Joanna Wong

Head of Business Marketing, APAC

Spotify
Singapore

“A public relations practitioner not only needs to keep up with what is happening around them, but to be open and creative”

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A B2B marketing specialist with particular experience of the entertainment sector, Joanna Wong currently oversees Spotify’s business marketing efforts in the region, educating agencies and clients on the power of the music platform’s audience and how brands can reach them. Accordingly, Wong also works with Spotify’s sales and business development teams to help with lead generation, conversion and retention programs for the region. Prior to Spotify, Wong served in senior roles across the globe, at Sky Deutschland, HBO in New York, Canon and Viacom.

How do you define innovation?
Innovation is about being and staying relevant by bringing to life ideas that surprise and add value to customers.

What is the most innovative comms/marketing initiative you've seen in the last 12 months?
Our 2017 year-end campaign is something that I would refer to. For this campaign instead of looking back, we decided to look forward. As aptly put by our CMO, “..rather than go back and relive that exhaustion, we thought we would look forward and bring in a spirit of hope and optimism”. The campaign which ran globally took a humorous spin on user listening habits with a cheeky tagline, emphasizing our authentic and unique brand voice. For example in the Philippines we created an ad that highlighted Charlie Puth’s Attention with the
tagline, “2018 Goals: Get as much attention as the guy who got over 450 million streams of a song called “Attention”. The campaign resonated with our users, artists and brands, bridging all the three audiences of our business.

In your opinion, what brands and/or agencies are most innovative around PR and marketing?
Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Uniqlo, PepsiCo, Heineken

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider 'innovative.'
I recently worked with my team in Australia to introduce "Spotify House". Spotify House was Spotify’s single-biggest B2B activation in APAC - an interactive media experience built (literally) for visitors to walk through a day in the life of a Spotify streamer. Encompassing different moments in a day, the team brought to life an actual house with each room representing a significant streaming moment. For more details about the event, head over to our blog post here: https://spotifyforbrands.com/en-AU/news/behind-the-scenes-of-our-spotify-house-in-sydney/

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation?
Denielle Lee, Global Vice President, Partner Solutions at Spotify; and Fernando Machado, Burger King, CMO

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
Team brainstorms fuelled by lots of coffee

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
PR has always helped shaped the narrative and the image of a brand, and to continue doing so, a public relations practitioner not only needs to keep up with what is happening around them but to be open and creative. There is always a constant need to innovate and to have fresh ideas for the public (and even with the media). I encourage PR practitioners to think out of the box, by taking a different angle or exploring a different view of a certain idea.

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
Start a surfing camp in Bali!

Favorite book/movie/podcast/article that's not related to PR/marketing/business?
The Game

What's your favourite time of day and why?
Afternoon coffee break paired with Spotify’s “Your Favorite Coffeehouse” playlist

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