Marketers are increasing their attention towards the GenZ audience group as they move into more lucrative spending brackets. Snapchat’s main demographic has long consisted of millennials and Generation Z. Its creators understood what the younger generation wanted from social media platforms. With their target audience clearly specified from the beginning, they developed an understanding of the habits and preferences of this age group and created an app that gives them what they want. Data and consulting company, Kantar was commissioned by Snap to analyze how people of different ages develop and change their brand preferences. Research participants from – Australia, Canada, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and the United States were surveyed for the study. Here are the findings-

• Many Gen Zers express themselves through brand selection.  According to the findings,  Gen Z had a high rate of brand preference across multiple product categories globally. Interestingly, according to Snap, Saudi Arabia was the only market where the rate of Gen Z participants who stated that brands allow them to express themselves was lower than the older generations.
• The study found that the themes Gen Zers use to associate themselves with their favorite brands are very consistent. These themes were mainly around the environment, caring about customers, and product exclusivity. There was hardly much difference between Gen Z and Gen X / Baby Boomers on dimensions like having the best product features or enjoyment.
• More than half of Gen Z participants in the US said their favorite brand was recommended by friends and family, proving that there is an opportunity for brands to grow with Gen Z by making advocates of their friends and family.

A separate study was also conducted to look at the effectiveness of advertising on Gen Z, and how younger consumers respond to brand content.  The study involved 2,000 research participants aged thirteen and over were recruited from four different countries — Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results were consistent across all four countries.

• Although Gen Z participants – defined as consumers aged 13 to 24 – spent less time with skippable ad and non-advertising content then millennials or Gen X, they recalled it better. Some 59% of Gen Z recalled the advertiser correctly compared with 57% of millennials (aged 25 to 39) and 47% of Gen X respondents (aged 40+).
• Gen Z participants also proved to have significantly higher recall when shown skippable video ad content of less than two seconds’ duration – 55% compared to 46% of millennials and just 26% of Gen X and baby boomers.

These findings indicate brands and advertisers need to rewrite the playbook on how to reach consumers with marketing messages. While elements such as storytelling remain timeless,  advertisers need to place greater emphasis on succinct messaging and deliver it as early as possible, in order to get maximum responses.