How Indian Brands are Tapping into Gen Z

Authored by Saurabh Kumar Srivastava, Growth Head at The Sock Street

Born in an era of ubiquitous technology, the Generation Z is a unique cohort for whom technological advancements and digital connectivity has been a part of life since the very nascent age. This digital-first generation, born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, has an innate understanding of social media, smartphones and internet, making it both a challenge and opportunity for brands to effectively understand their values, behaviours and preferences. To dynamically resonate with the Gen Z, brands are incessantly re-strategizing their advertising and marketing techniques, to rethink ways to engage with the most connected generation.

Understanding Gen Z

Unlike the previous generations, in which people were familiarized to a life without internet, Gen Z are the digital natives who have never experienced living in a world where internet was not a part of the day-to-day life. This has significantly shaped their behaviours, and expectations, making them more accustomed to instant access to information, seamless digital experiences and personalised content. With a key preference towards authenticity, transparency and social responsibility, the Gen Z have certain reservation for traditional advertising and incline more towards brands which resonate with their values and take meaningful stance on social issues. The generation also prefers visual content; thereby having more interest in social media platforms that offer visual storytelling. Having a significantly different consumption habits from their predecessors, the Gen Zs are more likely to engage in interactive and experiential content.

Here are some of the strategies brands are increasingly adopting to advertise to the Gen Z:

Leveraging Social Media

The Gen Zs are the most frequent users of various social media platforms which has driven brands to establish a strong presence in such platforms and create content tailored to the dynamics of each platform. Influencers, especially the micro-influencers, have the potential to significantly enhance the credibility and reach of the brands whose values are aligned with the Gen Z. These days, the influencers have highly engaging viewer bases and holds the ability to drive authentic connection.

Short Format Visual and Interactive Content

The Gen Zs generally have a significantly shrinking attention spans, making them more interested on short-form content which are engaging and interactive. To capture the attention of the gen Zs, brands are focusing more on creating engaging, and visually appealing content, which can convey the brand’s message quickly and precisely through social media platforms. Contents like polls, quizzes and augmented reality (AR) experiences, are more interactive and can help brands connect more with the Gen Z audiences.

Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Being more socially and environmentally responsible, the Gen Z is more inclined towards brands which support social causes like sustainability, diversity and inclusion and participate in social, corporate responsibilities. To address this, brands are making sure that their social efforts are genuine and impactful to build strong connections with the generation.

Personalization and Customization

One of the most effective strategies that brands are implementing in the digital era is to leverage data to understand and predict the preferences of the Gen Zs, thereby providing highly personalized marketing. Through this, brands provide tailoring content, offer and recommendations to individual users. Brands are also offering products and services that can be customised which can appeal to Gen Zs desire for individuality.

Creating Community

Gen Zs prefer to be a part of an online community where they can interact with each other and the brands. Building online communities can help brands drive loyalty and engagement. Some of the ways to create an online community can include social media groups, branded hashtags and creation of community-focused contents. Engagement with the users can also be increased by promotion of campaigns like challenges, contests and collaborative projects.

Leveraging Technologies

By leveraging cutting-edge technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), brands can create an immersive experience to captivate Gen Z. Some of these technological implementations may include virtual try-ons for fashion brands, interactive AR ads, or VR experiences to dive into a brand’s story. Also, brands can make effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots to deliver instant and personalized responses, hence enhancing customer services.

Entertaining yet Educational Content

The gen Z prefers content that are not only entertaining but also informative and the brands can focus on creating content with values like tutorials, behind-the-scenes looks, or explainer videos. Storytelling can be another important way to effectively connect with Gen Z and brands can focus on creating narratives that are relatable and emotionally resonant with the digital-first generation.

Brands these days need to be transparent about data and mandatorily prioritize consumers' data privacy. In the fast-paced digital landscape the brands also need to be agile and overcome the challenge of quickly adopting to new platforms and trends. There is also a challenge of Gen Z quickly adopting to ad blockers and skip ads which has led to lesser intrusive alternative strategies such as content marketing, experiential marketing, and user-generated content.

In a Nutshell

To effectively get connected and engaged with Gen Z, brands need to understand their evolving values, behaviors, and preferences. Brands can resonate with the digital natives by adopting creative strategies like embracing social media, prioritizing authenticity, focusing on visual and interactive content, highlighting social responsibility, personalizing experiences, creating communities, leveraging emerging technologies, and providing educational content.

 DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and Adgully.com does not necessarily subscribe to it.