4 Brands Ahead In Gen Z Marketing
The marketing question every brand wants to answer: How do you authentically reach and resonate with Gen Z? The right answer morphs and evolves, much like the algorithms on the digital campfire platforms where Gen Z is fragmented. Campfire platforms, like TikTok and Reddit, are interactive private or semi-private forums where people gather around interests, beliefs, and passions. These apps resonate with Gen-Z because they’re filled with limitless subcommunities where individuals can connect with others who share similar interests and hobbies while also being exposed to topics, products, or people that are completely new.
Connecting with consumers aged 10 to 25 years old demands adaptability and fluency in pop culture and meme discourse. Here are four brands across multiple industries that have pulled ahead with successful Gen Z marketing campaigns.
- Vans Off The Wall
Vans refined their event-based marketing pre-pandemic with skatepark tours, a BMX pro cup and Vans Off The Wall music and skate events. Vans has separated itself from other footwear and streetwear brands with their unique ability to offer individuality at scale, a big reason they’ve continued to resonate with young audiences who crave more personalized and mobile experiences. Vans has been famous for artistic collaborations with up-and-coming artists and musicians, recall last year’s Anderson .Paak x Vans Old Skool collection. Rallying his young fan base plus a limited merch drop is part of the winning formula we often see streetwear brands utilize, but one that Vans has moved the needle with. They’ve built an omnipresent brand identity that creates both engagement and retention through lifestyle events, artistic collaborations, limited merch drops and, of course, a level of effortless social media clout that spreads across campfire platforms by moving strategically amidst viral discussions.
Who could forget 2016’s “Damn, Daniel!” The Twitter video montage features the voiceover of a teenager complimenting his friend Daniel and popularizing the line “back at it again with the white vans!” Vans tweeted about the video within three days of its original montage being shared, and they created a Twitter poll with two options: “Back At It” and “With the White Vans.” Within one day, the poll had received almost 50,000 votes. Beyond its free PR and social media buzz, the company reported first-quarter earnings in 2016 that exceeded expectations of sales and profits. DTC sales were up 20 percent and online sales jumped 30 percent after Vans linked white vans on its homepage in the weeks following the viral videos of Daniel Lara.
2. CROCS
Likely driven by footwear’s return to “Dadcore” or “Clunky Shoe” trends, Crocs carved their own lane between fashion labels, celebrities and Gen Zers in the last couple of years. Crocs’ newfound hype has increased share prices and sales and according to The Sole Supplier, their demand is up 210 percent on average. Over the last year, Crocs has partnered with some of the biggest names in celebrity and streetwear culture, and similar to Vans, their exclusive or limited-edition collabs appeal to younger generations.
Their recent collabs include one with Post Malone who dropped five collections of Crocs, all of which sold out in minutes. Sell-out collaborations since then include partnerships with Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny.
Crocs has also benefited from exploitable memes and viral phenomena like “Crocs and Shaving Cream,” “Goth Crocs” or “Crocs Stay On During Sex.” They’ve built Gen Z retention through successful influencer marketing tactics like outfit sharing and unboxing videos that tap into content trends synonymous with younger users.
3. MAYBELLINE
Over the summer, Gen Z media company Kyra released the “Gen Z State of Beauty Report,” which revealed that Maybelline ranks first among makeup brands in a survey of 3,500 respondents ages 13–25. Conducted between May and June 2021, the report found that Maybelline has maintained its №1 spot among respondents since 2019, gaining percentage points in 2021. Maybelline’s VP of Integrated Consumer Communications said the brand’s success with Gen Z comes from its investment in relevant influencer and celebrity marketing across Gen Z social channels.
This included their March 2021 campaign with 17-year-old “Euphoria” and “Suicide Squad” actress Storm Reid as its global spokesmodel, followed by K-pop group Itzy in April. Maybelline also does a good job creating engagement between different cohorts of Gen Z with TikTok campaigns by joining popular beauty trends like this month’s split face makeup tutorial or the setup vs. the shot that shows behind the scenes footage of their product photoshoots. They’ve identified that Gen Z is loyal to authentic brands that integrate more lifestyle content with relatable and real people.
4. RIOT GAMES: LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Video games are projected to become a $94-billion industry by 2024, with 90 percent of Gen Zers in the video gaming ring, implicating multichannel marketing opportunities. Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer. In 2009, they released their debut title “League of Legends” to worldwide acclaim. “League” is now the most-played PC game in the world and a key driver of the explosive growth of esports.
In a November spectacle staged during the Golden State Warriors vs. Toronto Raptors game, Riot Games’ new esports president, John Needham, parachuted “League of Legends” T-shirts down onto a packed stadium of sports fans while a cinematic trailer announced the return of one of the world’s largest esports tournaments to the U.S. The video announced the venue where the 2022 “League of Legends” World Championship finals will be held next November.
The multiplayer online battle game has more than 180 million monthly active players and 10 franchise “League of Legends” teams, each with NBA ownership ties. With 73.8 million fans watching the Worlds finals in 2021, “League of Legends” esports tournaments have become big business, drawing in major brands like Louis Vuitton, AXE by Unilever, Spotify, Mercedes-Benz and more.
Riot’s “League of Legends” has also spawned an extremely creative community (including but not limited to Gen Z), who participates by producing fan art, fanfiction, cosplay, animations, fan comics, GIFs, gameplay videos, parodies, machinima videos, music and much more. The game’s forums are very active with normal players, and developers of the game (known as “Reds” on the forums, due to their red names). The active forums have spawned many memes within the community, based on the game. Beyond the game’s popularity, “League” has found a way to bridge big fan bases that wouldn’t necessarily interact or overlap otherwise.
Just as vital to a brand’s reach across digital campfire channels, is their understanding of the Gen Z audience. Those willing to take creative risks or experiment have resonated with younger users and continue to cultivate life-long relationships that pay dividends for years.
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