Gen Z Here...Stop Wasting Our Time With Boring Ads

Learn how to speak Gen Z's language with mobile and digital out of home ads that reach beyond the doomscroll.

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Hello! It’s Gen Z speaking. More specifically, it's Gen Z who work in advertising. Seeing the industry from both angles, as avid consumers and advertisers, has given us unique insight into how to connect with the right audience. 

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Speaking of the “right” audience…guess what? It’s us! 

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Gen Z is projected to be the most powerful consumer group by 2030. Our rapid increases in spending nearly double that of millennials and Gen X!

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Think of it this way: there has never been a group as simultaneously tech savvy and consumer-driven as Gen Z. In our world, online shopping has always been the norm and it’s never been easier to make a purchase. (What do you mean they don’t accept Apple Pay here??)

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What Does This Mean for Targeting Gen Z? 

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It means that consumers’ attention spans are shortening. A lot.

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Did you know eighty-five percent of digital ads hold our attention for less than 2.5 seconds on average? In a world of goldfish brains…or in Gen Z’s case, microscopic plankton brains, it’s time to start thinking outside the box. It’s time to adapt if you want to attract the key spenders of tomorrow.

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Because at the end of the day, Gen Z knows good media. We can identify AI arguably better than any other generation. We also take brand loyalty seriously. We’re chronically online and constantly interacting with the digital world.

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What does this mean for brands and agencies? It means you need to start meeting this generation with authenticity and real world connections. If you serve an ad template we’ve seen a million times before, or worse…an unaesthetic, boring ad…we will not only ignore it completely, but your brand just got knocked down a few pegs in our mental leaderboard. BUH-BYE.

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Creativity is key here, folks. It’s all about reaching beyond the doomscroll — whether that be Gen Z’s funny bone, heart strings, or impressing our desensitized eyes with new technology…just don’t make it boring.

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The First Key to Success: Find Us Where We Are

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So WHERE are advertisers and brands supposed to catch our tiny attention spans? You need to meet Gen Z where we are: on those damn phones.

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Whilst we aimlessly scroll, the one thing we’re not expecting as digital-native consumers is to be pleasantly surprised by an advertisement. But with the right creative and messaging, brands have the potential to knock our socks off.

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What are you waiting for? Show us something that spins, pops, and glitters. Show us something beautiful. Show us something we’re not expecting.

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If you’re not optimizing your ads for mobile, you’re basically invisible.

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Want an Even Bigger Impact? Re-target Those Same Ads on the Biggest Screen You’ve Got

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If mobile ads are a perfectly-curated Spotify playlist, digital out of home (DOOH) ads are like a music festival’s main stage. Both awesome in their own right, but together…now that’s unbeatable.

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THE RECEIPTS: Did you know there’s a 45% brand awareness increase when mobile is combined with digital out of home? Even further, 3 out of 4 consumers recently took action because of a DOOH ad.

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So, if you really want to get our attention, hit us with that one-two punch of personal, reliable mobile and public, large-scale DOOH.

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Why does it work? Because if we could sum up what Gen Z, the generation that grew up with tech, truly craves in just two words, it’s innovation and authenticity. Of course, we want the coolest looking creative…but we also want to feel seen in this congested digital age.

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That’s where DOOH shines. The real-world connections that ginormous screens can build are priceless. The dynamic personalization capabilities like weather, location, time of day, and more are directly catered to our daily routines. 

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Augmented Reality, QR codes, social integration, you name it! Whether it’s our subway rides to work or sitting in the doctor's office…we want to be engaged in a way that feels fresh, relevant, and actually made for us. 

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To Sum It Up: 

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At the end of the day, Gen Z is naturally attracted to anything that marries tech and creative to deliver the most unique ad experience.

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We beg of you…it’s time to stop delivering boring, flat, and unoriginal ads.

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If you want to look out for the future of your brand, it’s time to start meeting Gen Z with ads that actually make us feel something. Or at least make us snap a pic for the group chat.

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Reach out to Big Happy if you want to be part of the ad movement that actually moves people.

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