By: John Higgins, CEO — OS Studios
Every generation has its own form of brand loyalty. Trends, fads, fashion, and culture all feed the brand beast, leading each one to create its own cultural touchstones that end up defining the entire generation.
For example, consider Millennials’ attraction to Apple devices or the recent Volkswagon ad campaign that has sought to reach Baby Boomers and Gen X through a nostalgic look back at how VW has cropped up during important parts of their lives. Brand loyalty isn’t just a generational concept, but brands that can discover the key to unlocking generational cohort brand loyalty can be wildly successful.
Gen Z, those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s, has proven to be a particularly hard nut to crack for brands. They are bombarded with advertisements from every angle, viral trends emerge and then vanish within days, and tend to gravitate toward media that has not been traditionally courted by brands, such as gaming.
However, by embracing gaming culture, brands can bridge the gap between what they are trying to offer and Gen Z as a target audience. This generation is reachable — brands just have to go where they are.
The Rise of Gaming Culture
Gen Xers and some Millennials may fondly remember their childhoods and teen years playing “Duck Hunt” or “Double Dragon” in our basements. For them, that was gaming culture — a bag of Doritos, some soda, and some friends over after school to play Nintendo — but gaming culture has drastically evolved since then. With the emergence of the internet and 5G networks, gaming culture has connected people worldwide and become a $217 billion market.
Gaming has become woven into the Gen Z lifestyle. It is where they meet their friends, hang out, get creative, and spend their money. Some enterprising Gen Z’ers have even made jobs out of gaming, from Twitch streaming to YouTube channels featuring play-thrus. Among Gen Z viewers, gaming content is among the most viewed content on YouTube, and some studies have shown that up to 90% of Gen Z can be considered “game enthusiasts.” This is a massive target market that is just waiting to be engaged.
Unlocking Gen Z Brand Loyalty
The thing about Gen Z that many brands fail to recognize until it’s too late is that they are very savvy consumers. They can spot an inauthentic pitch from a mile away, are digital natives who have grown up with social media, understand the nuances of social media marketing, and know that brands will say just about anything to try to have a viral moment. To gain loyalty from Gen Z gamers, brands have to tap into authenticity, gamification, personalization, and immersive experiences.
To tap into the Gen Z market, brands must understand their generational values, interests, and digital habits.
Gen Z values authentic engagement, which has led them to more frequently connect with particular influencers or streamers in the gaming community, so they may be more apt to take brand recommendations from these influential people. Brands that find a way to authentically engage with Gen Z gamers rather than overtly market to them will find better success with this group.
Brands have to seek to understand gamer culture. Otherwise, they risk finding themselves in the middle of a “How do you do, fellow kids?” moment.
Today’s gaming community and culture have moved out of the basement to encompass in-person and online events, e-sports competitions, popular stream events, and trending content. To keep up, brands must be active participants in the culture — not passive observers.
Today’s gamers are also endlessly creative. They actively participate in creating game lore, servers, and gaming-related content like original characters (OCs) and entire worlds in games like Minecraft. Brands can harness this creative energy by incorporating fan art into campaigns, hosting challenges, and weaving the results of those challenges into in-game content.
Brands can also find a way to incorporate their brand names into games in a non-intrusive way. One example is the high-fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Prada that have appeared in the uber-popular game “The Sims.” The inclusion of these brands helps strengthen brand awareness while making the game more realistic.
Another way to get recognition is through brand tie-ins. Pizza Hut had one of the talked-about brand tie-ins in decades with its collaboration with “Everquest II,” which allowed players to order a pizza right from the game.
One of the important aspects of tapping into Gen Z brand loyalty is to remain focused on community-building. Gen Z can be fiercely loyal to the community built around their games. If brands participate in building communities, hosting events, and starting conversations, they will create trust with Gen Z.
Engaging Gen Z gamers is all about keeping it real and staying on trends. Brands should not be shy about diving into the gaming scene head-first and building genuine connections with Gen Z through immersive experiences and community-building.
Ultimately, unlocking Gen Z brand loyalty is not just about slapping your logo on a game or an event and calling it a day. It’s about truly understanding what this generation is all about and joining them in this new age of gaming culture.
Published by: Holy Minoza
