Justin “Jay” Norman, the Detroit-based creative strategist, music producer, who most recently served as global director of creative strategy and global head of music marketing at Spotify, has left the streaming platform to lead Verse + Hook, the culture-first creative strategy, branding, and marketing consultancy he co-founded.
Norman spent years at Spotify overseeing some of the platform’s most culturally significant global campaigns, managing artist relationships, and music marketing initiatives that reached audiences across dozens of countries.
Co-founder Miso Brown steps in as head of brand amplification, Partner Tierra Filhiol assumes the role of head of cultural intelligence and strategy, and Kyle Bernhardt will take on the position of executive directora and head of creative. Rounding out the team, Chelsea V. Huguley will manage client partnerships and business development as director, Apryl Gordy joins as director of people and operations, and Joe Zimmer will serve as director of project management.
Verse + Hook operates across five practice areas: strategy, brand and creative, production and content, experiential, and music and sync. The agency’s sync licensing arm, Soundry, represents several musicians, including Billboard and Grammy-winning producers, and positions V+H as one of the few consultancies with a direct pipeline between brand strategy and music creation.
Before Spotify, Norman spent years as a creative director and advertising executive whose client work spanned Dodge, McDonald’s, JBL, Harman Kardon, Bertolli, Popsicle, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Suave, Tylenol, Listerine, and Zyrtec, among others. That body of work earned recognition at Cannes Lions, the Effie Awards, and the Clio Awards as well as a seat on juries at the Webbys, Shorty Awards, and ADDYs. Norman also is an active producer and songwriter.
Norman’s departure from Spotify brings renewed focus to Detroit’s emergence as a creative economy force, according to Verse + Hook. A product of the College for Creative Studies with executive education at the Kellogg School of Management, Norman has long championed his hometown as a seat of cultural richness; not a market to be studied, but a culture to be led from.
