals, students and teams across Canada acquire the skills, knowledge and micro certifications they need to jump into a new digital marketing role, get that promotion, and amplify their current marketing roles.
Powered by RedCircle
On this episode of Marketing News Canada, Darian Kovacs interviews Ivan Pehar, the Country Manager at Spotify Canada.
Ivan is an accomplished Digital Media Professional with 20 plus years of experience in advertising and interactive media industries. Areas of expertise include new business development, consultative selling, media research and planning, and the development of innovative advertising programs.
Spotify was designed to be a way for musicians to monetize their work. Before Spotify people would download music through platforms such as LimeWire, but this was illegal as music was designed to be profitable. Spotify not only gives credit to artists but also makes finding new music simpler for users. Spotify perfectly curates playlists for users based on what kind of music they listen to.
Spotify has a nearly endless amount of podcasts for users to choose from, which means there is content for everyone. Spotify podcasts often have advertisements, however, this is not seen as a negative aspect. Advertisements mean that this podcast is listened to often enough that a brand was willing to pay to have their product or service mentioned on the episode.
Ivan says his favourite part about Spotify is how it can connect people and bring them together over the common interest of music. He told a story of when his daughter put on her playlist called “Getting Ready For The Day,” and how it was just a series of uplifting songs. He and his family enjoy listening to it together in the morning over breakfast because it puts them all in a good mood. He said, “as we are making breakfast, it is just a little piece of happiness to start the day.”
Instead of targeting aspects such as gender, they categorize users by what they are doing and what their mindset is. An example of this is going for a run. Spotify can tell by the BPM’s of the music that you are listening to, you are likely working out. The key is to find creative marketing that speaks to them with the current mindset they are in.
There are 15 million users on Spotify every month. The amount of people that pay for their subscription is about 40%, this is because Spotify is one of the few companies that their free version is just as effective as the paid, the only difference is the requirement to listen to advertisements.
Ivan is passionate about music and podcasts. Something important to him is user experience - he wants to provide listeners with the highest quality content possible, and that is why is the ideal person to be working for Spotify.
Sign up for the Marketing News Canada e-newsletter at www.marketingnewscanada.com.
Follow Marketing News Canada:
Follow Darian Kovacs:
Follow Ivan Pehar: