Here Are Brands That Get Gen Z Advertising Right

Why data and authenticity can deactivate their BS detector

Gen Z will soon become the largest generation of consumers, accounting for an estimated $143 billion in direct spend by 2020. That’s a lot of buying power coming from a group that can’t even legally rent a car (if renting cars will even be a thing for them).

Much has already been written and said about Gen Z: They are true digital natives, glued to any device within arms-reach and fluent in rapid information gathering (RIG – we’re trademarking that). With near instant access to a massive trove of content, Gen Zers are exposed in real time to everything from political and social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter to the latest food blog. They’re able to sift and compartmentalize information at a rate older generations might never understand.

Technology has enabled much of this power position. With a high BS detector and an ability to eviscerate brands with a single tweet, Gen Z must be both feared and revered.

How can brands and marketers navigate a new world order where Gen Z rules? Let’s unpack some brands that are Gen Z fluent.

Feedback (and data) first

Let’s start by looking at some campaigns that missed the mark.

Pepsi’s 2017 ad starring Kendall Jenner was one of the first ads that seemed to be desperately trying to reach Gen Z. As you no doubt remember, the ad was met with outrage and ridicule and was ultimately pulled.

More recently, Diet Coke’s “Because I can” ad (starring Gillian Jacobs and directed by Paul Feig) tried to reach the younger market by using verbiage like “just do you.” In the end, it also missed the mark. Its message simply didn’t resonate with Gen Zers who ultimately saw the ads as boring and out of touch.

What went wrong? Having a good idea for an ad is one thing. Using real data to understand your audience and predict an idea’s success rate is another. Had these brands listened, they might have figured out how tone deaf their messaging was.

Spend big on creative 

Nike clearly gets Gen Z.

During the 2019 Oscars, Nike released its“Dream Crazier” ad narrated by Serena Williams. Within the first 24 hours of its release, the ad was trending on Twitter with millions of views, and was quickly embraced by Gen Z celebrities like Chloe x Halle and Zendaya, which boosted its reach to more than 30 million views, 445,000 likes, and 190,000 retweets.

More than any other brand, Nike has captured the Gen Z zeitgeist. It is rated as the top clothing brand among teens, according to Piper Jaffray. What are they doing right?

For starters, Nike is bullish about its creative content. Gen Z has grown up in the golden age of premium content. They expect a Netflix-like quality in every type of viewing experience, including ads. Intrusive banners or pre-roll/mid-roll  ads won’t be effective.

Nike doesn’t just know its audience. It actually listens to them. When Nike’s Kaepernick ad went live, social data showed the brand received a surge of Instagram followers and Facebook and Twitter likes. In the same way that technology has empowered Gen Z, tech has helped brands and marketers gather the insights they need to avoid a Pepsi or Coca-Cola ad fail.

The advertising of Battle Royale

Then there’s Fortnite. Whether you hate it, love it, fear it, or simply don’t understand it, brands and marketers can’t ignore the Fortnite effect on Gen Z.

Understanding the gamer mentality, Fortnite ads are rarely more than 15 seconds and mostly live on YouTube. The company forgoes in-game ads beyond notifications, giving its customers an uninterrupted experience. Fortnite also constantly listens to its players and incorporates their feedback, even responding directly to its player base on Twitter.

The game itself is also free, which lowers the barrier to entry for eager Gen Zers. But from an advertising POV, Fortnite is the holy grail. The product is strong and beloved enough to stand on its own, without any additional advertising bells and whistles. The proof? Fortnite developer Epic Games’ average monthly ad spend in 2018 was around $80,000. In that time, competitor Activision spent, on average, over six times that amount for monthly social ads.

Beyond that, the company has made seamless, authentic brand integrations that align closely with its community. Everything it does is a great Gen Z experience.

Both Nike and Fortnite know their customers. Both listen. And they adapt to what their customer wants, using a well-honed combination of data and innovation to inform their choices.

Brands and marketers shouldn’t fear Gen Z. Instead, those advertisers that quickly and effectively evolve marketing strategies and analyze campaign data and performance will be the ones that come out on top.

William Merchan is a veteran of the data science, marketing analytics and ad tech markets. Before joining Pathmatics, he built and grew teams at DataScience.com (Oracle), MarketShare (Neustar) and Yahoo.