Gen Z to Give Marketers a run for Their Money Says Kantar Millward Brown

LONDON, December 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Annual Digital & Media Predictions highlight the scale of the challenge presented by a new generation with high expectations and values 

Kantar Millward Brown, a leading global research agency helping businesses grow strong brands, today released its annual digital and media predictions for 2017. For the ninth year running, the company's predictions provide marketers with a clear guide to the challenges and opportunities of the next 12 months, helping them shape their digital marketing strategies.

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Top of the marketing to do list for the year should be gaining a rapid understanding of the needs, aspirations and behaviours of Generation Z, also called post-millennials and centennials. Brands will have to create better connected consumer journeys that are less intrusive with a smarter and more measured approach that discourages ad blocking.

Marketers will also need to develop creative content that appeals to the imagination and emotions of the Gen Z consumer, if they want to be accepted by this key group, who number a staggering 2 billion people worldwide - approximately 27% of the world's population was born between 1997 and 2011.

"Gen Z will not only change how brands communicate but also create challenges in how brands demonstrate authenticity and transparency in digital," said, Duncan Southgate, Global Brand Director, Media & Digital at Kantar Millward Brown. "Strategies that are likely to be successful include investment in digital platforms that allow consumers to co-create a shared brand experience; Gen Z will be hands on - they want to try it, take it apart and re-create it."

Brands will have to be more open, share their story, their purpose and details of their production processes to allow Gen Z to determine if the brand's values match their own.

Finally, marketers will have to move away from their current focus on the linear, factual and linguistic in favour of digital content that appeals to the imagination via technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR); immersive formats that allow for stronger visual imagery. Gen Z will also respond much more than Millennials to emotional, musical narratives, creating new opportunities for creativity that appeals to all of people's senses.