We’ve talked a lot about millennials over the years, and how best to market to them. They’ve been the dominant buying group and therefore the coveted audience for marketers to reach. But there’s a new wave of purchasers out there, and they might just have more sway and power than millennials in how marketers craft their campaigns.
Enter Gen Z, the change generation. In a recent report, 41 percent of Gen Z respondents said they recently took a “concrete action” —be it volunteering, walking in a march, canvassing for a political campaign—compared to just 17 percent of the Boomer generation.
For companies looking to establish a game plan, one can look no further than the partnership between Tumblr and Brita, titled “Brita Stream.” The campaign is artistically driven by Tumblr artist Saskia Wariner, and tied to Tumblr’s “Studyblr” community.
“Studyblr is a self-named community of students on Tumblr dedicated to the entire higher education process. Not only are students committed to persevering in college, but conversations about being more ethical inhabitants of their campuses are frequent topics,” David Hayes, head of creative strategy, Tumblr, said.
With the right message, Tumblr communities are a great place for brands to authentically connect with college students. Brita was looking for the right channel to introduce an eco-friendly hydration solution to college students, particularly Gen Z and Millennials.
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“We were able to take this campaign one step further with our Creatrs Network. Creatrs connects the dots between brands and a network of artists to create and leverage original curated galleries,” said Hayes. “Tumblr Creatr and independent artist Saskia Wariner created curated animations, featuring notebook doodles and sharing environmental, anti-plastic best practices for college students this fall.”
Creating anti-plastic best practices is huge agenda item on the race to creating a more sustainable environment. With $13 billion spent on bottled water every year, and plastic water bottles taking 450 years to decompose, Brita gives students a smart hydration option that will save both money and the place.
“It’s an important message and one that resonates especially well on Tumblr and with our users,” Hayes said.
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For Clorox and Brita, Tumblr’s audience size and reach, the partnership was a no-brainer. According to ComScore, users spend 142 percent more time on the platform than the next closest competitor, and Gen Z users spend an average of seven minutes per session.
“We’re always pushing to bring to life Brita’s brand purpose of providing people better water without the waste of bottles. For this campaign, we were specifically looking to do so around the Back-to-College period for our Stream pitcher, which filters as you pour for no wait,” Rachel Shahvar, brand engagement lead, Clorox, said. “We came to Tumblr for shareable, beautiful visuals that align with the themes that are already popular on their platform.”
Ultimately, a purpose-driven campaign like this, from Clorox, is designed to get college students to rethink their bottled water habits. Clorox wanted to test how a visual artist and a platform like Tumblr could bring purpose to the life of the campaign, and understand engagement around Brita’s brand positioning on the platform.
Both Tumblr and Clorox agree: Gen Z is going to be a tricky audience to grab. But if the current campaign has any indication, the route to their hearts will no doubt be purpose-driven, impact-driven, with a global and sustainable lens at the forefront.
