Generation Z kids don’t watch tv. No really…if you ask them they’ll tell you they don’t watch tv. While it’s not true in a technical sense, it is true that they consume television and video content quite differently than their previous cohorts. Born into a highly technological era, Generation Z consumers have shorter attention spans and have turned to YouTube and online tv services as their primary means of video consumption. Granted we all do the same thing, but Generation Z is doing it at a much higher rate and more importantly, as their primary means of tv and video viewing.
Gone are the days of reaching parents through their kids with traditional tv buys during Saturday morning cartoons. To reach Generation Z with video, brands are going to have to think about these things:
Get Even More Mobile Friendly – If marketers are doing it right, everything should already be responsive and mobile friendly. But to reach Generation Z kids you have to take it to the next level. They live on their phones so instead of making something work on mobile, it needs to be made for mobile.
Shrink Content to Match Shrinking Attention Spans – This generation has an extremely short attention span but they’re great at multitasking. If you can make bite size content (think visuals instead of text, gifs and emojis instead of traditional photography) they are much more inclined to pay attention, for 6-8 seconds that is.
Create How-To Videos – Generation Z is obsessed with “how-to” videos. I’ve watched my nephews (both Gen Zers) spend hours watching how to Videos as entertainment. And when they finally come up for air, they ask to try what they’ve learned. If brands can make entertaining and educational video content, Generation Z will watch it.
Buy Broadcast Differently – Marketers can still buy ads to reach this generation, it’s just not going to be traditional broadcast. It has to be video pre-roll, over the top advertising and online radio, because that’s where they live now.
So there you have it. Generation Z isn’t unreachable, but they definitely require more specification when it comes to platform choice and your messaging.
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