Veganuary, New Social Apps & More | Gen Z Marketing Insights - 25th January

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!

This week we bring you the most recent social media & marketing updates, a new social app, how McDonalds have changed up their approach to advertising, and what Gen Z think about the Veganuary trend...

?? Marketing News - McDonalds latest advert

McDonalds have started the new year with a bang and with a new advert. Like many McDonalds adverts in recent years, it's taken a very subtle approach. If you haven't see the new ad, it follows a team of office workers who are about to take their lunch break. Instead of asking each other if they want to visit McDonalds, they raise both their eyebrows which could look like an 'M'. A survey run by System1 showed that despite the brands logo not appearing until the last clip of the ad, there are subtle hints; from people dressed in red and yellow to someone writing out the letter 'M' on a sticky note. 98% of the tested group of 150 people recognised the brand within the first 60 seconds, which just goes to show how recognisable global brands are, and how subtle marketing tactics can often work better to create a more appealing advert...

Is there a new app that could change how we connect with a younger audience? Discord have revealed that they have acquired ‘Gas’ - a new social media app. The app is focused around secondary / high school students and it allows you to send anonymous compliments to people that you follow. When you sign up you can put in which school you go to, so you can interact with your piers. Currently the app is only accessible to students in selected areas of the US, but if Gas is able to scale-up and incorporate different additions such as visual tools, some suggest it could become as successful as Snapchat. It will be very interesting to see if this new app does take off and become accessible worldwide later on in the year.

L’Oréal Paris have started a new influencer campaign for their latest Age Perfect Rosy Oil-serum, but with a difference - the influencers are aged 45-84. It's one of the few brands that have used older influencers to help promote new products in recent years. The advert itself includes close-up videos of the influencers, as well as voiceovers from each of the content creators talking about confidence and self-love. Have they discovered an interesting gap in the influencer market?

?? The Student News - Vaping & Loans

Baxter College, which is located just outside of Birmingham, has spent ￡4000 on vaping sensors in the schools toilets. This is one of the first secondary schools in the UK to implement the device that will detect if someone is smoking an e-cigarette. The detectors are also sensitive to sounds above a certain volume, so if anyone tampers with them, the management of the school will be notified. Staff at the school are hoping the money has been well spent and will help to deter people from vaping...

A scientist who studied their doctorate at Kings College London is now suing the university for ￡50,000. The scientist is suing over 'injuries' he sustained whilst working in the lab, stating that ‘continually squeezing pipettes' whilst working has caused repetitive strain injuries on both hands.

It has been reported that Welsh student maintenance support will go up this year to support students through the cost-of-living crisis. The Welsh government have reported a rise of 9.4%, whereas in contrast the UK government have only announced a rise of 2.8% for English students. The raise in Wales will be accessible for all students who began their university course on or after 1st August 2018.

?? Trend of the Week - Veganuary or Bust?

As the first month of 2023 comes to a close, we wanted to find out whether students had taken part in Veganuary this year. Veganuary first launched in 2014 as a month where we are encouraged to only eat plant-based meals, or at least increase the ammount of vegan food we eat. In 2022 alone, 620,000 people signed up in the UK to take on the challenge. As the campaign has only gotten bigger and more popular over the years, the number of supermarkets, fast-food chains and restaurants bringing out their own vegan ranges have also increased.

Unless you haven't watched any TV this month, visited a supermarket, or gone out to eat, the chance of you seeing an advert related to Veganuary is pretty high. The response from our students proves that, with 61% of them agreeing that they have seen more Vegan-based ads this year than normal.

But there is one thing seeing the ads, and another thing actually taking part. Have students been interested in Veganary? Are more young people eating plant-based products this month as a result?

Around a third of our students said they had tried more plant-based products this month, which is quite an impressive number considering only around 3% of the UK population is vegan.

The trend obviously encourages people to make vegan-conscious decisions, but the major factor is likely that so many shops and supermarkets promote their vegan ranges much more heavily during January. Marks and Spencer's was one of the first supermarkets to launch a whole range dedicated to vegan food, and others such as Asda and Tesco's have quickly followed. Supermarkets aren't the only retailers who are offering more plant-based options, with any fast-food chain you can think likely promoting vegan options. 36% of our students said they would try out the vegan version of their normal 'go-to' takeaway order.

Evidently, the demand is out there for vegan products, particularly amongst young people. With the numbers of vegans in the UK increasingly exponentially each year, perhaps trends such as 'Veganary' really do work, encouraging people to think about the environment and try new things.

?? Freshers Festival Tip of the Week - Word of Mouth Marketing

It seems a trend this week has been how 'word of mouth' marketing still works wonders for brands across the world. The app we spoke about earlier, Gas, drove its success almost entirely through word of mouth in American high schools. Even something like Veganuary, despite now taking centre stage in many supermarkets, still works primarily through word of mouth: "Are you taking part in Veganuary this year?".

A big misconception is that word of mouth marketing cannot be 'manufactured' by a brand, and simply happens by viral luck. But this simply isn't the case. As with anything, you make your own luck. Positioning your brand as something people can talk about is crucial. If you can encourage discussions such as "did you see that advert", "have you heard of this trend", "have you seen ... on social media" then you are already most of the way there. Think outside the box, produce interesting and differentiated marketing strategies, and find new ways to position your brand. That's when word of mouth can start working wonders...

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

Freshers Festival Group