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Marketing to Gen Z
290 Plays3 years ago
How can companies and organizations catch the eye of Generation Z? Marketing to Gen Z consumers requires much more than a flashy campaign. Ava McDonald, CEO of Zfluence, joins the conversation to discuss what matters most in marketing to Generation Z.
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Transcript
Introduction to Marketing to Gen Z
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to hashtag Gen Z. I'm your host, Megan Grace.
00:00:19
Speaker
Hey there, this is episode 33 of hashtag Gen Z.
The Power of Gen Z as Consumers
00:00:23
Speaker
Today, we are talking about a topic that many companies and organizations are thinking about, marketing to Gen Z. As Generation Z is growing up, they're becoming a powerful consumer group. With billions in spending and power, companies are vying for Generation Z's attention and hopeful engagement as a consumer.
00:00:40
Speaker
But for Generation Z, marketing is so much more than just being able to know about the product or service or having a catchy campaign.
Authenticity in Marketing: Ava McDonald's Perspective
00:00:46
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So I'm joined in this episode by Ava McDonald, a member of Generation Z, who's working with companies to prioritize Generation Z in their marketing. Ava is the founder and CEO of ZFluence and a sophomore at Georgetown University. Ava founded ZFluence in March of 2019 to address the lack of authenticity in marketing to Generation Z and to empower her generation to play a greater role in authentic brand advocacy.
00:01:09
Speaker
The youngest honoree on the 2020 ad age 40 under 40 list of marketing trailblazers and the only Gen Z honoree, Ava has become one of her generation's most inspiring entrepreneurial voices. She speaks regularly about consumer power of Generation Z and entrepreneurship as an empowering force for young women. Most recently, Ava was a featured speaker at Harvard University's Women in Business Conference and has served on panels alongside executives from McKenzie, Goldman Sachs, Bain & Company, Google, and Amazon.
00:01:43
Speaker
I would like to welcome my guest and new friend to the conversation, Ava McDonald. She is the founder of ZFluence. And I'm actually going to turn it over to Ava to have her introduce herself and explain a little bit more about what she does.
Mission and Vision of ZFluence
00:01:55
Speaker
Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here.
00:01:59
Speaker
My name is Ava McDonald. I'm the founder and CEO of ZFluence. And what we do at ZFluence is we connect brands with their influential Gen Z fans who advocate authentically for them on social media, as well as provide valuable marketing insights and a Gen Z perspective on their products. In addition to being the founder and CEO of ZFluence, I'm sophomore at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. I'm passionate about entrepreneurship, marketing, and all things Gen Z. So really looking forward to the conversation.
Founding Story of ZFluence
00:02:28
Speaker
So tell me a little bit more about your entrepreneurship journey and what inspired you or called you to start ZFluence. Yeah. So I really fell into entrepreneurship accidentally. Of course, growing up in Austin, Texas, which has become quite the hub for entrepreneurship and given that both my parents have entrepreneurial careers.
00:02:50
Speaker
I was exposed to entrepreneurship from a pretty early age, but it wasn't until I was just scrolling through social media like a typical teenager and saw really inauthentic posts that were very clearly paid for by brands that basically put influencers with their products, promoting them inauthentically, that I noticed a real problem in the social media space.
00:03:16
Speaker
And I thought to myself, who is it that I really take my product recommendations from? And those are my peers, real members of Gen Z who are influential through their community and on campus involvement. And those are people who really speak to me because we're on the same level and
00:03:32
Speaker
have a very similar outlook just given the way that we are both part of this generation. So with money that I'd saved up from a past summer job, I decided to launch ZFluence in March of 2019 to combat that lack of authenticity as well as the fact that brands really weren't speaking to Gen Z and the way that Gen Z wanted. So they would try to market to Gen Z without really truly listening to them and
00:04:01
Speaker
leveraging their authentic Gen Z consumers to serve as a reference and advocate authentically for them. Since starting ZFluence in March of 2019, we've built a really robust and influential network of more than 3,000 ZFluencers across the United States with a total reach of more than 25 million Gen Z consumers.
Engaging Gen Z: Listening and Insights
00:04:20
Speaker
So let's talk about marketing and communication because I think that in your work, you've probably started to recognize this that engaging Generation Z looks a little bit different. So what do you think matters most when trying to engage Generation Z, especially when it comes to brands and brand marketing? I think that for brands that are trying to reach Generation Z,
00:04:41
Speaker
It's super important that they're listening to the voices of their Gen Z consumers because one thing as a teenage founder and a Gen Z founder, while I may lack the years of business experience and while I might not have a college degree yet, one thing that I do have that brands are really trying to tap into right now is a genuine Gen Z perspective on the world. Given that we are the first generation to not have a world without
00:05:08
Speaker
technology and social media and all of these new revolutionary ways that we're being connected and I think that it's really important and valuable that brands are taking a second now to listen to what their Gen Z consumers are saying as well as leveraging the voices of their Gen Z consumers to promote their products authentically on social media and beyond.
00:05:32
Speaker
So you mentioned transparency and you've mentioned voice a little bit and participation. But when it comes to the brands that are doing a really good job at marketing and engaging Generation Z, who are those companies?
Earning Loyalty through Genuine Engagement
00:05:48
Speaker
What are some of the brands that are getting it right?
00:05:50
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In complete honesty, I think that any brand that is taking the time to seek out the opinions of their Gen Z consumers, that's a brand that's doing it right. And the brands that have taken the time to seek out our platform, engage with Z influencers, and broaden their horizons, those are brands that I truly appreciate as a Gen Z consumer myself because it feels really great as a consumer to be listened to and a quote that I
00:06:20
Speaker
stumbled upon the other day that I thought was really interesting is that for Gen Z participation is the new expectation. So Gen Z expects to be involved in the conversation about the kinds of products that they're consuming. And with Gen Z valuing so many things like sustainability or activism, I think that it's really great that brands are taking the time to listen to the wants and needs of their Gen Z consumers and are tailoring their marketing as well as their products to
00:06:49
Speaker
Um, what those Gen Zers are saying. So, you know, you've talked a lot about the, the voice and the authenticity and some of the, like the very high level things that brands that are getting it right, what they're doing, what are some really tangible ways that brands might be able to move their marketing strategy to align with generations, these interests and motivations a bit more.
00:07:09
Speaker
I mean for Gen Z, friends are the greatest segue to the discovery of new brands. So for brands that really want to reach Gen Z, looking at the people who are already their Gen Z consumers and looking at the ways that they influence those around them,
00:07:26
Speaker
And using their influence to build their Gen Z consumer base is something that's really important to do. And that's what brands are able to do on our platform, which is connect with their authentic Gen Z brand fans, talk to them and create really authentic posts that are not coming from a place of, oh, I'm being paid to say this because we actually don't allow for any payments on our platform. We do products as reward only. But these are endorsements that are truly genuine and are really credible because they're coming from
00:07:54
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a brand's real and influential Gen Z consumers. So of course I would recommend to brands that they look at all of the great Gen Zers who are already fans of their products and their brands and take into account their feedback as well as leverage their influence to continue attracting more Gen Z consumers.
Gen Z's Mission-Driven Purchasing Decisions
00:08:14
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We know that as Generation Z is growing up and gaining more financial standing and more consumer share, that they're going to have some influence on how marketing and branding takes place. But I think they're already doing that. So how do you think Generation Z is changing the marketing and communication landscape?
00:08:33
Speaker
Well, one thing that's super unique about Gen Z is that they are very mission driven. So because they have access to social media and technology, they can really see all of the brands and products that they have to choose from when they're making a purchasing decision. And I know that there's kind of a saying that people will vote for the products that they choose for based on the values that they offer.
00:08:59
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And that's really something that's relevant with Gen Z. So they have all of these options at their disposal. They're seeing so many different brands and products on their phones all the time. And they're really being more selective based on the mission statements and the promises that these companies are making.
00:09:16
Speaker
So I think more than ever it's super important for brands to take into account the values that Gen Z is looking for and the kinds of products that they're choosing and be aware that they have so many options. So it's more important now than ever to make sure that your mission is something that aligns with the consumers that you are trying to target.
00:09:35
Speaker
So you bring up a really good point that Generation Z is more in tuned maybe than other generations were at their age about the mission and values and kind of this alignment among brands and companies. And I think that's an interesting perspective, especially thinking about authenticity as a value of Generation Z and in the sense that
00:09:55
Speaker
not only just generations you wanna be authentic to, they are, but they want brands that are also authentic. But I'd also love to hear from you, Ava, as a consumer, as an individual, what are some of the brands that you love that you think are getting it absolutely right in your perspective? Like, so from your lens of working with many brands, what are the ones that are really checking all the box in terms of voice, participation, authenticity, and this idea of mission and values alignment? Yeah, I mean, it's hard for me to,
00:10:24
Speaker
name like one brand or two brands because I, as you said, can't speak for all Generation Z. But I think that any brand that we should be paying attention to is one that listens authentically to their consumers, is engaging with them in a way that's not only just them gaining their feedback, but also utilizing the voices of their Gen Z consumers to, as a marketing strategy, honestly,
00:10:51
Speaker
So, I think it's kind of hard to pinpoint one brand because, of course, one thing that's really interesting about Gen Z is that we are the most diverse generation to exist. And, I mean, with that, diversity comes a complexity of different opinions and values, and that's what makes up this really
00:11:09
Speaker
really great and detailed mosaic of a generation that we are. So, I mean, there are lots of brands that I think are doing it right, engaging with their Gen Z consumers. There are lots of brands that I think could be doing a better job listening to their Gen Z consumers, but what I'm most excited about is that there's really more of a movement and a shift towards brands taking into consideration what their Gen Z consumers are looking for and
00:11:36
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So as we're heading back to what many think will be a new normal or a more normal feeling world after the pandemic, I think there's a lot of eyes on predictions about what's next. And I think that branding and marketing and
00:11:49
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and communication with today's youth and young people is certainly at the forefront of many minds. From a branding and marketing perspective, do you have any predictions?
The Future of Experiential Marketing
00:11:58
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Do you have any thoughts about where we might see marketing going, especially considering the time we're living in right now?
00:12:05
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that having experienced a global pandemic will definitely be a defining feature of Gen Z. And I mean, it's something that we will all remember and hold as a shared experience. And a good majority of Gen Zers are experiencing high school, college, or even they're entering during the
00:12:24
Speaker
entering the workforce during this time. So I think that that experience is definitely going to impact the way that we approach different things. I'm thinking about myself having spent my first year at Georgetown as a virtual student.
00:12:40
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And one thing that that has helped me to think about is how much I value in-person experiences and how meaningful it is to really connect with another individual face to face. So I think that experiential marketing is going to be a pretty big facet of the next few years with Gen Z, especially as we're coming out of the pandemic.
00:13:02
Speaker
Since connection is really something that we as a generation appreciate, we're of course drawn to social media to connect with one another. And those experiences that are both digital and in person are definitely something that I think brands should definitely pay attention to as they're trying to market to a generation that has really spent a good chunk of time experiencing life through the lens of a global pandemic.
00:13:29
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Eva, you bring up a really great point considering that how much generation Z values in-person connection and how much that matters even outside of a global pandemic. The opportunity that exists for brands to really activate this generation and think about marketing to this generation through an opportunity to bring people together in an authentic manner, truly. But I think that you've really hit it on the head in terms of a strong
00:13:56
Speaker
prediction for where we're going to see things moving, not only as a society, but in terms of brands. So brands listening, take note, I think that these experiential opportunities for Generation Z to connect is going to be key. It's just one of many pieces to the puzzle of engaging generation.
00:14:13
Speaker
So Ava, you've been so insightful in providing such good information and suggestion and really summarizing branding to Generation Z in an important way. And so I wanna thank you for that. But before I let you go, I asked this of every guest and you are no exception.
Gen Z's Characteristics and Impact
00:14:32
Speaker
So we're gonna ask really what is your favorite thing about your Generation Z peers?
00:14:39
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I think that my favorite thing about being a member of Gen Z and just Gen Z as a whole is that we are so motivated by authenticity. And that is something that you can identify in almost everything that we do. On social media, we are really interested in not portraying ourselves a certain way, but we really want to showcase who we are. Unlike millennials, who I feel like probably are trying to convey more of a constructed image,
00:15:09
Speaker
We are really passionate and creative about expressing ourselves. I also think that Gen Z is super motivated by social causes, which is really great. And personally, something that resonates with me is that I love that Gen Z is so interested in entrepreneurship. And not just entrepreneurship, but entrepreneurship that ignites real change and solves a problem.
00:15:30
Speaker
So for me, that was addressing the lack of authenticity that I saw on social media. But for other people, they're motivated by different issues that they're seeing in the world. And together, collectively as a generation, I think that those kind of ideas and that problem solving nature that we have gained from not only just
00:15:51
Speaker
living our lives in a digital world, but also confronting really big challenges like this pandemic. And we have the critical thinking skills and the perseverance to try and make change. I also think one thing that's really unique about Gen Z and successful entrepreneurs is that we have a lot of traits in common. For example, the willingness to try.
00:16:14
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the willingness to take risks, a sense of curiosity for new things. So I think that that is something that really is going to serve as well as a generation and I'm really looking forward to
00:16:25
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seeing the kind of problems that Gen Z will solve in the next few years. I absolutely agree. I always commend Generation Z because they've learned the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit at such a young age. And I believe that their desire to do good matched with their innovation will really do a lot of wonderful things, not only for their careers, but for our world. Ava, thank you again for being here. It has been such a delight to be able to connect with you and learn from you. And we appreciate everything you've shared. So thank you, Ava.
00:16:54
Speaker
Whether you work directly in marketing or not, Ava provides important insights about connecting with Generation Z.
00:17:00
Speaker
Marketing is all about getting your intended messages across in a manner that appropriately and accurately represents your brand. For connecting with Generation Z, it's so much more than just campaigns. Marketing to Gen Z is about authenticity, meaning, impact, connection, and a full experience. Ava shared so many incredible points that we can all be paying attention to as we're trying to engage and communicate with Generation Z. Ava, thank you again for joining this important conversation and sharing your experiences.
00:17:27
Speaker
and thank you for tuning into this episode. As always, if you enjoyed the episode, please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Your feedback helps me improve the podcast and helps others find these important conversations. We have a few more episodes left before we take a break in 2021, but if you have a topic you're interested in or a member of Generation Z that I need to chat with, please head over to my website, meganmgrace.com, or find me on social media to drop a quick note.
00:17:52
Speaker
Thank you again for stopping by for this episode. Let's continue this conversation and we'll chat soon.