Bopgun, a brand, strategy and digital agency, has been selected from a number of agencies to support Puzzler Media with the UX, design and development for a new lead generating B2B website.
Puzzler Media is the UK’s largest supplier of printed and digital puzzle-based content, backed up by end-to-end content management and support. With over 50 years’ experience, Puzzler Media is the go-to name in puzzles, working with business worldwide from national and regional newspapers to magazines, membership organisations and individual brands.
With only a consumer-facing website, Puzzler Media identified the need for a new B2B website to improve their online presence, increase brand awareness and ultimately generate leads. The website will showcase the huge range of puzzles on offer, alongside solutions to deliver content and client case studies that demonstrate their experience and capability – all delivered in a clean and user-friendly design.
“B2B is an exciting and growing part of our business. We help a multitude of clients in supplying print and digital puzzle content and tech solutions. We didn’t have a site that reflected the breadth of content and the quality of our client base. We chose Bopgun because, based on the good work we have seen them deliver for other clients, we believed they were the best agency to deliver our Puzzler Business Partnerships ‘shop-window’. We’re really excited to be partnering with them on this project.” Lynda Newland, Deputy MD, Puzzler Media.
Launched in 2008, Bopgun is a multi-disciplined creative agency with an unrivalled background across the publishing industry. With both the founders having worked in various roles at Future Publishing for over 14 years between them, Bopgun has grown into a substantial and distinguished company working with some of the world’s leading industry players including Elsevier, Story House Egmont, Anthem Media, Hachette Partworks and Kelsey Media to name a few.
From engaging websites for the likes of Marvel and Disney, to e-commerce subscription sites, promotional campaigns, animations and illustrations, Bopgun prides itself on delivering real value to the publishing industry.
“We were thrilled when we heard we’d won this project with such a prestigious brand as Puzzler, known by their existing clients as the UK’s largest puzzle supplier. Knowing how important it is for their business to convey their detailed and wide range of puzzles is the sort of challenge we love!” David Mathews, Managing Director at Bopgun.
Eight new recruits, including Business Development Director, Marketing Manager and Medical Writer join Create Health.
Bristol-based healthcare marketing agency Create Health is strengthening its team across the board with new appointments across departments, welcoming eight new team members in total.
Carys Richards brings a wealth of experience from the Pharma sector to the Create Health team as Business Development Director.
Meanwhile, Sean Quay joins the team as a Medical Writer. He comes from a clinical background, with time spent in pharmacy and primary care working on regional level pharmacy projects like driving medicine optimisation and public health campaigns.
Junior Graphic Designer Amelia Horner initially joined the agency as an intern, taking advantage of Create Health’s apprenticeship scheme to secure a full-time role.
In addition, the agency welcomes, Charlie Culverhouse as Senior Account Manager, Kate Wells as Junior Art Director, Jasmine Freeman as Marketing Manager, Joe Wilson as Motion Graphics Designer and Rhi Wheeler as Account Executive.
Managing Partner Ed Hudson said “The Create Health team growing at such a rate signals the exciting times ahead not just for the agency but for the healthcare communications industry. We’re thrilled to have brought on board a roster of talented individuals who will help us to push the boundaries of creativity and make a positive difference to healthcare professionals and patients alike.”
Medical Writer Sean Quay, added “Healthcare communications is booming and being part of Create Health feels like I’m aboard a rocket about to launch.”
McCann Bristol has created an emotive new brand campaign for St Austell Brewery and its flagship brand, Tribute, to reflect the pride, passion, and independence they both share with the local Cornish community.
‘The independent ale from the independent people,’ campaign pays Tribute to stand-out Cornish people who embody independence. The first phase of the new campaign features three strong and intimate photographic portraits – revealed only by the hands.
Cornish fisherman, Philip, Penzance-based local female rugby team founder, Cozette, and Cornwall-born musician, Mark all feature in the first phase of the campaign, which will be rolled out across both point of sale and advertising on billboards and digital channels, as well as featuring on the brand’s lorry livery in the coming months.
Laura McKay, head of marketing – beer and brands, St Austell Brewery, comments:
“Tribute is all about the people that make it. And for us, that’s drawing inspiration from our location and Cornish folk. In an honest and authentic way, through the new campaign photography, we’re celebrating the best of Cornish people and shining a spotlight on the hands that hold onto their passions.
“The new emotive advertising aims to create a stronger connection with Tribute’s target audience, communicating the importance we place on independence, endeavor, and achievement – characteristics reflected in both the brand and Cornwall itself. The spirit of independence is what makes Tribute unique.”
Zane Radcliffe, Executive Creative Director at McCann Bristol, said: “We’re as proud of this debut campaign for St.Austell as the Cornish are of their independence. We’ve captured that spirit in a series of striking and contemporary portraits of the hands that connect them to their individual passions and to the ale they prize so strongly.”
The campaign creative was shot by photographer Alex Telfer who boasts accolades including the International Photography Awards’ highly acclaimed ‘Photographer of the Year’.
Most wealth management firms have an ageing client base, predominantly those over 60 years old (baby boomers) and over 75s – the silent generation. To combat this, they target their acquisition activity to wealthy investors of 45 years old (generation x) and over.
The conventional thinking is that 45-55 is the age when people have already established their own wealth and are likely to start inheriting from their baby boomer parents.
Conventional thinking also dictates that millennials (26-41 year olds) are mostly too financially squeezed to meet the threshold of an attractive prospect for wealth management services.
This conventional thinking has held true for the past 100 years.
But these are unconventional times.
“…the number of UK millennial and generation Z millionaires has doubled in the past year…”
Research by the Bowmore Wealth Group in February 2022 reports that the number of UK millennial and generation Z millionaires has doubled in the past year. The research also shows a 28% increase in millennial and Gen Z taxpayers declaring income over £150,000. This is largely due to a surge in pay for workers in tech/fintech and a boom in millennial entrepreneurship. The number of younger high-earners working in areas such as sport and social media influencing is also rising.
Much has been said about the projected intergenerational wealth transfer. The narrative is that globally baby boomers will pass on between $30tn and $68tn (depending on which report you read) of their wealth to their millennial children within the next 10-20 years.
But there is growing evidence that the wealth transfer is skipping a generation. The silent generation are passing their wealth to their millennial grandchildren, and Gen Z are inheriting from their baby boomer grandparents.
And this wealth is dropping on a generation that seems to have a greater propensity to invest than their parents, according to surveys by Finder.com and the Royal Mint.
View image in blog here.
You’d think that wealth management companies are well positioned to capitalise on this opportunity. Surely they can parley their long-held relationships across to the inheriting generations? Apparently not.
“…only 13% of affluent investors choose to work with the same advisor their parents used…”
Research by Cerulli Associates reports that only 13% of affluent investors choose to work with the same advisor their parents used. Among the remaining 87%, a whopping 88% of them said they never even considered doing so. The impact of this is seemingly dramatic. Accenture reports that wealth managers expect to lose, on average, one-third (32%) of their client’s wealth at the point of succession. That’s an estimated outflow of $1.5tn per annum.
It’s little wonder that the wealth management sector is struggling with this tide of change. Industry figures show that the average age of wealth advisors is rising to around the high 50s, with only 11.7% under the age of 35.
“…the average age of wealth advisors is rising to around the high 50s…”
The received wisdom about millennial and Gen Z prospects, meanwhile, is that they’re more self-directed than older generations, and demand technology that enables them to take control over their finances. They have a wealth – pun intended– of information at their fingertips, and in many respects consider themselves more knowledgeable than their advisor (in 64% of cases, according to Accenture research).
An Accenture poll of millennials highlights the stress this generation gap places on trust, which is essential in a relationship-centric business. 57% of respondents perceived their advisor to be motivated by their own earnings alone – as opposed to the client’s financial success – and less than a third of them felt their advisor took the time to get to know them. Combined with the fact that 51% of them agreed with the statement: “I try to avoid situations where people tell me what to do,” it’s clear advisors have their work cut out for them.
So, can wealth management firms ride the storm? Or is the writing on the wall? Recent research suggests the former – and the storm may not be as overwhelming as it seems.
In 2022 Natixis surveyed 8,550 millennials globally with a minimum of $100,000 in investable assets. The results ran against prevailing perceptions, showing that robo-advice has only captured a small percentage of the market.
See image in blog here.
The research concludes that a primary reason for this lies in the fact their lives become more complex as they turn 30, and they look for personal advice, either as a sole source, or as part of a blended approach to their finances.
Technology is a core enabler of these relationships, providing ease of access and transparency of information combined with multi-channel lines of communication between client and advisor.
While, according to Accenture, most millennials are confident in their own knowledge of holdings and investments, 59% of them want education on financial basics like cashflow and budgeting, with an equal focus both on short-term and long-term goals.
Millennials will also be experiencing one of the most dramatic periods of volatility they’ve seen as investors, with 48% of respondents focused on risk management over a fund’s ability to beat the benchmarks (26%) when selecting investments.
The generalisation that millennials are champions of impact investment is also challenged. While 78% considered their wealth as an extension of their values, and 52% said they were interested in ESG (environmental, social and governance) investments, only 27% said they were currently invested in ESG funds. And though a Schroders study shows that the majority UK millennial investors are driven by their personal beliefs, 20% of them would actually compromise those beliefs if the returns were high enough.
Time to advertise outside the box?
These statistics combine to show that it’s risky to approach millennials using commonly held generalisations and assumptions about generational differences. They’re just like any other investor, just at a different life-stage. Indeed, Accenture segment their millennials-focused research panels into very recognisable attitudinal personas.
“…it’s risky to approach millennials using commonly held generalisations and assumptions about generational differences…”
Sure, millennials can be driven by values, but not all of them are. And their parents are just as likely to make ESG investments as they are.
Yes, the research shows that, when asked, millennials don’t like being told what to do. But who does? A good wealth manager works together with their clients – something that UBS reflect so well in their core proposition as we saw in our first article.
Certainly, a large proportion of inheritors sack their parent’s advisor. But that’s not because they want specialist millennial-tailored advice. It’s because they were excluded from the conversation – ignored – just as we found women were in our previous article.
Millennials are information-hungry, goal-driven and ask a lot of questions, as do women. But is that so different to the rest of the investor population? Again, goals and questions are central to the well-considered UBS narrative. It certainly doesn’t marginalise anyone. It’s an inclusive and contemporary attitude.
And as for that old trope that millennials are different because they’re digital natives – well, we’ve actually reached a point of societal digital maturity. We all expect digital service. There’s no such thing as a digital offering that’s just for millennials.
Good digital communications and experiences are effective when they work with the strengths of the medium and are driven by common heuristic behavioural principles.
The key, we believe, to attracting a millennial audience is to apply the same approach UBS has successfully applied to attracting women:
In our opinion, Schroders Personal Wealth comes the closest to achieving this.
The use of the word ‘dreams’ in the opening narrative of the website is clever. Dreams are more emotive than ‘goals’. They’re less pragmatic and dry. You dream about the future. But it’s an inclusive word – and not a sole preserve of the young. Our dreams may change as we get older, but they become no less potent.
There are some digitally savvy touches too. The online profiling tool and Trustpilot rating should appeal to millennials. But again, they won’t exclude the wider audience– these are things we’re all familiar with. They’re very appropriate for the medium, but their use on a wealth management site makes the firm feel fresh and down to earth in its approach.
See image in blog here.
Scroll down the homepage and you’ll find the succinctly put proposition. Unlike most wealth management propositions which steadfastly talk about what they do, Schroders project the way they think. Their attitude. Their purpose. This makes them feel distinctive, fresh and contemporary. It will certainly resonate with a millennial audience, but again it’s inclusive of other generations.
See image in blog here.
All of this is quite subtle and, taken at face value it could be seen as the application of afresh image for a generalist wealth management firm. But dig a little deeper, and you can see that the firm has definitely included millennials as an integral part of their strategy.
MoneyLens is a website from Schroders aimed specifically at millennials and Gen Z. It provides jargon-free articles about investing and saving money, all written and run by a group of young professionals working at Schroders. This crucially gives the site credibility and helps it avoid any hint of patronising cynicism – which tends to be another product of conventional thinking.
See image in blog here.
We covered Schroders in our first article in this wealth management marketing series, in which we analysed the effectiveness of a number of brand advertising campaigns. The campaign we looked at didn’t reflect the proposition and tone that Schroders more recently achieves. Our analysis concluded that this campaign likely had very little effect on brand awareness due to its messaging, reach and frequency.
In our opinion, the current messaging would work well for Schroders if they decided to put some advertising weight behind it, positioning them effectively in the mid-market with added millennial appeal.
With Schroders at the premium end with an inclination towards women, and ABRDN catering across the board to the mass-affluent, there’s certainly room in the market for more a millennial-centric approach – and it’s sure to deliver a solid return on investment.
Don’t miss the next part in our wealth management marketing series, coming soon.
In the meantime, if you have any queries about marketing to millennials – or anyone else for that matter – don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at marketing@proctors.co.uk
JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, worked with independent marketing communications agency Golley Slater to bring its campaign for Save a Life Cymru to fruition.
It comes as data reveals that every year in Wales more than 6,000 people will have a sudden cardiac arrest and around 80% of those will happen in the home. New data shows that almost one in four of us (24%) have witnessed someone collapse and possibly need bystander CPR and defibrillation intervention.
Yet, less than half of adults in Wales are confident in performing CPR: however, when people understand that on calling 999, the call taker will talk you through CPR and direct you to the nearest registered defibrillator, 73% of adults said that they would feel more confident to intervene.
Survival rates fall by 10% every minute without CPR or by using a defibrillator, can improve a person’s chance of survival.
Golley Slater developed the campaign strategy and creative for Save a Life Cymru – Help Is Closer Than You Think – which aims to show that if you see a cardiac arrest, there is more support around you than you might realise and commissioned JonesMillbank to produce and create content across the campaign, including bilingual TV commercials, radio commercials and social adverts.
Supporting studio photography was also captured to roll the campaign out across digital, print and OOH.
“Working on the production of such a holistic campaign, let alone one for a good cause, was a fantastic opportunity and allowed us to add a huge amount of value and experience” said Russell Jones, Co-Founder at JonesMillbank.
“We already work with NHS England and a number of individual Trusts and we understand the importance of that value alongside impactful messaging”.
Dave Warfield, Creative Copywriter at Golley Slater said “the team over at JonesMillbank built a fun, creative relationship with us from the off which made treatments of scripts and finding inventive solutions enjoyable and painless.”
Lewis Clements, Senior Art Director at Golley Slater added “being so well organised on shoot days and accommodating in post-production kept the atmosphere upbeat throughout the process and made all the difference in bringing our ideas to life, exactly as we imagined them. Real patience, craft and willingness from start to finish.”
Production was shot on-location in Wales at Little Man Coffee in Cardiff and Firebug Studios in Barry.
Save a Life Cymru is Wales’ national organisation which aims to improve cardiac arrest survival rates in Wales. The Welsh Government-funded organisation promotes CPR and defibrillation within communities and encourages everyone in Wales to learn or to top up their CPR skills.
Visit https://jonesmillbank.com/work/nhs/save-a-life-cymru to view the campaign and behind-the-scenes stills.
***
JonesMillbank are a passionate full-service video production company
They work in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, IDLES, NHS England, The Royal Mint and Battersea.
jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
hello@jonesmillbank.com
Back in the day, we were known purely as a digital agency for grocery brands. Way back when we all thought brand websites were really important and Facebook had ‘Like gates’.
Over time, things have changed. Particularly in grocery, where you couldn’t be just ‘digital’ anymore. Consumers started moving seamlessly between online and offline throughout their shopper journey, almost without noticing – and, even now, most consumers (73% believe it or not) use multiple channels during their shopping journey.
So, in 2019, we repositioned ourselves – Activation 2.0 if you like. Still with digital at our heart – but looking at the whole journey, activating all touchpoints from the channel right up to the shelf – with the ability to create great work across digital, shopper and sales promotion.
This end-to-end approach definitely works, but competition for shoppers’ attention has never been fiercer.
People see up to 10,000 messages every day. We pick up our phones up to 80 times (probably more if we’re honest). We spend 1.7 seconds on each social media ad, 3.5 seconds on a 6 sheet poster, and 3 to 5 seconds looking at each product on a supermarket shelf.
It’s in these tiny moments that we have to understand and then meet what the consumer really needs.
To win attention, brands have to stand out against the noise. You need to get noticed, be relevant. You need to work harder to stand out. To start with attention as the intention.
We’ve learnt about attention and how important it is. And more importantly, how to turn it to your advantage across the whole shopper journey. Not just ‘matching luggage’, but matching the messaging and prompts to where and when the consumer sees it.
So now we’re changing again; a new focus, a new narrative, and a new way of doing things. Starting today with our brand spanking new ‘Attention seekers’ manifesto… we’re loud and proud, creating work that’s bold, brave and most importantly, never boring.
So when your brand needs to stand out, win hearts, turn heads, and change habits – you need Attention Seekers. You need Activation.
Thanks for your attention.
Interested in discussing campaign ideas for your brand?
Get in touch or book a short meeting with us.
McCann supports Forth with the launch of ground-breaking female hormone mapping blood test
October 2022: McCann Bristol has created a new TV campaign to support the launch of MyFORMTM, a ground-breaking female hormone mapping blood test from Forth.
The ‘Warrior’ TV and social campaign fights against the societal pressure on women to soldier on and brush off any symptoms of the menopause they may be experiencing, highlighting how MyFORMTM can provide the information that women need to end any uncertainty around their symptoms.
MyFORMTM involves a two-step blood test which, when combined with AI mathematical modelling and clinical analysis, maps how the four key female hormones fluctuate across an entire cycle. Forth then provides a report on hormone function and ovarian responsiveness, which can indicate whether they are in perimenopause or not. The report can then be taken to a GP to support diagnosis and help manage any symptoms.
Melissa Down, Creative Director at McCann said: “We are thrilled to be launching a ground-breaking, category-first product in women’s health. Our ‘Warrior’ campaign shares a powerful and emotional metaphor, visually showing the lonely battle women face to soldier on through the difficult and confusing signs of perimenopause.
“We have an array of amazing female talent across McCann that we are fortunate to be able to draw upon, and for this campaign, we created a team made predominantly of women, including those who are of perimenopause age, in order to provide a unique insight into the product and a deeper connection and understanding with our audience.”
Sarah Bolt, CEO and Founder at Forth, added: “As a woman who has experienced perimenopause, I instantly connected with the creative idea behind ‘Warrior’. For too long women have been asked to suffer in silence and have been unaware of the changes happening within their bodies. Our mission at Forth is to empower women to become experts on their own body through scientific knowledge and understanding. The team at McCann instantly connected with our mission and showed their passion and understanding of the product right from our first meeting.
Louise Balmforth, Head of Growth at Forth, also commented: “With this being our first TV campaign for what is quite a complex product, the creative narrative had to be carefully curated. Not only is perimenopause still a sensitive topic for some women, but many do not realise their symptoms are due to this early transition to menopause. We wanted to create that light bulb moment in a sensitive way that positioned Forth as the light at the end of what can be a very dark tunnel for women. McCann impressed from the start, immediately getting under the skin of the brief and the challenge we are wanting to address in women’s health. We are very excited to see our product reach a wider audience of women who are living with the uncertainty of perimenopause.”
Creative credits
Creative Director: Mel Down
Art Director: Amy McGowan
Copywriter: Georgina Devonport
Producer: Kristen Clare
Director: Adam Riozzi
Production company: Fetch Films
Strategy: Jordan Adler
Senior Account Director: Alex Lake
Senior Account Manager: Abbey McGrane
Media: Chris Lucas
JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, worked with Matter to help launch a Kickstarter campaign for their product, Gulp; the world’s first microplastics filter for washing machines.
Every time we do our laundry, up to 700,000 microfibres are released from our washing machines and pumped into our waterways.
Gulp captures these microplastics before the ocean does.
It’s the first, sustainable, long-lasting solution, with zero additional filter costs and no disposable parts.
JonesMillbank worked with Matter’s team, including Founder Adam Root and Product Director Lucas Horne to bring Adam’s story and Gulp’s technology to an audience across Kickstarter and social.
“Working closely with the team at Matter was a great experience; it’s always nice to work with a client who are open to and trustful of your ideas” said Russell Jones, Director at JonesMillbank, who was also scriptwriter and assistant director of the production.
“The fact that the story and product is green-purposed and aligned with our strategy and net zero credentials was a benefit to boot”.
Lucas Horne, Product Director at Matter said “JonesMillbank did a fantastic job in pulling together a compelling creative that really told the story of Gulp and Matter’s development in a captivating way and the campaign was fully funded in under 30 minutes.”
You can view and back the campaign at www.kickstarter.com/projects/aroot/gulp-self-cleaning-washing-machine-microplastic-filter and view the campaign content at jonesmillbank.com/work/matter/gulp-kickstarter.
***
JonesMillbank are a passionate full-service video production company
They work exclusively in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, IDLES, NHS England, The Royal Mint and Battersea.
jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
hello@jonesmillbank.com
South West performance marketing agency, Launch, has been named the best paid media agency in the UK at the national Agency Awards.
Launch was recognised as the Best PPC Agency and won Best Campaign for its work to drive global revenue for an ISO provider based in the UK.
The UK Agency Awards took place in London at the end of September. The awards celebrate large and small agencies working across all verticals, from creativity and design to digital and technology, from marketing and advertising to public relations and media.
In the last year, Launch has grown dramatically, with thirteen new recruits to the team and over fifteen industry awards achieved for its work driving online revenue for its clients. Its own revenue this year has grown by over 50%, a new office in Exeter has been opened and the Bristol office expanded to accommodate its burgeoning team.
The judges praised Launch for its focus on their people. “Launch is clearly a happy agency with great team morale. It is an agency that cares about the human element first and has big ambitions which they are delivering on in return on investment for their clients.”
Jaye Cowle, Founder of Launch was delighted with the awards; “Our mission is to be the happiest performance agency. I believe that happy people do great work, and by empowering our team to do their best, we can get great results for our clients. So, I am absolutely thrilled that as we enter the final quarter of the year the whole team is recognised for their hard work.”
ENDS
6 Oct 2022
Pictures:
L-R, Host Tori Campbell, Jaye and sales director, Steph Iles, accept the Best PPC Agency in the UK Award.
The Launch team.
About Launch
Launch is the paid media agency for ambitious businesses. We provide online advertising, data insight and conversion optimisation services to clients, helping them take their digital marketing to the next level with fresh thinking and a transparent, strategic approach.
We’re a Google Partner and Verified Amazon Advertising partner, and have been recognised as a Top 10 UK Digital Agency for 2022 by The Drum.
Visit us at https://www.launchonline.co.uk/
What comes to mind when you think of Gen Z? Tech-savvy influencers? Social justice warriors? Instagram addicts?
In reality, 2022 data published by the Pew Research Center shows that Gen Z is the only generation that has seen a decline in social media usage since 2019. This excludes TikTok, which has seen positive take-up within the age bracket. There are several theories as to why this could be the case, with most attributing the demise to over-regular app updates wearing down younger users’ trust. Which begs the question; what cuts through the noise, and resonates with the “anti-social youths” of today?
It’s no secret that there’s a clear correlation between age and attention span. Those born into Gen Z have had access to a whole arsenal of technology from the get-go, which could explain the 8-second average attention span versus millennials’ 12 seconds. Now, we’re not talking NFT birth certificates, or Oculus Rift headsets in the highchair, but rather unlimited exposure to social feeds from an extremely young age.
With so many like-minded platforms competing for Gen Z’s ears and eyes, the content that resonates tends to be delivered on a shiny silver platter, requiring minimal thought power to process. With 96% of people immediately turning to videos to learn more about a product or service, animated or video content has always taken less thought-power to consume compared to text-heavy alternatives. So, when “Entertain me in 5 seconds” is the brief, TikTok delivers. Weekly trends, dynamic transitions, user generated filters and ranked audio libraries create the perfect storm for undivided Gen Z attention. And the oldies are playing catch-up. Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts effectively provide the same platform, among their original format types.
Data capture can be dystopian as hell, but frankly, the internet would be a much tricker terrain to navigate without cookies – try working in Google’s incognito mode for a day and tell me otherwise. The same rings true for younger audiences online, where personalised shopping is now the norm. For them, trading personal data for an improved online experience is a no-brainer. Because of this, Gen Z can’t be fooled by generic ads with exhausted creative. Instead, marketers need to consider using guided quizzes, self-segmentation surveys, and on-site behaviour tracking to gather higher quality data on the details that matter most. Favourite brands, sizes, categories and colours are the specifics that mean the most when delivering the tailored content that they need. In turn, we can fine tune ads displaying similar products, offers and recommendations that they actually care about.
Gen Zers can sniff out branded content from a mile off. Having been targeted by social media start-ups, drop shipping sites and 30-day free trials* (*£59.99 pcm post sign-up) for the past decade, it’s fair to say they’re wise to the ins and outs of shameless paid placements. Which is why it comes as no surprise that, in order to win their trust, brands need to demonstrate integrity.
The obvious workaround for brands looking to build trust, and ultimately advocacy, is to work with influencers to develop less corporate, and more authentic comms. But when 44% of Gen Zers claim that comparing their lives to the unrepresentative lives of content creators has negative effects on their mental health, brands must be selective with their ambassadors. Influencer fatigue is real, and we need to adapt. The creators succeeding are those combining their aspirational regime with real-life causes they honestly care about. Why on earth would a vegan food influencer have a deep-rooted passion for carpet cleaner? Gen Z are fully awake to unrealistic brand partnerships, so always seek authenticity when developing an influencer strategy.
As some brands seek out authentic influencer partnerships, others are beginning to let down their hair a little on social. While an airline provider would traditionally designate their Twitter feed to more service-orientated content, Ryanair gravitate towards pop-culture, communicating entirely through memes. By recognising and owning the typical inferences that come with budget airlines, there’s no limit for Ryanair’s internet fame. Whether it’s quote tweeting ridiculous customer complaints, or commentating on the recent F1 drama, they frame their services in a relatable, almost charming way. Frequently nodding to ‘the admin’, they’re unafraid to remind the audience that there is indeed a human behind the account – encouraging interaction on a much more personal level.
Around 58% of consumers want to see more social content that makes them laugh. Often brands try to fill a social feed with uninteresting product or service centric messaging, which overlooks the main reason that users are scrolling: they want to be entertained.
Social feeds might serve the primary purpose of entertainment, but who said learning can’t be fun? From fashion to food, there’s no denying that social media can act as a source of education. YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world, with over half of Gen Z internet users having watched a how-to video, tutorial video or educational video on the platform in the past week alone. Social now acts as the immediate solution for those everyday problems, while providing a dose of the good stuff that we didn’t realise we needed to know.
Mob Kitchen x Aldi’s Instagram Reels, Tifo IRL’s meticulous dissection of the beautiful game and Grace Woessner’s TikTok sofa flipping are all prime examples of social subcultures that can land with a Gen Z audience. Nothing is too niche; and if you’re posting about a relatively unknown area, make the content accessible and engaging for all.
Gen Z was always going to be a tough nut to crack. Behaviour on socials is evolving so quickly, it can be hard to keep up. We recommend taking the time to learn about Gen Z’s preferences and prioritise building long-lasting relationships that benefit all parties involved over those quick wins. Ready to optimise your marketing? Drop the saintnicks team a line here to get the ball rolling.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationNotifications