Research and Collaborative Design for Youth Participants 89 Elements of Youth Research and Collaborative Design 91 TL;DR: Chapter Takeaways 106. How to Prepare and Get Started 110 The Key Youth Engagement Strategies 112 TL;DR: Chapter Takeaways 135.
Gregg L Witt
Derek e Baird
Like all of the above, this book has been enlightening (and a bit of a basic wake-up call), forcing me to rethink, re-strategize and. So go ahead, dear reader, and learn the ways of the Sherpas and the mysterious terrain of youth culture.
PrefaCe
Adaptability is key to effective communication – especially with Gen Z – and it comes from listening carefully and contributing to the conversation. In The Gen Z Frequency, we offer a wealth of information and tools to guide you towards adaptation and engagement with youth culture.
Derek E Baird would like to thank Charlotte Owen of Kogan Page for her editorial attention and guidance in writing this manuscript; thanks to John Saveland for donating his time to provide feedback, insight and peer review; thanks to Jarrod Walczer for generous permission to use some of our Gen Z and Dear Evan Hansen research in this book; thanks to Gregg for inviting me on this trip, and thanks to everyone else I spoke with during the writing of this book for their contributions, inspiration, and support. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my father and mother, Julie and Terry Witt, for their unwavering faith in my business endeavors since I was 16, and to Mary Baldwin and Dave Hennis for being there from day one.
Let’s face it: youth marketing isn’t always
Who are we and why should you listen?
We have consulted with the world's largest advertising agencies and founded two leading youth marketing agencies. We also work as strategic advisors at KidSay, one of the most respected authorities on youth research and innovation in the country.
Their annual trend tracking study is used by many leading brands to stay ahead of the curve in the highly dynamic youth market. Influencers have a deeper understanding of youth audiences than most people because they interact with them constantly, and we consider them an integral part of our practice.
Here’s what you can expect
- starts to uncover the Gen Z identity – who they are, how they communicate, where they can be found, and what it is like
- offers some essential guidance to help you prepare your brand for success in the youth market. We look at the foundational
- is all about building an effective youth engagement strategy playbook. We will guide you through the essential compo-
- walks you through social strategies and tactical consid- erations for effectively reaching and engaging young consumers. We
- is all about content. We revisit the Truths from Chapter 3 and apply them to content planning and strategy, and we look at how
- outlines the key strategies required to build a function- ing, vibrant and healthy online community with an emphasis on Gen
- will get everyone responsible for your brand’s bottom line to pull up their chairs and listen attentively. We present EMV
We'll walk you through the essential components, as well as explore the core strategies that align brands with Gen Z audiences. We'll cover practical ways to tap into social, influencer and emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality, as well as some of the unwritten rules of social engagement that can make or break a brand's online presence.
We summarize what we have talked about throughout the book and think about next steps, ideas and youth initiatives. Over time, we've seen and made a lot of mistakes, but as a result, we've learned how to better listen to young audiences and communicate on their frequency.
01a true story of
We'll start this book with an example that illustrates some of the common principles that apply when connecting with younger audiences—principles that transcend generations, from Gen X to Gen Z. You don't have to throw away everything you know. young consumers and start over with each new group. If we can build a basic understanding of what works for youth culture across generations, we can better explore how an individual generation – whether Gen Z or another generation – develops and expresses their own identity, has their own conflicts and a unique puzzle to solve. .
No business is exempt from cultivating relevance
When Blazers, Dunks, and Air Jordans became popular skateboarding shoes in the 1970s and 1980s, it was primarily because they were accessible, reasonably priced, and had good board feel. In The Search For Animal Chin (IMDb, 2016) – an iconic 1987 skateboarding film classic by Powell Peralta – the final scene culminates in four of the world's most famous skaters performing simultaneous handplants.
Each of the four Nike SB Dunk Lows featured a color and material combination chosen by one of the team's four riders. In September 2002, Nike and Supreme released two colorways of the Dunk Low Pro SB, creating something that was exclusive to skateboarders, street culture, and sneaker lovers alike.
TL;Dr (too long; didn’t read)
Today, Nike is a company known for being very attuned to youth culture. He is setting the bar in creating a skateboarding legacy that Gen Z recognizes and respects, and continues to engage with youth culture in a revolutionary way.
Work with people and partners who align with your brand and help deepen the connection with your target group. As you expand and grow, be careful not to disrespect the youth culture foundation that got you there.
02Gen Z
Tuning in to Gen Z
The Gen Z frequency
Gen Z generational markers
Most of this generation, born between about 1996 and 2011 and currently in their teens, is a group that is not yet fully defined. There is no definitive date for Gen Z, but this range is the most widely accepted in the industry.
Gen Z culture
Pragmatic: Raised by Gen X parents who had similar childhoods shaped by the recession, Gen Z is choosing more pragmatic careers (for example, choosing a career in law instead of trying to be a YouTuber influencer), is financially conservative, and avoids millennials' social media privacy pitfalls. For some, this increase in social media is about becoming famous online, but for most, social media offers a way to validate themselves.
However, one of the key differences between the offline actions of previous generations and the online actions of youth in this mobile age is the way the Internet can now take whatever information they post and amplify it far beyond their immediate group, and possibly even far beyond their immediate group. even make it viral. Ultimately, this aspect of being seen and heard and belonging to something bigger than yourself is one of the most important drivers for Generation Z.
Gen Z: a phenomenon without borders
In the first decade of the 21st century, the Hispanic population continued to grow at four times the rate of the total US population. The most significant influence on their attitudes about race was the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.
Gen Z, technology and media
As the first generation to grow up in an era where same-sex marriage was considered the norm, equality for their LGBTQ+ friends and family is non-negotiable. Social media platforms such as Tumblr and Twitter have also given many teens and tweens access to online communities where they share, learn, support and connect with LGBTQ+ youth outside of their immediate circle of friends and family.
Gen Z is constantly connected
Instead, they will 'watch TV' and YouTube videos in real time with friends and return comments via text messages, social media platforms such as Tumblr or Twitter, and create and share visual narratives (screenshots, GIFs, video recordings). They are constantly connected to their peers, friends, teachers, parents and content through social media applications on mobile phones.
How Gen Z uses visual social media
Gen Z speak emoji. Do you?
Gen Z and fandoms
As the UK's youngest CEO, Jenk uses iCoolKid – a digital media platform aimed at Gen Z – to share these experiences and create content, social media and a community that he designed with his generation in mind. Jenk is representative of both the entrepreneurial spirit of Gen Z and an example of how they are building their own brands through effective and strategic use of social media.
Gen Z digital learning attributes
Teaching Gen Z with emerging technologies
One thing is clear: as Gen Z moves from the classroom to the workforce, it will be increasingly imperative to deepen our understanding of these emerging digital learning styles and prepare educational and training programs (online and offline) to meet them head on. . territory (Baird, 2018). What makes this school trip surprising, however, is what the students did when they got back to the classroom.
TL;Dr: chapter takeaways
Pappas, S (2015) [accessed 8 July 2017] Cyberbullying in social networks linked to teenage depression, Scientific American [online] www.scientificamerican.com/article/. Singh, S (2017) [accessed 21 September 2017] Generation Z: Rules to Reach the Multinational Consumer, Sapient [Online] www.sapient.com/.
03The f ive
- Identity
- Trust
- relevance
- Possibility
- experience
Before proceeding with this chapter, you should be able to discuss and confidently answer the following five questions that make up the Identity section of the Youth Market Readiness Audit. Take the time to think about the Truths as they relate to your brand and situation, then complete each Youth Market Readiness Audit.
Experience: Create positive and meaningful experiences that connect your brand to the broader stories in youth culture. Crosby, LA and Zak, PJ (2015) [accessed 13 March 2018] The Neuroscience of Brand Trust, American Marketing Association, Marketing News, 24 September [Online] https://www.ama.org/.
04aligning with
But the ultimate priority should always be segmentation to help us understand youth culture – not just organize it. It's a simple—yet highly effective—approach that helps brands identify and align with the seemingly endless subcultures and lifestyles within Gen Z in clear, practical steps.
Hyper-individualization is the norm
We still use demographic segmentation, such as age, gender and ethnicity, as a starting point to help us organize consumers who are more likely to be a good match with a brand. In this chapter, we discuss the challenges we face when working with Gen Z and the limits of traditional segmentation, then tackle them head on with our Youth Culture Alignment Framework.
Gen Z expects unique
A brand's ability to build a commercially viable audience with today's young consumers is directly related to a brand's ability to identify and connect with the right spectrum of groups within youth culture. A segmentation method rooted in the youth culture lifestyle emphasizes skill over chance.
Traditional demographic targeting models are outmoded
- Can you identify your targeted teen consumers and briefly describe what you know about them?
- Does your brand divide young consumers into segments and subgroups?
- Does your brand have a ‘bull’s-eye’ consumer profile within the youth segment?
- What motivates young consumers who support your brand? What do they care about?
Traditional demographic targeting models are outdated. of polarized opinions in our industry, where some groups continue to pursue shotgun marketing while others scream, 'Demographics are dead. Although demographic targeting alone has become a less effective activity, demographics are still an important part of how we begin to filter for groups within Gen Z.
We will fail to identify and appeal to the diversity behind their decision-making and purchasing power. Instead, take the time to tune into all the frequencies, and Gen Z can be a powerful ally.
How to find and align with youth culture audiences
If you chase the entire cohort as if it were one big animal, you lose sight of the countless opportunities for connection, insight, and possibility. For example, this could result in a subset of Kansan female teens who are avid cosplay fans, console gamers, and high school students.
The youth culture Alignment Framework: a practical approach to modern segmentation
Activities: Those who identify by activities such as: music, entertainment, work, reading, swimming, hacking, painting, binge watching, soccer, video games, etc. Opinions: Those who identify with opinions such as: social issues, censorship. , environment, teenage pregnancy, privacy rights, equality, diversity, politics, religion, economy, etc.
Preparing to use the Alignment Framework
With this in place, it will be much easier to think about targeting youth audiences from a cultural alignment perspective. Purpose: analyze the relationship of alignment and viability and explore how it creates areas of opportunity for your brand.
The four stages of the youth culture Alignment Framework
- Youth culture segmentation needs analysis
- Determine if your brand and offering have more of a broad (mass) or niche segment appeal
- Determine the extent and variety of targeting that suits your brand and offering
- Brand and youth consumer personality match
- identify the brand personality traits that represent the essence of your brand to the youth market
- identify characteristics that align with your brand personality traits Describe each brand personality trait with 3–7 adjectives. These
- Youth subgroup opportunity identification and prioritization
- Generate a list of potential youth audience subgroups
- Complete Table 4.2 by matching subgroups from your list with ideal youth consumer characteristics from stage 2
- Prioritize your subgroups from most to least aligned with your brand
- Prioritize your subgroups from most-to-least commercially viable Each subgroup will receive a consumer viability score that will
- Optimal youth audience definition
- Plot the subgroups on the coordinate graph (figure 4.4)
- analyse the potential of each subgroup to create opportunity for the brand
- Plot overlap to discover the convergence of supergroups
A self-assessment of the appeal of your brand and offering to the niche or broad youth market. Goal: Develop a list of subgroups that share key personality traits and characteristics with your brand; determine subgroup alignment and the commercial viability of your brand.
Collaboration leads to actionable insights and new ideas
Currently, there is often too much friction in the research and thinking process when trying to get useful information. In this chapter, we focus primarily on qualitative approaches to youth research and creative collaboration.
Too often in this data-driven world, the human element gets lost in the numbers; Youth research cannot rely on sterile techniques and environments that may stifle youth expression. Below we'll examine the evidence for effective youth market research design and why we believe research and collaboration methods must evolve along with youth culture—ultimately adapting to the pace of the generation.
Does your research and collaboration connect you to youth culture?
Deeper immersion in young people's lives can lead us to create entirely new categories of products, services and content that fundamentally meet young people's wants and needs, offer new value and have the potential to create significant competitive advantages. For example, we use interactive activities and collaborations, often spelled out, rather than one-way questionnaires, to create interactions that do not feel like 'research' to the youth participant, but produce research results for the brand (Witt, 2017).
Collaborate, not just “do research”: we aim to be original and in tune with Gen Z.
Quality Participants are only as good as the quality of our resources. Participants must complete all three tasks by the stated date to be eligible for this prize.
Build the foundation with baseline research
Timing is everything: Enter the first contestant to complete all three tasks as part of the survey (video questions, message feedback, and concept ideas) to win one of 15 gift cards. Why: Young people's lives are dynamic and constantly changing as they discover who they are and who they want to become in the context of the world they know.
Can you give our readers some background on the ways you embrace co-creation at LEGO? How has your role (or process) of co-creation evolved during your time at LEGO?
What is a playbook and why does it matter?
But the brands that will win the hearts and wallets of America's youth are the ones that find authentic ways to actively help create the culture.
06The youth
Place the focus on consumer engagement and value creation
How to prepare and get started
Playbook foundation
Your youth engagement goals will be unique to your brand, its market position and how your brand is perceived by young consumers. The worksheet (Table 6.1) brings together use cases and objectives in a way that illustrates their relationship to specific Gen Z segments.
The core youth engagement strategies
When choosing social platforms for content delivery, think about a day in the life of Generation Z. From YouTube and film documentaries to Carhartt WIP radio (featuring DJs, artists and commentary from people within the Carhartt family), they were able to share their experiences share story in a way that was relevant to the brand's consumers.
Influencers and creators not only provide much sought-after exposure and engaging creative content, but also help humanize a brand by putting a familiar and trusted face to the brand offering. We view impactful partnerships as long-term investments that serve to amplify and strengthen brand personality.
Fill in the blanks in Figure 6.5 with your immersive strategy to create a scenario that guides the reader's thought process toward creating an immersive live experience. An effective playbook for youth culture engagement should emphasize three core strategies: telling original content, influencing partner collaboration, and delivering immersive experiences.
Be where they are
What social media represents is an evolution in communication, just like the internet and mobility before it. The tools will change, the platforms will evolve, but the way people communicate with other people through digital networks and electronic devices has been fundamentally changed by the development of social media.
07social strategies
All this makes us realize how important it is to have the right social media strategy. They do this by providing social and digital platforms with relevant, engaging content that fits the medium precisely.
Know the unwritten rules of social engagement
Given the rise and fall of social platforms (hello, MySpace), our focus is on how social platforms can be used to connect with the consumer, not necessarily on a specific platform. Choose and provide a dummy URL – your unique web or social account address that identifies your brand, even on social platforms you don't intend to use.
Social platform considerations
Snapchat gives your brand the opportunity to share story experiences with a young audience. Determine the right live streaming platform (Facebook Live, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Periscope, Tumblr) for your target audience.
Tactical considerations for influence partner collaboration
Influencers and creators: legal implications
At the time of publication (2018), neither the European Union nor the Australian government have issued any specific guidelines for influencers. We go deeper into COPPA, Australian privacy regulations and European Union GDPR requirements in Chapter 9.
If you decide to work with an influencer, it's important to find someone who aligns with your brand values, is interested in working with you, and is committed to complying with all current influencer marketing laws and regulations. Influencers should also be reminded to comply with all online privacy and data collection laws, including the FTC's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and European Union privacy laws under GDPR regulations.
Live streaming
One of the most popular among live streaming mobile apps is YouNow, which reports that viewers spend more than 30 minutes a day on it and that more than 70 percent of users engage with the content (Dreier, 2017). So why are live streaming platforms like YouNow, YouTube, Houseparty, Facebook Live or Twitch so popular?
Gamification
Above all, this generation values instant gratification and authenticity, and these live streaming mobile apps give them a place where they can feel comfortable sharing their lives, expressing themselves, and connecting with their peers. The reason HQ succeeds is that it linked gamification to an always-at-your-reach screen – the smartphone – as a conduit for a shared experience, sponsored content and revenue.
Augmented and virtual reality
For the latest installment (2017) of the Star Wars saga, Disney partnered with Google on a branded AR experience. When the numbers came in, the AR Moon Person experiment blew their initial objectives out of the water and served as a roadmap to transform an aging youth brand into relevance for a new generation.
Privacy and emerging technologies
Chaykowski, K (2015) [accessed December 12, 2017] Twitter finds growing companies linking internet stars to big brands, Forbes, December 17 [online] https://www.forbes.com/sites/. Rosenwald, R (2017) [accessed March 27, 2017] How Millions of Children Are Shaped by Know It All Voice Assistants, Washington Post, March 2 [online] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/.
08Content
Directional content strategies: putting the Truths into action
Create aspirational content that shows young people a way forward; that push boundaries and motivate them to reach further or improve their lives. Create content that celebrates relevant moments that young people can live or relive vicariously.
Identify and secure social vanity urLs
Using the social vanity URL rubric, we've compiled the following list of potential vanity URLs for AMAZE to use on social networks. We have also researched the availability of the proposed social vanity URL on the primary social platforms.
Does your content make Gen Z look cool?
There are many ways to communicate your voice and brand authenticity to your tween community, but whatever you do, make sure you create content that serves the community's social needs—content that makes them look cool if they share that with their friends, or it will make them feel as if they have added a layer to their identity.
Mobile f irst
Creating a memorable brand voice
The next step in the transformation was creating and sharing content that reflected this shift in tone.
Voice, tone and content style guide by platform
Taco Bell offers Gen Z the opportunity to align themselves with a brand that is "young, adventurous and cool." Taco Bell uses platform application programming interfaces (API) to create engaging experiences that make its community look cool.
Content management basics
Timing and volume of content posting
For example, if you're a teen brand, most of your audience is at school during the day, so you'll want to share mid-day (lunchtime) and after school. Instagram Story posts can be posted daily, give you a lot more creative freedom, and are usually less curated than photo posts on your profile page.
The first step is to look at how often your content is shared and how often Gen Z is engaged in the conversation through comments. Your content should also be placed in an authentic context of the social platform or platform you are using.
09Building
Gen Z and online communities
In addition to aligning values, Gen Z expects three things from your community efforts on social media: recognition, trust, and most importantly, to look “cool” to their friends because of their association with your brand. But don't fall into the trap of trying too hard to appeal to the Gen Z demographic, as that will just come off as "trying too hard."
What is community?
For starters, Taylor Swift acknowledged that many of her young fans would be on Tumblr, not Facebook. Secret Sessions and her authentic embrace of Tumblr, Taylor Swift has effectively engaged, celebrated her fans and rewarded their loyalty.
Gen Z and communities of support
EncircleTogether on Instagram, Facebook and other social platforms, where everyone can share their media and connect with others involved in supporting LGBTQ+ youth. Together, this blended approach of both social media and real-world advocacy builds a foundation of trust that enables Encircle to reach LGBTQ+ youth and their families wherever they live and provide a far-reaching community of support.
Building community
Example: Community Manager uses Facebook events to keep the community aware of upcoming live streams and real events that may be of interest to the community. Procedure: Ensure that all members have the opportunity to contribute and participate in the community.
