In conversation with: Verse
The future of digital scrapbooking and small talk.
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Hello, hello. I’m back with another interview! 😼 Today, we have Jamie, Bobby, and Michelle—the amazing team at Verse, everyone’s new favourite app! If you don’t know about Verse, let me point you towards the Spotify room trend from a couple of weeks ago. Mhm, that was them. I actually don’t have much to say for the introduction on this one, so I’ll let them do the talking now (technically).
So, who are Michelle, Bobby and Jamie?
Michelle and Bobby are co-founders of Verse, and Jamie is their incredible marketing whiz. The Spotify room was her brainchild, and it interestingly ties into Verse's history as well. More on that in a bit, but first…
Is Verse Gen-Z’s answer to self-expression?
The platform is obviously brought to you by incredibly passionate people, and they’d say yes. It’s not even a biased opinion because it IS Gen-Z’s home on the internet. They want Gen-Z to build a world, and they started with the Spotify room.
But what’s the purpose of Verse?
Verse is a platform that allows Gen-Z to express themselves freely, without any barriers. By combining different media types, it’s really a mix of Tumblr and MySpace. Gen-Z doesn’t remember MySpace, but we remember Tumblr, and Verse is basically a step up from that. It’s all about making small talk visual and less daunting because, let’s be real, nobody likes small talk.
How does music play a role?'
See, this is my favourite part, and this is also where I’ll explain Spotify room and Verse’s history. Michelle and Bobby believe music is a powerful connector, so naturally, they were drawn to building something where music was the main focus. That’s when Discz came into play. Discz is a music-sharing app where you can find your people by sharing mixtapes, AND your mixtape player can be customised, too. So, if you wanted to play Timbaland on a hot pink iPod? You could. But this really shows how music has always been integral to all their platforms and company decisions…
…Such as marketing
Finally, the story behind one of the best marketing decisions I’ve seen since Spotify Wrapped. How it worked was Jamie mapped all the genres to archetypes. I got gaslighter and icl, it’s sort of true, but the people didn’t need to know that. I think one of the biggest challenges would’ve been figuring out where to put The Weeknd because he’s such ‘lonely-at-3-am vibes’ but also at the opposite end of that spectrum.
Jamie also said the album rollout process inspired her because many GOOD album rollouts consist of banging visuals, certified bops, and a lot of personality, which Spotify Room managed to achieve, which is no small feat. It’s also amazing how well she understood the target audience, which is Gen-Z and the role of music in their lives. We couldn’t wait for Spotify Wrapped, so they gave us Spotify Room instead, which I personally think is a lot more interesting. 👀
What’s next for Verse?
As a creative, I obviously had to ask them about AI and let me tell you, I was GOBSMACKED. I thought they hadn’t integrated AI yet, but I was wrong. It takes a backseat in their app and only ever helps with asset discovery. The complete control is still with the user, which is refreshing. They really want to support the creatives (and the audience on the app in general) instead of replacing them. And I think other companies need to take note because I’ve been seeing a lot of soulless art lately. 🤨
Speaking of supporting the creatives, they’re also definitely thinking of ambassadorships. 👀 When asked what influencers or creatives they’d choose for the ambassadorships, they said they’d choose the app's users instead because they know the platform, and anything they’d say would be 100% authentic, which is the most important thing to them.
All in all, what’s next for Verse is ONLY great things. They’re the sweetest team ever, and they only want to keep creativity alive in an age of AI and authentically connect people. They want people to point towards their Verse profile when asked who they are, which is a fair ask. It’s almost like carrying the coolest business card ever, and if you don’t already have the app, download it RIGHT NOW. It’s the best use of my time when I’m not doing uni or TZL work. 😼
Of course, as always, if you have any questions for me or the team at Verse, you can always reach out to me or them @cho.jamie, @michelleyinn, and @bobbypinckney. See you in Verse!
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the next issue covering latest marketing campaigns and strategies winning over Gen Z. Any questions/suggestions as to what we should cover next? Reach out to us and we’re always here to chat!
— Brought to you by Shaurya, Trends Reporter at The Z Link