The AI Revolution | Gen Z Marketing Insights - 28th February

Welcome to Gen Z Marketing Insights,?where we showcase the latest news, trends, and insights into student and Gen Z marketing. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date with everything that's happening in the youth marketing space!

Today we bring you the latest marketing news and updates, big social media changes, and the role AI plays amongst Gen Z - Are they worried or are they embracing it?

?? Marketing News - AI Everywhere

There has been a lot of news about AI this year alone, and many brands are experimenting with the new technology to help create content or ads for them. Despite this trend, one notable brand has taken a different stance. Tropicana, the juice company, made a statement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas by distributing hundreds of juices with a twist. Their labels featured the name 'Tropcn', deliberately missing out both the 'A' and 'I'. This marketing tactic aimed to emphasize their commitment to using only natural ingredients in their juices, distancing themselves from any association with 'artificial' ingredients or AI technology. Is the backlash to AI going to be an increasing trend this year? Only time will tell..

Keeping with AI news, over the past couple of weeks, ChatGPT has gone viral for their huge text-to-video update: Sora. Whilst not available to the general public yet, the feature has been wowing (and scaring) users. Basically you input some text (what you want the video to be), and the AI bot will turn it into video for you (copyright free). Early reviews suggest this is a complete game-changer for marketing, and a scary time for videographers who could be about to lose out. Video is already considered the most powerful tool for advertising, and if marketers can create content in seconds, traditional image content could soon be a thing of the past...

YouTube Shorts have just released a number of new music remix options on the app. This release comes days after TikTok lost access to songs from Universal Music. YouTube users can now press the ‘Remix’ button on any video they upload, which will then take them to a music platform where they can choose from 4 different remix options.

1. Sound - you simply take the sound and use it in your video.
2. Collab - you can create a short alongside someone else's, so your videos are side by side. A little like stitching on TikTok.
3. Green Screen - the video is the background and you can film yourself in real time.
4. Cut - you can cut a 5 second song clip and add it to your own shorts.

?? Student News - The Plane Commute

With bills & rents on the rise, government support dwindling, and food inflation continuing to impact our daily lives, it's no surprise that many students are struggling right now. A recent report from Lancaster University's Student Union has suggested that many students will go without food (sometimes for days at a time) whilst they wait for their loans or other support. In fact, university 'supper clubs' seem to be on the rise, giving out meals to students in need. Things are evidently tough for many students right now.

On a similar topic, the crazy rent prices around certain universities are seeing some students take things into their own hands. A student at UBC has decided to fly to lectures twice a week, rather than rent in Vancouver. Apparently, the return flights cost him $300 / week, which is half the price he would be paying for rent in the city. Whilst we aren't sure about the flying part, we certainly know of many UK students who decide to commute to uni and live at home, rather than pay the high rent prices at the moment.

?? Trend of the Week - Do Students Use AI?

The past 12 months have seen an AI revolution around the world, with both text & video AI bots transforming the way many people do their jobs. But how is it impacting students? Do they care about the software? Are they using it? We asked our audience to find out more...

Unsurprisingly, ChatGPT seems the most used platform amongst our audience, with a huge 2/3 of our students having used the software. However other platforms are also on the rise, with a fifth having used Google's Gemini tool as well.

When it comes to use cases, over half our audience have used AI to help with their work or studies. With the ability to write entire essays, perform compex maths / coding problems, and reduce hours of research to just a few seconds, it's unsurprising that most students are now using the software.

However, it's uses are seemingly only just being discovered. 17% have used AI for creating images/video, and when these features become more mainstream, it's likely these usage numbers will rise exponentially. It appears the AI revolution is only just beginning...

Despite it's high use-cases, not everything is perfect in the AI world. In fact, almost half our audience are concerned by AI software. As we saw with the recent Tropicana campaign, perhaps AI backlash is going to be a growing movement in the coming months. Should brands embrace AI? Or should they actively move against it?

Certainly, with new innovations threatening to take people's jobs, and some student's degrees at risk of becoming irrelevant due to the software, Gen Z certainly have the right to be worried.

That's all for this week, see you next time!

Freshers Festival Group