Need to Know: 3 Brand Activations That Have Caught Our Attention This Month

Voxburner Content Team

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Here at Voxburner our inboxes, communication channel’s and notepads are constantly full of incredible campaigns and initiatives that have caught our attention and, of course, Gen Z’s too. Once a month we will round up the top 3 activations that we feel really speak to the values and interests of this group. We know Gen Z hold a lot of influence and spending power, so it’s inevitable that marketers will be scrambling to find the most innovative and thoughtful ways to capture their attention and cut through the noise. Check out the brands we think are doing it well.

Tech: Snack App

While Millennials were the generation known for pioneering the world of dating apps, Gen Z are now the target audience for many original players and start-ups. More than half of all Tinder members across the globe are Gen Z, with a majority of members saying they want more authentic and honest experiences. Snack App is the latest digital dating platform trying to compete for their swipes and stand out from the crowded market.

Snack– the dating app for Gen Z- is breaking the traditional conventions of swiping left and right in exchange for a pastime much more in line with this groups interests. The app has been hailed as a hybrid of Tinder and TikTok and instead of leading with images, it requires users to upload videos. The format allows users to post videos to a feed and enables direct messaging by liking each others’ posts. Users can also log in via TikTok and share their original content directly to the app.

Snack App interface
Snack App interface

The experience of the app has been designed to be much more engaging than competitors and take away the pressure attached to dating. The company believes that video-based content allows users to better showcase their interests and lifestyle, as well as show off their personalities in ways static photos cannot. This concept directly appeals to this generation’s interest in authenticity and refreshed the perception of a once ‘robotic’ activity.

Campaign: Dove Reverse Selfie

As reported by Dove, by the age of 13 80% of girls will distort the way they look online. With the proliferation of social media and seismic growth of influencer culture, the emergence of retouching and selfie editing apps has exploded globally.

Since 2004, Dove has been on a mission to build self-confidence in young women through launching the ‘Dove Self-Esteem Project’. Since its inception, it has supported 70 million young people, with an end goal to educate 250 million people by 2030.

The most recent effort in this overarching movement has been the launch of its ‘Reverse Selfie’ campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the transformation many young girls undertake to fit in online using retouching apps. We see the edits made to an image, of what appears to be a young woman, completely reversed to reveal a vulnerable young girl by the end. The eye-opening campaign serves as an incredible reminder that a lot of content on social media can be curated and artificial. The pandemic has further increased screen time and therefore the pressure that many teens feel today. Our Youth Trends report 2021 found that 75% of 16-24s say that social media impacts their wellness in negative ways. The same report found that 85% say being themself is more important to them than fitting in. With this sentiment in mind, we anticipate that more brands will become a part of this all-important movement towards empowering young people to be themselves.

Product: Adidas and Allbirds Futurecraft.Footprint

As a generation, there’s nothing Gen Z champion more than sneakers, sustainability and collaborations- so Adidas and Allbirds coming together for a partnership was destined to strike a chord. 

In May 2020, both companies announced they would come together to create a shoe with the lowest possible carbon footprint. Since then the footwear titans have been working on the project which had the goal of breaking 2 kilogrammes of CO2. It was revealed last week that they had in fact beaten their goal. The Futurecraft.Footprint running shoe has an impact of 2.94kg CO2 equivalent emissions per pair, 63% lower than Adidas’ current lowest-carbon running shoe, which has a footprint of 7.86kg.

The sneaker is comprised of a mix of recycled polyester and tree-based fibre Tencel for the upper and a midsole combining Adidas’ lightweight foam cushioning and Allbirds’ “Sweetfoam” material which is sugarcane-based. Design elements have been kept to a minimum to keep the footprint as low as possible, which means that for now, the sneaker is only available in a white colourway to avoid any additional emissions from dyeing.

The shoe is set to soft launch this month with a limited drop of 100 pairs available to members of Adidas’ Creators Club programme, followed by 10,000 pairs in Autumn/Winter 2021 and a wider release in Spring/Summer 2022. With Gen Z  increasingly favouring sustainable brands, and willing to spend an additional 10% on sustainable products, this collaboration is likely to win favour among the purpose-led cohort.

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