Plot overlap to discover the convergence of supergroups

The four stages of the youth culture Alignment Framework

step 3: Plot overlap to discover the convergence of supergroups

that dancers or performers also take part in cheerleading for part of the year, while at the same time they can be highly engaged beauty tutorial fans or a vlogger on YouTube. We call this overlap, and when diagrammed, we can more easily see what the separate subgroups have in common (Figure 4.5).

Some subgroups may have more overlap, some less. Sometimes the overlap will be a larger percentage of a smaller group, or a smaller percentage of several groups. Either way, the overlap itself is its own micro group, made up of 2+ subgroups. When we have groups in our graph that overlap, this creates a convergence culture: an opportunity to make powerful cultural connections between multiple youth audiences. However, we must be careful in our approach to these hybrid supergroups, as there is also the potential to alienate those who have Figure 4.4 Plot and analyse each youth subgroup’s potential for brand

alignment and commercial viability

soUrCe Illustration by Mike Carnevale

any conflict of interests or exist outside the overlap. Experiencing how these overlaps behave gives us an insight into the diversified, morphing subgroup that Gen Z can be.

Ask yourself, which groups in the overlapping convergence culture or supergroups do you believe will be most important for your brand?

This exercise is helpful to see which subgroups may be most valuable, or drive consumption within the larger context of the group. You can always go back to view the alignment and viability of the overlapping groups to inform decision making. For instance, how did each group score in terms of brand trait alignment or business viability, and how will that influence your decision about which group is the better fit? When would you want to consider emphasizing alignment over viability and vice versa?

Next, think about how closely you want to adhere to brand traits, or to what extent you may be ok with exceptions – sometimes focusing on the core groups at the upper right quadrant, while other times focusing on groups in the other quadrants. Here, groups might be more aligned with less viability, or may have more viability with less alignment. How do you decide which is more important in each situation that arises?

Figure 4.5 The most successful youth brands have discovered where subgroups overlap, identifying a larger converging supergroup relevant to their brand

soUrCe Illustration by Mike Carnevale

Referring back to your brand guide and the Truths in Chapter 3 will help you make these challenging decisions. We need to know what our most important, vital audience criteria are, and not get distracted: make measured decisions, and be cognizant of the impact your segmentation strategies will have on all audiences. It’s critical to understand the way certain groups respond to other groups, and whether this increases or decreases alignment when developing strategies using this framework.

We strongly suggest not going so far to appeal to one key group that you turn off an equally important group to your brand.

That said, people still act in unpredictable ways. Even when you follow this directional alignment framework to a tee, you will prob- ably discover outliers and groups you didn’t consider that may adopt your brand. By the same token, sometimes groups in the centre of your bullseye may not be as interested as you thought.

While no system can ever predict the exact combination of young consumer groups to target in any given situation, this alignment framework will get you closer to the cultural groups, lifestyles and, in some cases, individuals that matter most.

Inputs

– List of youth subgroups scored by alignment potential with your brand from Stage 3.

– List of youth subgroups scored by commercial viability potential with your brand from Stage 3.

Outputs

– Graph showing overall subgroup alignment and viability potential for the brand.

– Quadrant-by-quadrant view of subgroup alignment and viability potential (each quadrant depicting a different relationship of alignment and viability).

– A highly specified list of groups (subgroups, micro groups, splinter groups) that will align closest with, and be the most commercially viable to, the brand.

– A list of convergence cultures, created when two or more subgroups overlap, and a new hybrid subgroup is formed.

We realize that this is some dense, brain-taxing work. To make it more interesting and bring it to life, try doing the warm-up word game (Figure 4.6):

fill in the blanks with the requested information.

Figure 4.6 Word game: complete this activity to assess your brand’s youth culture alignment

soUrCe Illustration by Mike Carnevale

TL;Dr: chapter takeaways

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● After going through the exercises in the Youth Culture Alignment Framework, leverage the final outputs of Stage 4 and put them to work. You should now have a customized list of targeted groups, subgroups, and so on generated specifically for your brand. They represent the ideal subgroups from both an alignment and commercial viability perspective.

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● This groundwork also serves as a directional guide when develop- ing research studies and building the Youth Culture Engagement Playbook (strategies) in Chapter 6.

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● Hyper-individualization is the norm: Gen Z expects unique. When developing creative strategies to reach Gen Z, remember that being highly individualized or even ‘weird’ presents an opportunity to connect with them on their frequency.

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● Traditional demographic targeting models are outmoded. If you really want to get tuned in with this group of individualistic young consumers, then focus segmentation strategies on psychographic, lifestyle and situational context as priorities.

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● Embrace the diversity of Gen Z, don’t chase the cohort. If you approach Gen Z as a homogeneous entity, and fail to appeal to the multitude of ‘cultural and lifestyle segments’ that comprise it, you will be relegated to a limited view of both their world and the motivations behind their decision making.

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● Identify like-minded subgroups within youth culture that align with your brand, and build relationships with them. Develop content and experiences that connect to the passions and situ- ations of youth consumers. This human connection helps us to develop true alignment, which fuels the most effective strategies.

Further reading, resources and downloadable materials are available at www.genzfreq.com

references

Akker, J (1997) [accessed 15 March 2018] Dimensions of Brand Personality, Journal of Marketing Research, August [Online] https://www.gsb.stanford.

edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/Dimensions_of_Brand_Personality.pdf AwesomenessTV and Trendera (2017) [accessed 5 September 2017] Gen Z: The Audience You Can’t Ignore [Online] https://awesomenesstv.com/

genz/

French, C (2017) [accessed 15 March 2018] What does Youth Culture Mean in Today’s Society, Doinbits [Online] www.doinbits.uk Levinson, JC and Godin, S (1994) The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook,

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA

McKibben, B (2007) Deep Economy: The wealth of communities and the durable future, Holt Paperbacks, New York, discussed in The Age of Hyper-Individualism – Is the End in Sight? [Online] https://

newenglanderbychoice.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/the-age-of-hyper- individualism-is-the-end-in-sight/[accessed 13 March 2018]

Pursey, K (2016) [accessed 15 March 2018] What Are the 12 Archetypes and Which One Dominates Your Personality, 12 June [Online] https://

www.learning-mind.com/12-archetypes/

Collaboration leads to actionable insights

Dalam dokumen The Gen Z Frequency How Brands Tune in and Build Credibility (Halaman 99-107)

Plot overlap to discover the convergence of supergroups

The four stages of the youth culture Alignment Framework

step 3: Plot overlap to discover the convergence of supergroups

TL;Dr: chapter takeaways

references

further reading

Collaboration leads to actionable insights