Demystifying Gen Z; How Streaming Services Keep Viewers Happy: Tuesday's First Things First

Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s new daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here. Introducing the Demystifying Gen Z Series How well do you know Gen Z? What platforms do they use? Do they like the retail experience? The upcoming generation is on track to be the most diverse, best-educated and a higher-earning generation than their predecessors. But what does that mean for marketers? Adweek brought in 18 Gen Zers for a new series called Demystifying Gen Z, and asked marketers’ most pressing questions to the post-millennial generation. Watch it: Picking the brains of Gen Z. Could Knoxville Be the Next Boulder of the Agency World? Previously, we took a look at why so much agency talent was fleeing New York, Los Angeles and Chicago for smaller hubs like Austin, Texas, Omaha, Neb., and Knoxville, Tenn. Creatives explained all the appeals of Knoxville, specifically: smaller market with a vibrant downtown and creative scene. It has a pipeline of great talent coming out of the University of Tennessee, and it's an outdoor paradise. Read more: Go inside the rise of Knoxville as potentially the next great mid-sized creative outlet. Inside the Streaming Services’ Scheduling Struggles To binge drop or not to binge drop, that is the question. As the streaming wars escalate, the various streaming services face a critical content question: release a season all at once or in the traditional weekly installments. In this week's issue of the magazine, streaming editor Kelsey Sutton looked all the major players and their strategies. For instance, CBS found there isn't much a difference in viewer habits for either strategy, but dropping shows weekly makes it easier to market the show for a longer period of time. Read more: What the streaming services are doing to keep viewers happy. How Walmart’s Self-Service Ad Platform Stacks Up Against Amazon’s Amazon is big and looking to take over the world. But Walmart isn't quite ready to bend the knee. The retailer is developing a self-service ad platform and API in a move straight out of Amazon’s playbook. Agencies say it should be good for the industry as a whole as it gives them—and their brand clients—more control over ad spend and helps Walmart better compete with Amazon and monetize its properties. Read more: Walmart announces new self-service ad platform and rollout date. Best of the Rest: Today's Top News and Insights Spurred by Bias, Companies Are Trying to Break Open the Black Box of AI Algorithms Ad Tech Is Giving Influencer Campaigns a Programmatic Boost T-Mobile Promotes Mike Sievert to Replace John Legere as CEO DTC Brand Hill House Home Rolls Out New Product Category WeWork to Lay Off ‘Thousands’ Amid Ongoing Woes, According to Report Kylie Jenner Sells Majority Stake in Kylie Cosmetics to Coty South Dakota Baffles Rest of America With New Drug Slogan, 'Meth. We're On It' [kickout id="1"] This is a real anti-drug campaign in South Dakota. Not surprisingly, it's not getting rave reviews. What new skills do employees need that they didn't need a couple years ago? Kiko Martinez, senior planner, Grey Group Reactiveness. Not just to trends, but the digital landscape. It changes quicker than we can keep track of, and even digital marketers struggle to stay effective. Ask any digital [insert title here] about TikTok and its approach to advertising, and not many will give you the right answer. Ask them about the ever-evolving retail game with eComm and shopper, and they will give you the right answer... for 2019 Q1 (but not FY19Q4). Am I saying I know the right answer? No. I'm also chasing the bus... but the important thing is to know that you need to chase it [and not think that you have arrived]. Bruce Drinkwater, CEO, StormBrands Approach every situation as a learning opportunity. We’re lucky to have many inspirational leaders in our team; find someone who inspires you and learn from them. Read as much as you can, be present, be interested, and take the time to review any strategic work your agency produces—strategic thinking can be learned. The quicker you get to a place where you can offer insight in a meeting or workshop, the quicker you’ll find opportunities on the table. Vanessa Zucker, senior communications marketing manager, Firewood Employees in advertising are being asked to deliver many more relevant messages in multiple formats using technology that didn’t exist three years ago. In the past, you would have much more siloed worlds in a marketing org, and now there’s much more consolidation to focus on more integrated messaging. This means employees need to be familiar with new technology while being ever-more focused on how their part plays into the bigger marketing picture.