Think-Louder | GENERATION Z: BRANDED CONTENT ROCKS!

Generation Z may be the first in three generations to not know what an ad break is. But that doesn’t mean they won’t know an ad, even if they aren’t aware they know that. New research shows that Generation Z (aka teenagers, those born after 2000) are fully immersed and comfortable with brand-produced content such as AT&T’s cross-platform series Summer Break, which returns for season 5 next month.
That finding comes from Fullscreen Media’s new research into the media consumption habits of Generation Z versus slightly older Millennials. Study results include information like total time spent on average per week on digital video and social networks—21.1 hours or two hours more than on TV—and which social networks are seen as utility (Twitter; Pinterest) and which are entertainment (YouTube) and social (Snapchat). To Facebook’s glee, it was the one platform seen as all three: utility, entertainment and social.
One of the most fascinating takeaways of the study is how Generation Z weighs its trust of traditional celebrity endorsers. For example, Ten Z audiences trust online celebrities (YouTube vloggers and social media influencers) for beauty product recommendations more than they trust “mainstream,” conventional celebrity endorsements (48% verses 41%).
Clothes and accessories had a slight edge of traditional celebrity influencers but Gen Z overwhelmingly (70%) trusts online endorsements more for tech products. Moreover, a full 79% of respondents
prefer that online influencers directly talked about their preferred brands.