DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: MAR ‘20
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
Reddit Makes Brand News Trend with Trending Takeovers
By Caroline Desmond, Director of Media Strategy
Last week, Reddit announced the launch of Trending Takeovers. Trending Takeovers are sponsored listings that allow brands to align with the most popular and relevant trends of the day. In this regard, Reddit’s Trending Takeovers are very similar to Twitter Promoted Trends. As with Promoted Trends, a brand who buys a Trending Takeover on Reddit will appear in the Trending Today module for 24 hours. This involves showing up in the second position on two of the highest trafficked areas on Reddit — the Popular feed and the Search tab.
Other than a disclaimer that calls out the posts as “promoted,” these ads look and feel like other Reddit posts in the Trending Today module. As such, these placements are ideal for campaigns where a brand wants to seamlessly align with something trending in culture. The user experience for Trending Takeovers is also very similar to what people are also accustomed to for organic Reddit trends. When a user clicks on a Trending Takeover ad, they are driven to a landing page featuring conversations, posts, and communities relating to handpicked advertiser keywords.
Most importantly, Trending Takeovers have the potential to reach a large audience within a short timeframe. How large is this potential reach? Reddit currently boasts “more than 430 million monthly active users engaging deeply within 100,000+ interest-based communities — one-third of whom visit Reddit’s Popular feed every day” and “millions of searches” conducted daily besides that.
Moreover, Reddit offers the potential to reach a highly engaged and influential Gen-Z/Millennial audience with a healthy disposable income. According to 2019 U.S. Nielsen MRI data, Reddit’s users are nearly 3X more likely than the general population to be between the ages of 18–22 (Gen-Z) and nearly 2X more likely to be between the ages of 23–42 (Millennial). The average age of a Reddit user is actually 32 — not surprising since Millennials account for 64% of Reddit’s audience. Reddit also tends to skew male (71%) and affluent (average household income of $113K). In terms of influence, Reddit’s audience is 47% more likely than the general population to be among the first of their peer groups to try new products, services, or technology; and they are 16% more likely than the general population to say that people often come to them for advice before making a purchase.
In short, Trending Takeovers may present a great opportunity for brands who need to drive quick influence, among an influential Gen-Z/Millennial audience, and who have a message that has the potential to align with something trending in culture. In particular, we would consider Trending Takeovers for brands who are launching something (e.g., movie releases, show premieres, new technology releases, etc.) and/or brands who have time sensitive news (limited time offers).
Checking In on Generation Z
By Izzy Kramer, Media Planner
It was certainly difficult finding a topic this month while weeding through all the press relating to Coronavirus. While this issue is nothing to joke about and the coverage is necessary, I want to infuse your feed with news on something else.
So, amidst the chaos — without completely ignoring it (I mean who can?) — let’s take a moment to check in on the future: Generation Z.
As a recap, Gen Z is aged roughly between 7 and 22. As expected by the age range, Gen Z are at the pinnacle of growth as they learn about themselves and form opinions about the world around them. So it is important to continue to check in on this generation while in progress.
Based off this highly informative Digiday Article, Digiday interviewed generational experts and found the following are the biggest trends relating to Gen Z right now:
- Climate Anxiety: Typically this has related to the overarching truth about climate change. It is a huge influencing factor on the brands Gen Z supports. Gen Z, like their Gen X parents, do their research. They look for how brands are being responsible about climate change. Gen Z has a natural instinct to find these answers online (having always had the answer a Google search away). Furthermore, at the risk of globbing two pressing issues together, I also believe “Climate Anxiety” can now extend to the current prevailing situation of public life vis-à-vis Coronavirus. Gen Z’s life has been flipped upside down, either because their school or university has closed or possibly because they’ve lost their job. These big life changes are uncontrollable and cause major anxiety. Considering this mindset is important when communicating with Gen Z.
- Virtual Omnipresence: Continuing from the point made above about Gen Z’s natural instinct to find the answer online, this also easily transitions to Gen Z’s media usage. It is well-known that Gen Z are truly natives to the digital landscape, more than any other generation before them, even Millennials. They are always virtually omnipresence, basically meaning Gen Z always has some sort of presence online even when they aren’t using their devices. Unfortunately, with high digital use has come the stigma that attention spans have reduced. Instead, what seems to be the prevailing trend is that everyone, especially Gen Z, has become better at quickly weeding out what is important and what is not important amidst all the clutter. Gen Z are masters at this so it is incredibly important for brands to stick out appropriately. I’m not talking about being the flashiest or loudest — we’ve seen that doesn’t always work. Madison Bregman, founder of youth marketing consultancy Girl Z, makes a good point for Digiday, “We can determine within a few seconds if something is worth our time. Our [and Gen Z’s] biggest turn offs are things that are fake, inauthentic, corny or trying too hard.”
- Platform Fluency: Based on Gen Z’s virtual omnipresence, it is stupendously important for brands to learn the language of digital platforms and to stay up-to-date about the latest available. What this means is that a brand shouldn’t just be on a platform just to be on a platform. The most recent example would be TikTok. It is the hottest app gaining majority popularity each day. 60% of TikTok users are Gen Zers. As Digiday’s puts it, “The personalization standard is so low. Brands are so bad at talking to Gen Z in the first place. [Yet] youth culture dictates a lot of things, including using the cultural references that we use. [Brands] need to talk to [Gen Z] on the same wavelength.” You can’t fool Gen Z so don’t try to by being something you aren’t.
- Respect the Hustle: Despite the unnerving times, one thing we can rely on is the can-do, entrepreneurial spirit of Generation Z. They are resilient and transformative with a desire to influence and create. They are nearing or already at the age where they will be making crucial life decisions — whether that be entering into the workplace, moving on to higher education, beginning families of their own, etc. All while making these decisions in a time of great upheaval (which was true way before Coronavirus). Brands have a tremendous part in this development. Above all, Gen Z requires flexibility which will breed trust and authenticity. This is crucial when considering Gen Z as a consumer as well as an employee. Yes, they are purchasing your products and/or services, but they are also the next steps in building your company. My advice comes down to one phrase: bend, don’t break.
New Short-Form Video App, Likee, Enters the U.S. Market
By Madelyn Engel, Performance Marketing Manager
We have found ourselves in a unique moment in time. At this time of uncertainty, I have been inspired by the resiliency of the human spirit. The internet and social media has been a place of strength for me this past week; between the good humor and the silver linings, to the new ways that people are reminding one another of the importance of human connection.
As people are staying indoors and practicing social distancing, people are looking for new ways to create and maintain authentic and meaningful connections in an increasingly virtual world. Because of this, I anticipate a surge of users on visual platforms like Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and TikTok. Video communication is a way for users to feel together even when they are physically separated, and user-created video content, like TikTok, is a way for users to get creative and be lighthearted in a time when we could all use a distraction.
TikTok has continued to gain momentum globally. In February 2020, TikTok had its best performing month yet (in terms of total app downloads) with the latest data showing an astounding 113 million unique user downloads. However, a new short-form video app is making a push into the US market and could be a serious challenger to TikTok.
Singaporean video app Likee announced its upcoming push into the U.S. market. In the PR release, Likee announced they are the fourth-most downloaded video app in the world. The app is certainly experiencing explosive growth. Business Insider announced the app had gained 115 million monthly active users with a 208% growth year-over-year. Furthermore, App Annie reported that Likee was the number 1 “breakout” app in 2019. App Annie considers “breakout” apps as those that saw the largest absolute growth in downloads or consumer spending between 2018 and 2019.
Likee’s short form videos are up to 15-seconds and can be pre-recorded or live. However, this type of content isn’t new. So what makes Likee so popular? While many short-form video apps have emerged, they have simply copied TikTok’s format, however, Likee has focused on adding innovative features. Likee described themselves as “at the forefront of a revolution in how people consume and interact with content.” They boast a “superior video creation suite, advanced Artificial Intelligence-based curation and 4D effects, extensive music library and over 1,000 video effects including beauty and video filters and stickers.” Likee also has a face-swap feature called “FaceMagic” which allows be users to be any superstar or movie role instantly. Snapchat and TikTok are also experimenting with similar “deep fake” style tools. Essentially, Likee lets users edit their videos with a wider range of tools, filters, stickers and special effects than TikTok. CEO David Li claims these new features “significantly lower the short-form video production entry barrier to users.”
Likee CFO, Bing Jin, states this app is “well-positioned to capitalize on the growing market demand” for short-form videos from Gen Z users worldwide. However, Jin also admitted the app remained “in a very early stage of monetization” but would continue exploring monetization options through ads and live streaming.
While this app is still in its infancy, especially in the U.S., it should be on the radar for any brand looking to target or engage with Gen Z, as the opportunity fits. Now may be the time to consider curating an organic presence as we wait to see what advertising opportunities unfold.
