Gen Z Brand Advocates Drive ROI via Social Activation

quotMany Millennials are digital natives but not social natives amp160growing up with computers and cell phones but not social media like Gen Z39ers The Gen Z bandwidth for message intake is wider but can be more discerning at the same timequot says Jamie Stenziano Senior Vice President Media and Entertainment Insights at Clarion ResearchGen Z passions run deep are often nicheamp160and as the Fuse Marketing Gen Z study reveals they are frequently causedriven37 donated money or time to a cause this year36 educated family and friends about a cause this year57 say it39s more important that they personally care about a brand39s cause vs the brand supporting any causeamp160Not surprisingly the key issues of the United Nations often intersect with socially conscious brands looking to connect with Gen Z amp160With its portfolio of 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs the UN has become a quotgo toquot resource for those brands looking to leverage their businesses to create meaningful change on the issues they have committed to support amp160These goals adopted by 193 countries in 2015 serve as a roadmap for achieving a better future for all laying out paths to help end extreme poverty fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change SDGs are being used to create brand marketing campaigns that can have impact globally but connect to young consumers locallyWith its mission of mobilizing publicprivate partnerships to address the world39s most pressing problems the UN Foundation alongside the UNamp160has pioneered and cocreated engaging resultsdriven campaigns with highprofile entertainment brands amp160One such case study from a joint effort by the Foundation the UN UNICEF and Sony Pictures Entertainment illustrates how social good and business are converging to authentically engage Gen Z on key issues with impact and deliver ROISmall Smurfs Big GoalsOverview amp160A campaign in the Spring of 2017 played an important role in helping to engage Gen Z in the UN39s Sustainable Development Goals The campaign cocreated by the UN the UN Foundation UNICEFamp160and Sony Pictures Entertainment utilized The Smurfs animated characters that young people have deep ties to and are interested in engaging with to focus on global mass market engagement of Gen Z39ers amp160Building off the SDGs this campaign developed outreach strategies that tapped the Smurf brand39s creative resources capitalized on their existing multimilliondollar marketing plans and access to global distribution to reach new potential supporters around the world with important messagesCampaign Goalamp160 To increase awareness of SDGs and to encourage Gen Z39ers and their parents to act The Smurfs served as connective tissue to make SDGs relatable and to encourage young people to do their part to build a happier worldActivation Scopeamp160 Gen Z39ers were invited to join quotTeam Smurfsquot by visiting SmallSmurfsBigGoalscom to learn how they could act and raise their voices for a better world amp160A quiz allowed each user to find out which Smurf they identified with based on the issues they cared about most then catalyzed users to generate content on their own social mediaInfluencersamp160 Mandy Patinkin Demi Lovatoamp160and Joe Manganiello pictured left to right at top threeamp160voice actors from the animated movie Smurfs The Lost Villageamp160 attended a celebration at United Nations headquarters to honor Gen Z39ers who had achieved SDGs in their own communitiesEvent andamp160PSA amp160Leveraged the International Day of Happiness to focus attention on SDGs as the building blocks of a happier healthier community amp160A PSA video inspired youth to champion the goalsROI The hashtag SmallSmurfsBigGoals saw more than 839 million impressions across social media with more than 275000 video views240000 viewed the website23000 completed the quizPSAs played in 73 countries reaching 317 million viewersMedia hits reached more than 151 million across global outletsThe campaign was featured in 100 global news broadcastsThis case study is a valuable roadmap for brands looking to connect with Gen Zamp160 The key to success was to design the creative and media elements from the outset to make important issues accessible relatable and actionable amp160As Jack Myers recently observed quotThe media has played a huge role in shaping young men for every generation of the 20th and 21st centuriesquot amp160Myers stressed the importance of quotrelatable charactersquotamp160amp160 Small Smurfs Big Goals deliveredPhoto credit UN PhotoMark GartenClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Gen Z Brand Advocates Drive ROI via Social Activation

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Mary Ellen Holden

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Gen Z Brand Advocates Drive ROI via Social Activation

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