“Generation Z is the most loneliest and socially isolated age group, according to our research. The challenge is how do you build trust?” is the question Skinnydip’s digital marketing manager aimed to address today at Youth Marketing Strategy.
Youth Marketing Strategy is an annual event which aims to discover trends, youth perspectives and case studies to win over young consumers.
Speaking at a panel ‘How brands are winning over mobile and social obsessed Gen Z consumers’ Laurina Kennedy of Skinnydip, Dan Burdett of eBay, Gord Ray of Instagram and David Symington of Ticketmaster focused on decoding the 7-24 years old shopping incentives.
Laurina says that brands should go for the heart of Generation Z. However, how do we do that, she asks? Segmenting customers shouldn’t be about putting them in a box as it completely dehumanises shoppers. She says it’s all about the individualistic approach. We always try to engage with customers, says Laurina, we aim to find out their likes and dislikes.
Picking up from Laurina’s point, Gord Ray, brand development lead at Instagram says that the social media platform became an example of a community rather than two separate entities – a brand and a customer. Sometimes sellers overthink communication, says Gord, and with this uncertainty, they take a step back. He encourages merchants to be playful and simpler. Our research shows that Gen Z favour playful and entertaining content, the idea of fun always bubbles up in their responses.
Gord advises merchants; ask your shoppers questions and take your time in replying. He says that’s how Instagram developed into a community where brands share tips, tutorials, advice columns which link back to their product offering. The advantage is dual. First, shoppers feel engaged and inspired. Second, sellers see their efforts manifested in higher revenue rates and loyalty.
David Symington, senior international content and campaigns manager at Ticketmaster says jokingly that the platforms biggest searches saw ‘how to get Drake tickets,’ which he didn’t get even working for the company.
He says that Ticketmaster is currently working on replacing the PDF tickets with digital ones. Generation Z will also see the ticket seller improving their content by bringing a mix of personalised and new insights.
eBay on future trends
When asked about the future trends, chief marketing officer Europe at eBay suggests that Gen Z will favour eBay’s innovations rather than Amazons.’ He says that image search introduced recently by eBay may take over the voice search by Amazon.
