Just when you thought you had millennials figured out here, comes along Generation Z — the newest generation of tech-savvy and socially woke individuals sometimes referred to as iGen or Homeland Generation.
Like millennials who are no strangers to digital media, who have intense digital experience on the internet all their lives, Gen Z has a wide array of media options from materials on broadcast and cable TV, streaming online video while playing music on streaming apps and podcasts. As for their preferred advertising formats, placing second with 43% are digital billboards and outdoor advertisements. *marketingdive.com/Social Media ads least preferred by Gen Z.
According to Shelly Whitehead, an award-winning veteran print and broadcast journalist, Gen Z is recorded to be the heaviest user of ad-blocking software with 70% of the entire population, and survey findings testify that these young adults are more often attracted to billboard and digital billboard ads than social media promotions. With the continual growth of Out-Of-Home Advertising and its dominance to Generation Z, it has already become their favorite medium, taking up 40 % of the estimated number of consumers in the Philippines *qsrweb.com/They like Email and Billboard Ads: Surprise It’s Gen Z.
Digital advertisements, especially ones seen on billboards have helped these young adults increase brand-awareness. We frequently hear that teens are being more anxious than ever because of their experiences with fraud advertisements. With all these false advertisers, product imitations, product side-effects and counter-effects, yet 66% of them still say that these ads have helped them sort out what to buy and not to and made them wiser, more than usual, of themselves and their environment *collagegroup.com/How Digital Life Affects life Younger People.
Gen Z represents a huge opportunity for fast casual brands and more than one-fifth of their budget goes to food and leisure shopping. One great factor that changed their shopping habits is their receptivity to ads, especially those brands using technology, available without accessing the internet. It helped many businesses to reach a vast array of customers, as they would usually post it on social media or word of mouth. Digital signage is one great way brands are able to use technology to drive engagement. And most digital ads are integrated on social media playground and e-commerce.
For fast casual brands across the board, a few key digital signage strategies can help engage younger customers and attract their businesses. According to surveys, 72% of the population says that humor increases their receptivity to ads, 58% said good music keeps their interest, and 56% said ads should tell a good story. Ad attributes that didn’t matter much, include celebrities in advertisements and only 26% of Gen Z wanted special effects in ads. The location where they saw the ad is also a great factor *marketingdive.com/digitalsignagetoday.com/How Digital Signage can bring in Gen Z.
Generation Z, is a perplexing bunch of technology-dependent and multi-cultured babies of the digital age. It has been proven that digital signages play a vital role in shaping Generation Z but it is also important to remember that this medium should complement and enhance the brand without overwhelming customers with too much technology, because after all, digital is not a panacea in of itself.