Are 'Influencer Brands' Taking Over? | Gen Z Marketing Insights - 23rd October

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 been happening in the youth marketing space!

Today we discuss the evolution of influencer marketing, the latest Gen Z trends, and AI in the classroom.

📱 Marketing News - Influencers Taking Over

What's been trending this week? KSI’s new song! If you haven’t checked it out yet, many people have shared their reactions online, with some criticizing how bad they think it is. In response, KSI has been reacting to these videos himself. But could this be a clever marketing strategy? By engaging with the negative reviews and reactions, he's actually driving more attention to the song, prompting more people to download and listen to it due to how 'bad' it's supposed to be. It recently debuted in the Top 10 of the UK Charts, and #1 on a variety of charts across the world, so the tactic seems to be working!

Another viral sensation over the past month has been Love Island star Molly-Mae’s new clothing brand, Maebe. She teased the launch at the end of last month, and built up anticipation with a free pop-up shop, allowing fans to preview the collection before the website went live. Tickets for the pop-up sold out in minutes, fuelling even more excitement. Attendees got to see the clothes up close, sharing their thoughts on the event, the quality of the pieces, and what they considered must-haves. When the website finally launched a week later, everything sold out in under 20 minutes. As one of the UK’s biggest influencers, it’ll be interesting to see if Molly-Mae can sustain the buzz in future releases.

Threads is looking to boost real-time engagement in their app by introducing active indicators to show when a user is online. A green dot will appear at the top of your profile when you're active, signalling to others that you're available. Threads believes this could encourage more interaction with your content, as users may be more likely to engage when they know you're online and likely to respond. This feature could be particularly valuable for brands, as it allows for quick replies to customer questions, potentially influencing purchasing decisions.

🎓 Student News - AI in Class & Scary Surprises

International student numbers are falling in the UK, and visa applications dropped by 16% compared to last year. Will this impact university finances even more?

Speaking of international students, a poll of US students has suggested way more pupils are using AI than teachers (perhaps unsurprisingly). But should schools and colleges be embracing the technology more? Should we have AI-based lessons to prepare us for the future? It's certainly a strong debate right now.

In other news, Shein are fairly well known for their cheap prices, but one student got more than they bargained for when a live scorpion was found in their shoe parcel. She had to get her Zoologist flat-mate to capture the animal, before it was rescued by a local organisation. Spooky stuff!

📈 Trend of The Week - Influencer Brands

Influencers seem to be finding more success through creating their own brands these days, moving on from being the 'middle man' between brands and customers, and simply creating and selling the product themselves.

We've seen a number of large (and smaller) influencers launch brands in recent weeks, but what exactly do Gen Z think about these? Are they still relatively unknown? We asked our students to find out more...

In terms of brand awareness, these brands are perfoming extremely well, ranging from 27% awareness for Molly Mae's Maebe, to 79% for the now hugely popular Prime. Even the new brands, such as Lunchly, are already known by over half our audience.

Perhaps it's the novely of influencers creating brands that gets people talking, or potentially it's just the unrivalled marketing opporunity they have by being able to promote their brand in every video, but these brands are becoming relative 'household names' amongst the younger generation. But do these brands have any long term potential?

Despite the huge awareness of influencer brands amongst Gen Z, not many feel they will be a long term success, with 92% saying they are just a short-term gimmick. In fact, only 15% claim they would be more likely to buy a product launched by an influencer, compared to a standard brand.

Only time will tell if these brands will have staying-power. But for now, they are certainly doing well for themselves. If it shows us anything, it's that influencers still have a huge say when it comes to Gen Z brand awareness, and without appropriate influencer marketing, you will not be able to reach & engage with the younger audience as well as you could...

If you want to get involved with student influencer marketing, feel free to get in touch with Graeme Barratt or another member of our team!

That's all for this week,

The Freshers Festival Team