Audio formats are becoming increasingly important to reach generation Z. And it is because, as content creators, young people born between 1994 and 2010 are forging aesthetics, genres and fan groups through music and podcasts. As listeners, your tastes and listening habits say a lot about who you are.
Hence, among the recent marketing strategies we see brands like Fabuloso creating a playlist , in order to motivate young people to mop. This bet arose because the cleaning brand identified that digital natives do not usually or like to carry out this domestic activity.
Under the title #TrapParaTrapear, Fabuloso brought four songs to life on Spotify: ‘Everything smells like you’, ‘I feel fabulous’, ‘To clean’ and a tutorial to learn how to mop step by step. However, it is not the first time that the brand has used music to connect with certain audiences and, consequently, increase the sale of its cleaners.
In 2019, he discovered that the Latin public turned to spiteful music to wash the dishes, so he created the Fabulous Playlist campaign, which included tracks like ‘To clean up to your memory’, ‘Cleaning up to the bottom’, ‘To scrape the chancla ‘ and ‘Matting and Mopping’. This initiative obtained six metals at the Círculo de Oro Festival, the 96 hours it remained active on social networks was equivalent to three months of online advertising investment, while the brand increased its digital community by 4,500% in a single day.
Personalized and pacing ads
Gen Z expects the brands and media they consume to personalize almost all of their content. In its Culture Next 2022 report, Spotify found that in the first quarter of the year, 18-24-year-olds listened to more than 578 billion minutes of music on the platform, more than any other group and narrowly surpassing more than 16 billion minutes to listeners ages 25-34.
“Personal expression and creativity are critical components of how Gen Z navigates the world. They not only rely on artists, podcasts and playlists to create the stories they tell about their lives, but also invite brands to reflect and produce their personal stories. We are seeing a generation that is not afraid to connect with brands directly and that seeks originality at all times”, mentions Andrea Rivera, head of advertising sales for Spotify Mexico.
69% of the members of this generation are characterized as drivers of change instead of maintaining the status quo, and their collective soundtrack reveals the energy they cling to when looking to the future: “idealists” and “passionate” were some of the musical moods that grew the most among generation Z in the last year. Although it is defined as a stressed generation, even more than millennials.
According to Rivera, there are five listening trends typical of Generation Z that can help brands better connect with these young people:
Creation of communities
Gen Z is revolutionizing the relationship between creators and their fans, turning a one-way stream into a two-way exchange. Today, creators build entire digital worlds for their most loyal fans to meet and carve their own path to fame in the process.
Gen Z is forming online communities where they can get together and encourage each other to follow every bit of information they can find about their favorite artists. We’re not just talking about fan culture, we’re talking about superfan culture.
life in stereo
Generation Z moves around the world. They not only rely on artists, podcasts and playlists to create the stories they tell about their lives, but also invite brands to reflect and produce their personal stories.
They are interested in interacting with brands through personalized ads: 49% of young people of this generation in Mexico indicated that they prefer to be able to select the ad they hear in a digital audio streaming service and more than a third choose to interact with announcements.
So while brands of the past may have prioritized keeping a firm grip on their messaging, there is a huge opportunity to connect with the next generation, giving them control and allowing them to personalize their experience, particularly in the world of audio.
The audio for the alter ego
Gen Z grew up in a time of social upheaval, as traditional social structures like education, work, and religion were disrupted and once-standard paths to success became saturated or simply disappeared.
But while previous generations of teens and 20-somethings sought to fit in, Gen Z aspires to stand out and is constantly finding new ways to express their individuality. The audio helps them explore and discover their most representative aspects, to take advantage of the identities they did not know they had and even to create new ones.
“They are expressive, resilient and ready to disrupt the culture, which is why one of the things to highlight is the importance that mental health has been given in recent years, and how our audio platform is helping that. centennials see it as a tool for orientation, but also for disconnection and relaxation. For example, 80% of the participants pointed out that the audio allows them to explore different facets of their personality”, details the specialist.
64% of Gen Z in Mexico said they use products that allow them to explore different facets of their personality and 82% like brands that can connect with those facets.
auditory therapy
Generation Z turns to podcasts as a safe space to solve life’s most complex problems. Podcasts go beyond simple entertainment and serve as spaces for knowledge, learning, and even catharsis, especially for young people between 18 and 24 years old, who are on their way to adulthood.
In the past year alone, average Gen Z podcast listening in Mexico saw a 90% increase on Spotify between the first quarter of 2022 and the previous year. Now, half of young people listen to podcasts at least once a week.
Mental health, the leading genre of Gen Z podcasts globally, saw a 46% increase in the number of views of this generation during the first quarter of 2022, compared to the previous year.
the new nostalgia
While all generations look back fondly, Gen Z is reinventing nostalgia. They reinterpret the memories of pop culture through a current perspective to obtain and inspire something new and their own. In addition, they face climate change, economic turmoil and the threat of a third world war.
However, nostalgia gives a sense of relief in the midst of uncertainty. Generation Z clings to almost any time that offers them respite from the difficulties of the present. 67% like listening to and watching multimedia content from previous decades because it reminds them of when things were simpler.
For Gen Z, the past is a propellant for the future, and that applies to much more than just music. 83% like it when brands bring the aesthetics of the past into the present, and 82% love it when brands launch retro products or content. Today, brands need to understand the nuances of the new nostalgia to connect with this generation.
