Marketing To Gen Z? No Better Time To Get ‘Emojinal’

“Get rid of the boring aspects of marketing because we have a visual generation here,” advised author Joeri Van den Bergh, who spoke at the Youth Marketing Strategy conference on Wednesday.

Jumping online while watching TV seems to happen universally among generations, but Generation Z stands out for one activity its members don’t partake: checking email. So said Joeri Van den Bergh, author of the AMA award-winning book “How Cool Brands Stay Hot,” who spoke at the Youth Marketing Strategy conference in Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday afternoon.

In a study about the media consumption habits of Baby Boomers and Generations X, Y, and Z, Van den Bergh found all four engage in online activities—specifically, social media, surfing the internet, or playing games—while watching TV. However, unlike the others, Generation Z does not checking email while watching TV, likely because they are not yet business professionals and email is “boring,” Van den Bergh said.

Their No. 1 activity while watching TV? Messaging with friends. Furthermore, Gen Z relies heavily on emojis to share how they feel. Their most popular word in texting in 2014 was “LOL,” in 2015 it was “haha,” and the “laughing so hard I’m crying” emoji was most used in 2016.

“Gen Z is snappy and efficient,” Van den Bergh said. “They are the ‘emojinal’ generation because a picture is worth more than 1,000 words. Brands need to take note of this when they are trying to talk to this generation. Get rid of the boring aspects of marketing because we have a visual generation here.”

Van den Bergh pointed to Pepsi is an example of a brand that has embraced emojis. It added various branded emojis on its products in more than 17 markets, and also created a downloadable Pepsimoji keyboard.

Van den Bergh also noted that Generation Z is impatient. They have a short fuse about their marketing experiences and are quick to move on if something doesn’t work or load properly.

Personalization is one of the most important brand aspects for Generation Z, Van den Bergh added. “They like to put their stamp on things and feel like they have created something,” he said.

Read related article: “Brands, Take Note: Music Strikes A Chord With Young Audiences”