iProspect featured in WARC’s Gen Z Report
iProspect’s Gen Z have weighed in on a new report from WARC – Global Ad Trends: Finding Gen Z. What do they think marketers need to keep in mind when trying to engage young people?
Difficulties in targeting Gen Z
Research shows Gen Z emerging on top as the most digital generation to date, spending close to 68% of their media consumption time on digital platforms. Despite that, it is still difficult for brands to reach them. Platforms that Gen Z uses the most – from music streaming to video games – are often those with the least developed advertising placement proposition. What’s more? Gen Z prefers it that way.
“BeReal and [other] newer platforms feel ‘clean’, whereas Facebook and Instagram almost feel polluted [with advertising]”, said Sammi Huang, Client Executive at iProspect. “There is almost the expectation that brands will enter this space at some point, so we, as a generation, are enjoying it while it lasts”.
Gen Z wants to see authenticity
Negative attitudes toward overcrowding of spaces by brands may be best explained by the generation’s fatigue with highly curated and inauthentic feeds of the Millennial-dominated Instagram. Gen Z wants to see candid moments, authentic, real people and interact with them.
“Being the first generation to grow up with social media throughout our formative teenage years, many of us older Gen Zs have come out the other side with a heightened awareness about the dangers of platforms [and the] duplicity of self, where there is a misalignment between your real self and your digital self”, says Huang.
But this generation demands authenticity not only from creators on the platforms, but from the brands. Many want to see brands making a real difference and taking a stance on social issues, being purpose-driven. The recent NFT and Metaverse crazes that marketers only seem to be wrapping their heads around are already in the dust for Gen Z. There almost seems to be a consensus on these bandwagons – once the hype is over, if you don’t add real value - don’t bother.
iProspect’s Sammi Huang agrees that brands may suffer if they blunder into a media environment without careful planning. “When trying to reach Gen Z, it is imperative to establish your brand’s ‘why’, before occupying a space. If there is a misalignment between the two, it will be questioned and scrutinised.”
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