"The rise of social commerce means they’re [Gen Z] always in a shopping environment and it’s made them excellent curators."
Speaking with AdForum, Spencer MacEachern, Group Strategy Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo NY, explores the strategies that makes brands stand out and resonate with this influential demographic of consumers.
Spencer MacEachern, Group Strategy Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo NY, has led innovative brand strategy for some of the world’s most iconic brands for the past decade, including Booking.com, KitchenAid, Mondelez, and Interac. At ZAK he fights sameness by pushing the boundaries of how brands show up creatively: from a craft beer that teaches you how to play guitar, to a fake reality TV show about the dangers of natural gas. His work has been recognized at Cannes, the One Show and the D&AD.
Speaking with AdForum, Spencer explores the strategies that makes brands stand out and resonate with this influential demographic of consumers.
What seems to be the biggest obstacle when it comes to grabbing the attention of Gen Z’ers? How are you cutting through the noise to engage with them?
There’s no monoculture. Remember the finale of Game of Thrones? People streamed it in bars like it was the Super Bowl. Outside of major sports events and the Era’s Tour there aren’t many of those universal touchpoints left.
We take for granted that millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers share a pop culture vocabulary. Now, everything is subculture. And the reference that speaks to a Gen Z anime fan watching Jujutsu Kaisen on Crunchyroll might make no sense to the run club fanatic.
I think this is why bizarre humor, like the Pop-Tarts Bowl or Grimace Shake, works with Gen Z. ‘Weird’ is a language spoken by anyone who grew up online. The Pizza Pizza team at Z.A.K. actually has a name for this type of work, ‘stupid smart.’ Ideas that are so dumb they’re kind of genius. Like a paint roller for garlic dipping sauce or pizza pre-roll released on 4/20 (with oregano grinder).
Gen Z is one of the first generations to have grown up with access to the internet. With the purchasing power Gen Z’ers now have, do you see them as informed consumers? How do they differ to past generations of consumers?
For Gen Z shopping is not a separate activity from entertainment and socializing. The rise of social commerce means they’re always in a shopping environment and it’s made them excellent curators. Take any product category (running, snacking, watches) and you’ll find Gen Z communities obsessing over the most obscure details and brands.
At the same time, when everything is content for the feed, it’s easier for misinformation to spread. So, you get these strange situations where, for example, Gen Z is less likely to believe sunscreen works. It’s a tougher ecosystem for credible information to compete in.
Is AI useful for connecting with younger audiences?
Making predictions about AI in 2024 feels like predicting internet in 1994. You’re setting yourself up for some cringeworthy quotes down the road. Here’s what I’ll say: go to any obviously AI-generated video on Instagram and you’ll see comments like, “we burned 90 acres of the rainforest down for this?”
Gen Z has this visceral reaction to content that’s obviously AI-generated. They’re aware of the environmental damage, the impact on artists, and the danger of deepfakes.
It’s still an important tool in our production toolbox. For independent agencies and creators, generative-AI levels the playing field to quickly get work out into the world. Our pAIntings project with Campbell’s, where we recreated the iconic soup can in the style of other artists, is only possible with AI.
"Campbell's pAInting's"
But our philosophy is fighting sameness, so if half of Gen Z’s feed is now filled with AI videos and images there’s value in doing the opposite. After all, the most viral image of 2024 (so far) is a lime green square that looks like it was made in MS paint.
Which social platforms are still relevant and how brands are using those to sell to Gen Z?
By hours spent, it’s still YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat. However, one trend that doesn’t necessarily show up in the data is the retreat from the public internet into these semi-private online gardens.
For Gen Z ‘social’ is just as much the group chat or Discord channel or Twitch stream, environments where brands can’t necessarily buy their way in. As marketers we need to be brutally honest and ask, “is this interesting enough for someone to share as a DM?” You can’t afford to be boring.
Heinz does a good job here, projects like the Rhode phone case are designed to be shared. That was also our approach with Hot & Toxic (a fake reality show we made about the danger of natural gas). We worked with reality TV recappers on TikTok to create an “is this real” double-take for a show that looks like Love Island but is really about the harmful chemicals from your gas stove.
With the overwhelming amount of information we have today, nostalgia for simpler times seems to be on the rise. Do you feel that the advertising industry will, or has already, shifted towards leaning into early 2000s nostalgia trend?
The shift has already happened: the number one app ‘MySpace for Gen Z,’ Paris Hilton is back, and 15-year-old point and shoot digital cameras are going for hundreds online. Brands like the Gap are successfully running back their Y2K playbook with their Linen Moves campaign.
It was definitely a consideration when we partnered with Tina Fey for Booking.com. Mean Girls has gone from a millennial classic to a nostalgia watch for Gen Z.
"Tina Fey Books Whoever She wants to Be"
None of this is new though, nostalgia reliably runs on a 20-ish year cycle. In 1978 Grease is this huge hit all about the ‘simpler’ 50s. Today it’s Saltburn that’s making us all nostalgic for the early aughts. I’m sure 10 years from now early Instagram filters will be remembered just as fondly (which should be a relief to us millennials whose feeds are still littered with Valenica).