Looking for brands that are targeting millennial and Gen Z consumers?
There’s no doubt both generations hold significant buying power, despite their young age. A recent report shows that Gen Z is predicted to command 40% of all consumer shopping by 2020, along with a millennial generation that currently makes up 21% of consumer discretionary purchases. These audiences are plugged in online more than any other demographic, therefore marketers who can capture the attention of this generation digitally and cater to their unique preferences will have the advantage.
To help you tap into media opportunities specifically targeted to these generations we’ve put together a hit list of brands planning in Q1. From Pandora to Wrangler and Pinterest, here are 6 brands you should be prioritizing now:
Pandora Jewelry decided to put Vice-owned Virtue in charge of global creative after the successful launch of a new brand strategy last August. The first work from the agency dropped at the top of October 2019 in promotion of the Pandora x Millie Bobby Brown collection.
Keep an eye on additional initiatives the agency plans to launch for the jeweler. There is a campaign titled “Rebelle in Wonderland” and a Christmas campaign in the works. These efforts will promote Pandora’s focus on personalization and help the company further engage Gen-Z.
Media Seller Opportunity: The jeweler typically spends the most during Q4, but it would also be a good idea to look out for additional new products and initiatives around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. It holds planning conversations in Q1 and buying conversations in Q4. While there is a main focus on Gen-Z, there may also be opportunities for sellers with high reach among millennials. Spend continues to increase, and we will continue to see a heavier focus on digital and social as marketing team shifts continue.
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Casey’s General Stores recently named Schafer Condon Carter creative AOR, reported at the end of October. SCC has already developed a new brand platform, “Here For Good” launched through broadcast, print and digital.
Casey’s functions mainly as a pizza chain, but is technically classified as a convenience store. It made an addition to its marketing leadership team with Megan Elfers as marketing and advertising VP, hired in March of this year. Casey’s put a new digital platform, loyalty program, and mobile app in place to attract more millennials to Midwest locations.
Media Seller Opportunity: Sellers are encouraged to offer space appealing to Gen Z and millennials. According to Adbeat, Casey’s last spent more highly on digital display this summer, but it has continued spending steadily since that time. Spending has risen exponentially in this channel over the past 12 months, going from $2.2 to $38.2k. Casey’s places most ads site direct. Casey’s hasn’t placed any national TV ads this year, but could see more spend in this channel with new leadership in place.
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Homegoods retailer Crate & Barrel has launched its first work from YARD, which it appointed as it’s AOR in July. “Made for Each Other” promotes products seeking company, and it’s dropped just in time with the holiday season. It also launched holiday-specific collections for Halloween, Hanukkah and Christmas.
During the past year, Adbeat reports that C&B has spent $19 million on digital display ads, most of which have been placed in H2, primarily programmatically via Google. This amount reflects a 604% increase from the $2.7 million spent within the 365 days prior.
Media Seller Opportunity: C&B tends to target female household decision-makers. For example, last year’s holiday ad teamed up with Reese Witherspoon. It also tends to launch ads for Mother’s Day. It must be seeing positive results from trying to reach younger millennial parent audiences, considering the rise in digital display and ad spend. The retailer operates in most states, view specific locations here.
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Pinterest is about to launch its first major campaign since 2017’s “What If.” In preparation for the new effort, Pinterest’s marketing and sales expenses rose 68% YOY, from $66 million to $111 million according to the Drum. It hasn’t done a big brand push yet, but in an effort to keep up with rivals such as Etsy, it will need to start pushing the brand into Gen Z and millennial minds again soon.
Pinterest’s CMO, Andrea Mallard, has been wanting to enter TV, OOH, and print channels in addition to its traditional digital and social outlets. Pinterest hopes to make feed recommendations and personalized searches more efficient, meaning we may see higher dollars in hyper-targeted digital search.
According to Adbeat, YOY digital display spend more than doubled over the past year, rising from $1.2 million to $2.5 million. It began increasing in May 2019 and saw record-breaking highs in late June/early July.
Though Pinterest has placed local TV ads in the past, it has not yet invested in national TV, according to iSpot. We may see this change in coming campaigns. However, it’s more likely that Pinterest will continue to increase digital display over TV.
Media Seller Opportunity: Offer digital space to get Pinterest in front of female millennial and Gen Z business owners and shoppers.
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Wrangler, clothing brand of Kontoor Brands, has gone wild-west for its first global digital campaign, “Wear With Abandon.” The campaign totes cowboy pride and includes cross-channel outreach in U.S. markets. So far, the campaign has entered digital, radio, and broadcast channels with a plan to enter other regions in other quarters.
The global Western-wear market has been on a consistent growth trajectory since 2017, projected to reach $99.4 million by 2023. Wrangler offers semi-formal and casual apparel, which should work in the company’s favor as these categories are outpacing the growth of formal wear due to the millennial-influenced professional market. Due to Wrangler’s presumed growth in this market, sellers should continue to have plenty of revenue available.
Adbeat reports a YOY increase from just $100k to $2.4 million spent on digital display advertising in the past 12 months compared to the year prior. Most ads have been placed site direct in the past 12 months.
Media Seller Opportunity: According to sources, the “yeehaw agenda” is rising particularly for Gen Z and millennials. Wrangler’s mobile scanning tool, featured on wrangleronmybooty.com, adheres to the younger generation’s interests by allowing consumers to view behind-the-scenes footage for the “Old Town Road” hit single video that Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus mention Wranglers directly in. Focus on offering the channels mentioned above in order to target these generations.
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PA’s Giant Food grocer released a TV campaign to promote Giant Direct, it’s online D2C grocery delivery and pick-up service. It targets millennial parents who have a difficult time between jobs and children to go shopping.
Two separate ads feature two separate employees of Giant run as 15 and 30-second spots with the tagline “Everything you need, hand picked and fresh. Direct from us to you.” This is most likely an attempt to play on the millennial desire to have farm-fresh foods.
Giant Direct, powered through Peapod, is available at 115 locations across four undisclosed states, but it plans to reach 90% of its retailers by the end of the year. The D2C approach helps it compete with Whole Foods, Kroger, and Walmart. The increased personalization and enhanced digital experience is something we should continue to see it pursue.
The brand switched top spending periods for digital display from Q3 in 2018 to Q2 this year. While spend has significantly decreased in this realm, some of this money could have shifted to bolster the TV efforts.
Media Seller Opportunity: Offer digital and local ad space near Giant Food store locations. Remember, it should expand the online shoppers market Giant Direct by end of year. Aim to get these ads in front of millennial and Gen X parents. Last year, the top spending period was Q4.
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