How to Inspire Gen Z with Short Videos & UGC-Content: AdChampagne Study

Gen Z is the fastest-growing global audience demographic in the world. Soon, Gen Z will become the largest generation of consumers, already accounting for $143 billion in direct spending. It’s the first digitally native age group, born at the peak of technical innovation. According to Nokia's annual Mobile Broadband Index report 2022, Gen Z in India spend an average of 8 hours a day online through their smartphones and, therefore, have a significantly higher engagement in mobile apps than older people (audience groups).

Being ‘fast-paced’ and ‘unexpected’, the mobile marketing industry is changing constantly. It has evolved even further during the pandemic, surfacing new trends for mobile marketers to adopt. Andrew Bobrow, Co-Founder & Head of Marketing, AdChampagne, traces the best practices in online communication with the Gen Z audience.

Understanding Gen Z in India

Gen Z in India’s striving middle class is young people in the range of 18 and 25 years old with great purchasing power. They comprise the second-highest population in India at about 27% (after the millennial at 34%). They aim to invest their savings from a very young age, taking on part-time jobs such as pet walkers or babysitters. This mindset affects the younger audience’s need for laughter and light-heartedness, especially on social media. It’s an instrument to keep them recharged and stay balanced in a stressful world. To drive a connection with Gen Z, we have to be open, sincere, and empathetic.

The majority of Indian Gen Z viewers understand English, yet prefer content consumption in their local language, forcing brands to adapt to their unique features Having a wide range of dialects in the country, Hindi has been chosen for our creatives due to its wide popularity and use, enabling brands to connect with citizens and unlock growth. When we launched Hindi creatives for one of our clients, the Paysenger app, it achieved 2X incremental conversions at a 40% lower cost per acquisition.

TikTok: Short Videos Changing the Gen Z Game

Short videos are booming among Generation Z. Why? Young people have shorter attention spans and demand instant gratification. They are unable to memorize their parents' phone numbers but will tell you what’s trendy at any given moment. After testing over 100 different short-form videos With Loóna we concluded that Homelanders (another name for Gen Z) are more likely to watch 15-30 seconds videos until the end.

For the past few years, TikTok has been a trendsetting platform for these videos worldwide, making it undeniably powerful at reaching Gen Z. Based on Kantar TGI Global Quickview – 32% of TikTok users are between 16 and 24 years old. This platform allows users to be themselves and create something unique in just a few moments. Besides, it is much stronger than other platforms in cultivating deep audience engagement and endorsement through different campaigns (specifically, UGC). Moreover, these engagement rates stay high even when follower numbers increase. We believe that Spark Ads with clickable call-to-action and other interactive elements for branded content can give brands astonishing reach. According to TikTok Internal Data, Spark Ads have a 30% higher completion rate and 142% higher engagement rate than standard In-Feed Ads. See our video for the food delivery app Tiggy targeting Gen Z to gain recognition and promote the product with its benefits.

Unlocking New Consumers with User-Generated Content

User-Generated content is about real people and their emotions. People share short videos of their daily life needs like a comedy sketch to laugh about some problems and struggles or an overview of their favourite products and recommendations. Ads that feel as if they have been made by users create loyalty.

We work tightly with E-commerce brands and our team formed 3 main approaches for Gen Z:

Unboxing. One of our favourite formats – videos containing the unpacking process of goods. This approach increases brand trust because the product shown is real. You can combine it with reaction videos (when your product elicits an exciting reaction) or testimonials. A good example of this creative format is the Joom marketplace where a customer shares genuine feelings, igniting users with the desire for the same experience. Such an approach increased brand awareness and had long-term success in the number of views.

Comedy Sketches. This format lets users imagine why they would need the specific goods in life-like circumstances. It doesn’t require high-ranked celebrities or luxury photo studios, but just to remember one of the daily situations like choosing the right outfit or cleaning after a house party. It will look organic and facilitate an authentic dynamic between the brand & the viewer. As an illustration, here is our video for Onfy – an app providing medicines from certified pharmacies.

Dancing Approach. Dance videos are a huge hit on TikTok! Even though the format is quite old – it works, because people like watching creative dance moves, copying and turning them into duets. It looks native and non-obligatory. Meanwhile, we’ve got lots of examples of creating branded dancing short-form videos that go viral with a specific soundtrack. You may review our case study for the Department and Building Materials Store with memorable music and easily recreated choreography. As a result, 93% of the users coming to the client from the campaign were unique.

All the above approaches build genuine emotional attachment between products and consumers. However, another crucial trait of younger demographics is being more open-minded, liberal, and actively engaged in supporting fair and equal treatment of others. The most recent study from DoSomething Strategic reveals that 76% of young people have purchased or would consider purchasing a brand/product to show solidarity with the issues the brand supported. With that in mind, our team prepared an extraordinary project for the Track & Trace System Company in Russia. We attracted a young, true-hearted audience by creating an adaptive font for people with dyslexia.

How Can Influencers Help Brands Achieve Their Goals?

According to Omnicom Media Group, India’s Gen Z consumers love influencers. They tend to eagerly trust trendsetters’ opinions, including products and service recommendations. You can leverage it by collaborating with influencers, who themselves are creative users with high follower counts – watch our video with one of AdChampagne's creators.

Moreover, 4 out of 10 Gen Z users feel a better connection and understanding with their favourite influencer than their friends. Therefore, it is crucial to find content creators for the targeted audience with captivating videos and work with them. In the end, it’s a proven fact that influencer-endorsed content captures more interest and inspires trust from viewers.

The Growing Influence of Gen Z: Empathy, Transparency, and Honesty

Communicating with a digitally native generation requires more than simply selling a product. India’s young people are value-conscious and trust brands that “keep it real”. To appeal to them, consider unconventional approaches and outside-the-box thinking - showing daily life situations, focusing on social issues, or collaborating with influencers. Today youth want brands to care and mean something, rather than chase the bottom lines. By following our tips, your brand can unlock the full potential of India’s Gen Z market. That’s the key to success – both now, and in the future!