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3 tips for connecting with and marketing to Gen Z

Until a couple years ago we were in the age of millennials, anyone who was born from 1981 to 1996. Recently, Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, surpassed Boomers and Millennials in size. As of 2019, Gen Z makes up 32% of the world’s 7.7 billion population, making them the next powerful consumer force. Connecting with Gen Z is key to your brand success in today’s world! Here are our top three insights into marketing towards this powerful generation: 

  1. Gen Z care about your brand’s values

This generation often chooses brands that align with their value set, so it’s essential to understand what Gen Z cares about and how you can incorporate it into your brand’s values. Despite being more pessimistic than their millennial counterparts, Gen Z seek to make purchasing decisions that are true to their value set and are incredibly vocal when they feel a brand’s values do not align. 

  • 66% of young Canadians do not think the economic situation will improve in 2021
  • 70% of young Canadians do not think that the political and social situation will improve in 2021
  • 75% of young Canadians do not think that the environmental situation will improve in 2021. 

What does this mean for your brand?

If you want to win the loyalty of this growing population, see where you can match your brand’s initiatives and products to Gen Z’s value set. We recommend focusing on one or two problems this generation cares about and working towards real, sustainable change. 

  1. Authenticity matters

We know, you’ve been hearing “authenticity matters” for years. But hear us out! You’ll need to allow for a little more creative freedom when working with this generation’s favourite influencers. It can be a little scary as a brand not having full control over influencer generated content, but trust us, Gen Z will know and are not afraid to show it when they feel content is overly curated. 

  • 3 of 4 people say TikTok is a place where they can openly express themselves.
  • 61% of TikTokers think advertising is unique and different on TikTok compared to other top social and video platforms
  • When creating a TikTok ad, the following are the most desirable for a piece of content: relatable, aspirational, informative, and inspirational.

You’ll get the best bang for your buck focusing on developing partnerships with influencers who align with your brand’s values and focus on producing authentic content where the influencer’s personalities compliment your brand. Need more convincing? Here are a couple of fun examples from our clients DoorDash and Ubisoft

  1. Build a community and loyal customers will follow

According to a study by Leger, 78% of young Canadians say they have experienced at least one of the seven symptoms of depression. Brands that focus on building spaces where their communities can connect and flourish will develop a loyal customer base. Gen Z makes purchasing decisions based on emotional pulls towards brands that embody their values. More people are looking towards brands to step up and positively impact necessary change on varying social issues such as diversity and inclusion, poverty, climate change,and access to education. To meet the growing expectations of customers, brands should develop fully integrated plans focused on positively impacting the issues their target audience worries about.

For more insights on connecting with and marketing to Gen Z, check out the recording below of the latest ruckus Makers, How to market to and connect with Gen Z –  learn more from our panelists: 

  • Angela Nader, Manager, Beauty and Luxury Partnerships, TikTok
  • Lisa Covens, Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs, Leger
  • Kyla Doerig, Senior Manager, PR, Social Media & Creators, Inkbox Tattoos
  • Samantha and Madeline Caleon, The Caleon Twins, Content Creators

To learn more about how APEX PR or ruckus Digital can help build your brand or tell your brand story, Bigger@apexpr.com

Sources

Ruckus Makers, How to market to and connect with Gen Z

Using YouTube video to educate modern home buyers

Problem

For our RE/MAX client, it’s important to educate modern home buyers about the value of an agent, especially as digital-only real estate services are expanding within the Canadian market. With Canadian Millennials making up half of the home buyers in the coming years, RE/MAX wanted to experiment with new communications channels to inform, educate and entertain this audience about the value of using a real estate agent.  

For millennials, YouTube was the most used platform, with Canadian Millennials spending 8 hours a week, above watching live TV (4.1 hours), scrolling Facebook (7.3 hours) or binging Netflix (7.4). Millennials grew up with technology and were very aware of advertisements. They want control over their ads, with 69 per cent preferring “skippable” functions. To reach and engage with this audience, we knew we had to do it on the platforms they loved with people they watched and trusted.

Solution

Developed in collaboration with RE/MAX and APEX PR, we created a five-part content series to offer a behind-the-scenes look at real Millennial homebuyers in their very early search process. The series – hosted by YouTuber and social media personality Ashley Bloomfield, launched in October 2019 on RE/MAX Canada’s YouTube channel and was promoted via Facebook and Instagram.

Each episode focused on the beginning of the home-buying journey, as the featured buyers consider liveability factors and weighed them against other variables, such as price. “Liveability” is the satisfaction a homeowner gets within the context of a neighbourhood (such as proximity to public transit and schools) in addition to the home’s features (such as layout or number of bathrooms). Homebuyers featured included a range of narratives including newlyweds, moving close to work, new parents and first time moving in together.

#HomeGoals by RE/MAX depicts inevitable compromises and choices that real Canadians face when looking to begin the process of buying a home. The participants featured in the five-episode series discuss their decisions in the context of the neighbourhood, their budgetary constraints and their liveability goals. It offers advice from RE/MAX to assist on their journey.

Results

To drive video views and audience retention, this campaign leveraged YouTube and TrueView In-Stream Ads to highly target the home buying audience and ensure the right audience was receiving the right message, affordably and quickly. In the past, media channels like TV made it a challenge to reach a specific demographic quickly and cost-effectively. Overall, the #HomeGoals programming was able to reach out to the Millennial segment, earning over one million views (+ 500% of our benchmark) and saw an average watch time of 1:48 per episode.

See the #HomeGoals series here

Katie Boland is an Account Director at ruckus digital.

Read more of our favourite work from 2019.

2019: Tasking YouTubers with an Interac $100 Challenge

Problem

Interac is a world-class debit payment system and one of Canada’s leading brands. On average, it is used 16 million times daily and is a market leader in payment technologies. With a concern that new technology platforms and often-enticing credit card reward-programs could encroach as the preferred method of payment for Millennials, the brand wanted to remind their key targets why Interac Flash is the safe, secure and convenient way to pay. 

Roughly 60 per cent of consumers were being influenced by social media, according to Collective Bias, the brand saw this as an opportunity to speak to their targets outside of traditional media. Based on eMarketer research, YouTube was the most used platform, with Canadian Millennials spending 8 hours a week on the platform, above watching live TV (4.1 hours), scrolling Facebook (7.3 hours) or binging Netflix (7.4). Millennials grew up with technology and were very aware of advertisements. They wanted control over their ads, with 69 per preferring “skippable” functions. To reach this audience and show savvy young shoppers that using Interac Debit is the best way to own their financial future, we knew we had to do it on the platforms they loved with the people they watched and trusted.

Solution

Developed in collaboration with KIN Community and APEX PR, we created a six-month content strategy, leveraging YouTube creators to increase consideration for Interac Flash as THE choice payment method among Millennials. We knew that Canadian Millennials were highly engaged with “challenge” content in the lifestyle space, so we created a challenge that would link all YouTuber content so viewers could continue engaging with the brand through multiple videos. To do this, each creator was challenged to complete a task with a $100 budget. Why $100 dollars? Because it aligns perfectly with Interac Flash, reminding people that for under $100 you can touch and go. Every week, this “travelling concept” leveraged the audiences of established creators across their different YouTube channels, and across their social. The creators rose to the challenge!  And they inspired their audiences to #owntheirworld…

Trends were studied each month and we worked with each creator to tailor their content to these trends to remain top of mind and relevant with our target audience. For example, November and December’s research showed that gift guides were in high demand. This was capitalized on and amplified a core value for Interac in the process, supporting local businesses. In a unique twist, the YouTubers and local media experts created local, curated gift guides across the country that showed their viewers their favourite stores and gift ideas. Fans loved it and begged for more local guides! Proving that the Interac content was providing real value and solving a consumer need. 

In addition to organic distribution, we implemented a paid media strategy to target Canadian Millennials with Interac messaging. We ran full-length videos, up to 18 minutes in length, as TrueView to ensure our audience was being exposed to the messaging in a format native to the audience. Knowing that Millennials often choose to skip ads served to them on YouTube, we optimized videos to reduce the odds that viewers would choose to skip through introductions and editing styles that we knew would catch the attention of Canadian Millennials.

Results

To drive video views and audience retention, this campaign leveraged YouTube and their TrueView In Stream Ads to highly target the home buying audience and ensure the right audience was receiving the right message affordably and quickly. in the past, media channels like TV made it a challenge to reach a specific demographic quickly and cost-effectively. Overall, the Interac $100 Challenge delivered 20 million impressions, 7.3 million video views and 124K engagements across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Our colleagues at APEX PR delivered 11.3 million traditional media impressions across 46 stories from highly trusted outlets such as Breakfast Television Montreal, The Global Morning Show and CTV Morning Live Ottawa.

Katie Boland is an Account Director at ruckus digital.

Read more of our favorite work from 2019. Need help with your social media approach? Drop us a line.