Streaming giant Spotify is trying to make it easier for marketers of all ages to grasp what Gen Z and millennials want, Lee Brown, vice president and global head of advertising, told Cheddar.
"So, this hard to reach, highly-coveted demographic is showing up on Spotify everyday to listen, and we are encouraging marketers: this is the place for them to be heard by providing them these insights and these tips from this generation," Brown said.
So what do young people want?
According to its recent "Culture Next" survey of Gen Z and Millennials, more than 60 percent are "ready to rebuild society from the ground up." The survey found that societal norms don't apply to this generation, particularly when it comes to education and career path.
"One thing that was interesting was that 1 in 3 don't plan to go to college and plan to start their own business, while 65 percent of the respondents are already, or plan to be, their own boss," Brown said.
To help empower its Gen Z listeners, Spotify has crafted some suggestions for marketers to focus on: provide relatable content from community leaders and activists, highlight movements throughout the year instead of capitalizing on snapshot moments like Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Black History Month, and use audio as a time machine to "transport them back to another point in time that they can recall."
The survey also found parents and children are forming stronger bonds through streaming.
"That was something that we saw with the shifts in listening behavior during COVID, that more people were listening together and in groups at home and that was what was bringing them together," he said.
For Spotify, according to Brown, the end goal is to help Gen Z users come into their own while providing a profitable path for marketers to aid users in their journey.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
