TRENDING NORTH: OCT ‘22
A monthly look at the marketing and advertising industry from NORTH’s point of view.
Meet Generation Alpha: The New Kids of America
Landie Viljoen, Channel Strategy Director
Forget Gen Z, Gen Alpha represents the new kids of America. This generation of kids includes all children born in or after 2010 and is predicted to be the biggest and most diverse generation yet. The youngest in this group were born during the COVID-19 pandemic and the oldest were born the same year the first iPad launched. This makes it no surprise that, as found in a recent report by GWI, this US generation is deeply ingrained with technology. US Gen Alpha far exceed screen time compared to the same demographic worldwide, with a spike in time spent as a direct result of the pandemic. Gen Alpha in the US use an average of 4 devices a week. Gaming is by far the most popular activity for US Gen Alpha and a dominant part of their digital lives, with 41% playing games everyday. Social media is also an important part of their digital lives, with 45% of US Gen Alpha using 5 or more social networks.
2022 Holiday Spending Forecasted to Meet or Exceed 2021
Landie Viljoen, Channel Strategy Director
It’s officially October and the Holiday season is fast-approaching (or, if you’re Target, it’s already here and Christmas decorations have been out for weeks). For many advertisers and brands, the pending recession has us wondering what will happen to consumer spending this Holiday season. In PwC ’s recent Holiday Outlook 2022 report forecasting consumer spending, they found that the majority of consumers plan to spend the same (39%), if not more (35%), than they did during the prior Holiday season. Millennials will lead in spending, followed by Gen Xers, Gen Zers, and Baby Boomers with the lowest expected spend. Waiting for the right Holiday deal, 74% of consumers are waiting until November to begin shopping. 25% will start shopping in early November, while most consumers (41%) will wait for Cyber Week (Thanksgiving Eve through Cyber Monday) to do the majority of their holiday shopping. While Holiday spending isn’t expected to take a hit this year, consumers are starting to save now by cutting discretionary expenses, including dining out, clothing, and subscriptions.
Snapchat Users are Highly Engaged
Madelyn Brennecke, Sr. Performance Marketing Manager
While most other social platforms focus on discovery and suggested content, Snapchat has created a niche in being one of the only platforms to focus on what’s personal. It focuses on more private and intimate sharing among personal groups. Its users are primarily using the app to connect with close family and friends, and as such, the platform is a place where users feel they can be more open and authentic. According to the 2022 Snapchat Generation report, “users are happier while using the app, as compared to other social platforms.” However, many questioned if this feeling of intimacy made brand advertising feel more intrusive.
To find out, Snapchat partnered with Neuro-Insight to see how user’s responded to ads in Snapchat versus three other competitive platforms. The users saw ads on all four platforms while wearing electrode-embedded headsets that allowed Neuro-Insight to measure brain activity and get a true picture of the user’s response. Ultimately, when users saw the ads on Snapchat, engagement scores were 1.6x greater than on the other apps. Furthermore, “Snap ads also saw greater brand outcomes, with an increased likelihood that Snapchatters would both purchase the product themselves and recommend the brand to friends.” Users were 34% more likely to purchase a product after seeing it on Snapchat and 46% more likely to recommend it to family or friends.
Political Candidates Switch Up How They Target on Social Media
Stephen Lawrence, Media Planner
If you live in the United States and engage in any kind of ad-based media, you’ll likely have noticed that the midterm elections are coming up. It seems like whether you’re scrolling through Instagram or watching your favorite show on Hulu, you’re seeing a political ad that’s surprisingly specific to your location and your political affiliation. However, what’s increasingly interesting about this election cycle is on Meta, where “targeting users based on their interests in social issues, causes or political figures” has been removed. This makes targeting for political-based ads interesting, as utilizing the typical targeting mechanisms on politically-based interests is most common. However, what CNN found was that many political candidates have switched their targeting by focusing on pop culture and personal taste, including targeting Taylor Swift listeners for Democratic officials, and things like Nascar and Chick-fil-A for Republican officials. This switch comes at a time when personal data privacy is at the forefront of many people’s minds, as well as the polarization of our society at large.
Will Streaming Services Be Impacted as US Consumers Become More Frugal?
Stephen Lawrence, Media Planner
As many Americans get mentally prepared for a potential recession in the near future, it comes as no surprise that many individuals are looking at their own internal finances to determine where they can make cuts to save more money for the future. One of the biggest areas Americans are looking to cut costs is from subscription services — including gym memberships, food kits, and, most importantly for advertisers, streaming services. Recently, Kantar did a study focused on how inflation impacts subscription services and the trend lines from April 2022 to August 2022. What Kantar found was that streaming services dropped by 5% in those five months, with 21% of individuals saying that they would cancel at least one streaming service subscription. This is further emphasized by age bracket, where 43% of individuals aged 35–44 are closely monitoring their subscription services, with individuals aged 18–34 at 33% and 45–54 at 38%. Although it’s unclear what the future will hold for streaming services, especially with the continued expansion of new streaming networks, these numbers are important for advertisers to keep in mind when focusing media dollars on content that consumers are engaging with.
How LGBTQ+ Ad Strategies Help Brands
Stephen Lawrence, Media Planner
As the world becomes increasingly diverse, showcasing the reality of American life and the people in it is becoming more and more necessary in advertising — not only to continue to emphasize DEI, but also to allow consumers to feel seen within advertisements. Kantar recently released a study showcasing what Americans would like to see when it comes to including individuals in the LGBTQ+ community. They found that “increasing LGBTQ+ representation in advertising can have a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community, Gen Z and Millennials”, with 73% of LGBTQ+ individuals saying that there should be higher representation of LGTBQ+ people in advertising. Additionally, Gen Zers and Millennials are between 34–37% more likely to stop using a brand if they do not support the LGBTQ+ community. This data continues to show that with more inclusion comes higher brand loyalty, and, therefore, better long-term success for brands and advertisers.
