Behold, the newest consumer group that has been identified by the U.S. advertising industry.
Public relations and marketing agency Ketchum has expanded its audience insights offering with a body of shoppers that it has identified and named GenZennial.
What is a “GenZennial”?
This newly identified microgeneration bridges the Gen Z and millennial demographics.
What does this mean for a media property that relies on this segment of consumers for ratings and revenue?
Ketchum’s work on client campaigns targeting the well-studied Gen Z and millennial segments led to their realization that millennials born after 1992 and members of Gen Z born in 2000 have more in common with each other than with the upper or lower range of their respective demographics.
“Ketchum’s identification of the GenZennial cohort signals a shift in how we think about youth marketing,” said Angela Fernandez, SVP and leader of Ketchum’s Engaging Gen Z audience insights area. “We’re replacing two massive demographics defined by birth year with a smaller, narrower audience defined by a life stage and common mindset. This gives brands a far more effective way to reach them.”
Strategic about their social footprint and raised with a smartphone in hand, GenZennials are not just digital natives – they are data natives who have become ultra-savvy consumers, Ketchum says.
GenZennials represent an estimated 39 million Americans.
“Defying the boundaries of their conventional labels, the coming-of-age GenZennial is united by a number of important firsts, including learning to drive, getting a credit card, buying their first car, going to college, getting their first apartment and starting a full-time job,” said Aaron Berger, VP and leader of the millennial audience insights area at Ketchum. “Because of this, they represent a highly desirable consumer audience for brands.”
GenZennials are a blend of the two generations that surround and influence them, but this cohort has distinct attributes:
- They are diverse in culture and thought, interdependent by nature and inherent do-gooders.
- They are also the next generation of shoppers, with their own view of the future, which has inspired Ketchum to survey 1,000 GenZennials on the future of transportation, self-driving cars and ride-sharing, in a study set to be released in April.
Through work for clients including Hyundai and Wendy’s, Ketchum is already targeting this in-demand microgeneration.
Among the efforts with advertisers designed to enlighten them to the GenZennial are workshops that zero in on the GenZennial cohort, to best develop authentic messaging; tools that identify influencers specific to the GenZennial and the brand category; and message development and media training “to prepare GenZennial-age employees to be spokespersons or prepare executives to connect with GenZennial employees or the GenZennial cohort.
Ketchum has even taken a stab at deconstructing the newsroom through “StoryWorks,” where it says “content such as copy, memes, graphics and video are created in response to what is trending in real-time.”
Through this arm, it is creating is original video content targeted to GenZennials and created within 24-48 hours in response to what is trending.
What GenZennials think may already have an impact on one of the radio and TV industry’s biggest advertising categories: Automotive.
How GenZennials view the future of transportation is the focus of the first Ketchum study of this consumer group, and is set for release in the coming weeks. The research focuses on how this coming-of-age cohort views everything from the significance of driving and owning a car to self-driving vehicles and flying cars. The results could influence everything from automotive design to marketing and branding, with advertising on radio and TV eventually seeing the impact from this cohort.
Additionally, the GenZennial could have great influence over other key advertising categories seen at radio and TV, while also yielding considerable influence on future programming decisions.
Ketchum is an Omnicom shop and partners with clients “to deliver strategic programming, game-changing creative and measurable results that build brands and reputations.”
