Gen Z marketing

For some adult Gen Z consumers, those born between 1997 and 2006, planning for retirement might not be their most immediate concern. That’s something for future me to worry about, they might be thinking. But in early 2024, retirement services provider TIAA wanted to spark conversations with younger adult audiences about financial literacy and get them to start considering their future and retirement. “This message is crucial for a younger audience, many of which are likely to postpone financial planning and savings for retirement,” TIAA chief brand officer Zara Mirza told Amazon Ads.

TIAA’s plan to connect with these younger adults?

A hit rap song about generational wealth from hip-hop superstar Wyclef Jean.

TIAA worked with the Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab to raise awareness for financial literacy through Jean’s new song “Paper Right” with a campaign that expanded the Stream It Forward program to Amazon Music for the first time. Through the initiative, Amazon donated $1 for every stream of “Paper Right” on Amazon Music from January 11 to February 29 to TIAA’s charity of choice, First Generation Investors, a nonprofit organization that teaches high school students the power of investing.

“Paper Right” hit more than 100,000 streams in just 10 days. A few months later, the campaign was short-listed for the Audio & Radio Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility award at Cannes Lions.

“We will continue to explore different ways of leveraging entertainment-brand partnerships to help authentically engage new audiences across generations, including Gen Z,” Mirza said.

TIAA’s success with the campaign shows how brands can connect with adult Gen Z audiences by taking part in the cultural conversation, communicating shared values, and empowering consumers.

Marketers have always worked hard to understand how to connect with young generations whose values, preferences, and cultures evolve across ever advancing technology. Gen Z is the first generation to grow up entirely in the digital age. They are a unique group of consumers whose perspectives and media habits define the ways they engage with brands and advertising. For marketers, it is essential that they work to understand how to authentically connect with adult Gen Z consumers, by knowing how to meaningfully participate in today’s conversations and following the trends and values that define fragmented global communities and digital culture.

Gen Z has never known a world isolated by physical boundaries—theirs is a lived experience defined by viral trends, fragmented online communities, and the dizzying speed of digital culture. As such, they’re craving a more unified sense of connection. According to the From Ads to Zeitgeist research from Amazon Ads, 70% of adult Gen Z consumers want to feel a greater sense of belonging and community, and 65% say brands can create these shared experiences—a sentiment more prevalent among this younger generation compared to Gen X and boomers.

This means there is an opportunity for brands to connect with adult Gen Z consumers by cultivating and participating in shared cultural experiences. But it’s important for brands to meaningfully take part in culture, rather than simply react to it.

One place where brands can take part in the cultural conversation is on Twitch, where millions of people come together live every day to chat, interact, and make their own entertainment together. More than 70% of Twitch viewers are between the ages of 18 and 34, making it an excellent place for brands to connect with adult Gen Z audiences. One such brand that has had success being part of the cultural conversation with Gen Z on Twitch is State Farm, who has been the official sponsor of Twitch Rivals since 2021.

“As a community-focused brand, State Farm was drawn to Twitch because of the strong community of millennial and adult Gen Z gaming audiences,” said Alyson Griffin, State Farm marketing vice president, “we see tremendous value in our ability to engage directly with fans, whether that’s in small ways like gifting subs or in bigger ways including creating our own original content featuring some of the biggest creators on Twitch.”

State Farm has also launched its own content series, Gamerhood, on Twitch in 2022. In 2023, Gamerhood 2 garnered more than 12 million episode views from the five weekly streams across channels and the series returns for 2024 with Gamerhood: Neo City streaming on Twitch each Friday this August. Original content like this can be a powerful way to engage with adult Gen Z audiences. According to the From Ads to Zeitgeist research from Amazon Ads, 64% of adult Gen Z consumers are looking for the creation of more original content—more so than boomers or Gen X. And 71% of adult Gen Z consumers say they enjoy advertising that entertains them.

Popular Twitch creators are also eager to have brands be involved in their thriving communities. Raquel Lily, a musician and content creator, has more than 70K followers on Twitch. On a given day, Lily may be performing for thousands of fans watching her livestream, or writing and recording, or throwing a Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power watch party. She also supports her art and music career by working with brands ranging from AT&T to Gretsch Guitars, the camera retailer Adorama, meal-kit company HelloFresh, Logitech, and more.

“It’s really cool to work with brands that are adjacent to what I’m doing—on the music or the tech side,” Lily said. “I think a lot of people are turned off by pandering. You can see how disingenuous it is sometimes. On Twitch, you can’t fake any of that. You are literally seeing micro-expressions of these artists. So if they truly believe in your brand and they really love, say, a microphone, they’re gonna use it, and you’re gonna see it in real time.”

As Lily explained, these brand collaborations are a natural way for her to support her music and also connect with her community.

“My community is a mix between people who genuinely enjoy my music or my personality, but also there’s a big chunk who are aspiring artists themselves. They’re there because they want to learn. So they put their trust in you,” Lily said. “They may be like, ‘OK, those are the strings that Raquel vouches for; I think I’m going to get them.’ So it’s a way for people to try things or go all the way and splurging before knowing that’s exactly what they want to buy.”

Younger adult audiences, in particular, want to feel inspired by advertising. In fact, 63% of adult Gen Z consumers say advertising sparks consumers’ creativity—compared to 51% of boomers or 58% of Gen X and younger boomers.

Prime Video ads also offers brands an opportunity to take part in the global cultural conversation. With hit shows and movies ranging from The Idea of You, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Reacher, Fallout, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and more, Prime Video has established itself as a premier entertainment destination with an average monthly ad-supported reach of 200 million global customers, 115 million of whom are in the U.S. Prime Video offers hit movies, great series, award-winning Amazon Originals, and live sports, all in a single destination, available through one application across thousands of devices.

Prime Video’s average unique audience compared to other streaming services is 47%, and it drives 56% incremental lift among adults 18 to 49 compared to linear TV. This makes Prime Video an excellent way for brands to connect with adult Gen Z audiences across the entertainment they love.

“No other streaming service can reach the number of customers with premium entertainment that we can. And our audience is not just a number on a page,” said Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “They're highly engaged viewers who are passionate about the deep and broad selection of programming we deliver, including live sports, series, and films.”

Beyond being an active participant in communities and cultural spaces, brands must also lead with their values and connect with adult Gen Z audiences through shared beliefs and perspectives. Whether it’s by communicating their sustainable efforts or demonstrating a dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion, brands have an opportunity to bond with audiences through the topics they care deeply about. About 56% of adult Gen Z consumers agree or strongly agree that brands help raise awareness of global issues and topics, higher than boomers or Gen X, according to the From Ads to Zeitgeist research from Amazon Ads.

One issue that is of particular concern to younger generations is sustainability. In the 2023 Higher Impact study, 6 in 10 (65%) of adult Gen Z and millennials said it was important for brands that they purchase from are committed to sustainability. And as much as 62% of adult Gen Z consumers said they’re willing to pay more for a product that has a third-party sustainability certification, compared to just 41% of boomers.

With a commitment to being climate positive by 2030, Logitech works to innovate with sustainability in mind while being transparent with their consumers about sustainability through advertising and messaging.

About 1 in 3 Logitech products are made with second-life materials—a figure that continues to increase. Along with the Next Life Plastics program, which produces products with recycled plastic, Logitech remains focused on designing out carbon with recycled or more efficient materials in products and packaging. The brand also has a Carbon Clarity program through which they commit to carbon labeling on all of their products in order to be held accountable and provide transparency for consumers.

To support these efforts, Logitech uses their Brand Store on Amazon and their Amazon Ads campaigns. The Climate Pledge Friendly program, which highlights products with first- and third-party sustainability certifications, features Logitech products that meet sustainability standards, supports Amazon’s commitment to help preserve the natural world, and recognizes products with improvements in at least one aspect of sustainability. SCS Global Services has recognized Logitech products with their Carbon Neutral Certification, meaning the product’s carbon emissions have been measured and reduced, with any remaining emissions offset.

Over the years, Robert O’Mahony, the head of sustainability global operations at Logitech, has seen younger consumers become more engaged with sustainability initiatives.

“This is moving toward the mainstream where you have more consumers paying attention to the eco-conscious message,” O’Mahony said. “We also have adult Gen Z, who are absolutely engaged. We’ve had feedback from adult Gen Z consumers who say, ‘It’s my right to know about climate-friendly products.’ The initiatives that Amazon is driving help consumers make more responsible choices.”

Among adult Gen Z consumers, mental health awareness, human rights and social issues, and animal rights were among the top three social issues they’re passionate about, according to the 2023 Higher Impact study.

In 2023, the Ad Council and the Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab (BIL) designed the audio marketing campaign, “Sound It Out: When You Can’t Say It, Play It,” which set out to help families break the ice through the power of music. The campaign includes a first-of-its-kind digital tool that is accessible on Amazon.com/SoundItOut and invites parents and caregivers to type in an emotion like “happy,” “angry,” or “sad,” then leverages the Amazon Music library of over 100 million songs to serve up a list of curated tracks that reflect the requested feeling. Parents can then ask Alexa to share one of the songs with their teen. The BIL leveraged Amazon Music’s mood etymology—the system used to classify songs by emotion—to power a search tool that enables parents and teens to discover a song, simply by entering a feeling. Then, BIL coupled that with Alexa’s song-sharing tech, which enables parents to easily send a song as a way to check in with their teen through any Alexa-enabled device.

The “Sound It Out” campaign shows how advertising can find meaningful and innovative ways to connect with consumers about topics that matter to them. According to the From Ads to Zeitgeist research, 56% of adult Gen Z consumers agree that brands help raise awareness of global issues and topics—compared to 42% of younger boomers, or 50% of Gen X and younger boomers.

Whether it’s by taking part in culture and fostering a creative community or by leading with purpose and taking genuine action on social issues, brands can forge substantial connections with adult Gen Z consumers. Brands and advertisers have always sought ways to stay afloat on the winds of cultural change, and for this generation of young people, it is by adding to the global conversation and being an active, vital participant in society.

With today’s adult Gen Z audiences, supporting a creator, contributing to a cause, cultivating a conversation, or even writing a hip-hop song could have a profound, and lasting, effect on the world.