Like most in the realm of digital marketing and content, you might have seen the Vogue Business report on how Gen Z consumers have since broken the marketing funnel.
“Reciprocal, not transactional.”
That’s the essence of the new Gen Z shopping mindset, as summarised by the joint study done with US-based youth culture agency, Archrival.
But their findings aren’t exclusive to America.
In fact, we’ve noticed across ANZ that the traditional marketing funnel (aka. the one that goes: Awareness, Consideration, Remarketing, Conversion, then Action – or any other variation of this) has recently been thwarted by Gen Z’s purchase habits.
An infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community and loyalty.
With 101 brands out there selling the same things (with maybe a 0.1 difference between them), younger demographics shop, rate, love and choose the ones that stick.
Kinda like us.
Or at least, brands that commit to doing their best in nurturing relationships beyond purchase. No more one-and-done, it’s wine-and-dine or not at all.It’s a mindset brands need to adopt ASAP, because business and commerce aside, we’re seeing celebrities jump on some very experimental PR approaches of late.
There are a few things in this world that are undeniably intimate:
And at the start of April, we saw three names in the music industry tap on some very personal strategies (not unlike those above) to market upcoming releases and become the talk of town. Spoiler: They absolutely worked.
Billie Eilish added every single one of her followers (*all 118M of them) to her Close Friends list on Instagram, which has left fans stunned, confused, AND acquired her seven million more followers over two days.
Taylor Swift created five different playlists per the five stages of grief. Curated snippets of insight into her existing discography, fans took to social media expressing shock, excitement, and also horror — after learning that some of their favourite love songs were, in fact, words of denial. Anyone taken ‘Lover’ off their wedding playlist yet?
Chappell Roan released her latest single Good Luck, Babe! after teasing it a month ago in San Diego. And just one day after the track’s official release, she performed it again to a crowd who already knew all the words… Fast forward to today (i.e. one week later), we’re seeing the track acquire 1M+ more listens on Spotify every day.
Moral of the story?
Like Vogue Business hypothesised, people love connection.
It’s why Influencer Marketing campaigns have proven so effective time and time again, when brands deliver their messaging through the mouthpiece of creators who consumers have already forged relationships with. It’s why VIP angles, behind-the-scenes content (e.g. EGC), and exclusive teasers perform so well.
So, if nurturing closeness and a sense of community is the way to go, what are other easy AND tried-and-tested content strategies businesses should tap on?
*Note: These pointers were extracted from the Vogue Business report, so we aren’t just pushing our opinions – but unanimous ones from the industry’s best.
According to Kristina Karassoulis at TikTok: “It’s about entertainment. It’s about participation. And most importantly, it’s about connection.”
We couldn’t put it better ourselves.
Whilst we may not (*yet?) have the influence of celebrities like Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan or the most powerful woman in the world, Taylor Swift, we are able to get you acquainted with contacts of prominent enough influence and fame.
Not to name-drop, but we’ve collaborated with loads of personalities you would’ve seen on TV – whether on an episode of Love Island or on-stage at a Comedy Fest.
And when you’re considering the possibility of viral reach on TikTok, you don’t need celebrities to do it. I mean, remember that bowl of strawberries?
Get in the minds and on the screens of Gen Z today.
We’ll help you figure out how, through just a few questions here.
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