Aug 26, 22 | 5 min read
Reading time: 4 minutes
Who hasn't heard "I saw a video on TikTok that talks about this topic," referring to anything you're talking about with someone millennial or especially Gen Z? Or even comments on a hot topic where someone says "I saw this trending on Twitter or Reddit"?
These are just examples of how we are connected to digital all the time, especially among younger generations.
What is it about these platforms that draws the attention of millennials and Gen Z? What do these generations want? That’s what Twitch, one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, answered in a recent survey, the report Generation Twitch: Leading the Cultural Shift; Advertising in an Emerging World .
Spoiler alert: these are real, authentic experiences. I'll go into more detail about the findings below.
How is Twitch changing the game?
Twitch isn't as mainstream as other platforms like TikTok and Instagram, but it's growing a lot among Millennials and Gen Z and plays an important role, especially among gamers, with its streaming features.
But not only that: we can also see sweden email address creative content of all kinds there, including music streams and personal videos.
Owned by Amazon, Twitch has 33 million users in the US alone and reached 5.64 billion hours of video watched in the second quarter worldwide, more than double the time spent on YouTube Gaming Live and Facebook Gaming combined, according to Statista .
What is the Twitch Generation?
The Twitch report introduces the “ Twitch Generation ,” made up of an audience that spans Millennials, Generation Z, and even the current one: Generation Alpha . All of these generations are under the influence of digitalized life, where everything they live is based on their values, social behaviors, and how these generations communicate not only on a daily basis, but also on their expectations of brands.
What do these generations expect from brands? An experience like no other. We are increasingly demanding and look for brands that speak to our values and offer products and services that we identify with. For our generations (yes, I am included), it is no longer enough for the product to satisfy a need; we need to know that this brand speaks to our values .
The Twitch Generation encompasses:
Generation Z ;
Millennials (the most influenced)
the alpha generation (post-2012).
Platforms like TikTok , Twitter, Reddit and Twitch are where they are concentrated. For brands, it is necessary to target this audience, as the earnings of the 2.5 billion people who make up Generation Z are expected to increase fivefold to reach $33 trillion by 2030 , according to the Twitch study.
The research also mapped out current behaviors that will disappear as the "Twitch Generation" emerges.
Adam Harris, Global Head of Brand Partnerships Studio at Twitch, says that “ The Twitch Generation was created in an era of information overload, where the authenticity of that information can be constantly questioned. So much so that we’ve never seen as much fake news and deep fakes as we have in recent years .”
Therefore, this generation will seek authentic experiences. This means that this audience wants to be intimate with experiences that they are not educated about, but that are, in fact, real.
For these generations, the meaning of our existence is in being human, where we can expose who we are without fear of judgment. And how can brands satisfy this demanding public that we have become?
How can brands connect with these generations?
Each generation has its own particularities despite the similarities they share. That's why it's important to know how to communicate with all of them at the same time. This is a big challenge for brands, as they need to speak to these audiences in a way that everyone understands perfectly.
At this point, the context of what brands want to communicate is also very important, since each generation can understand it differently from the other.
If a brand uses symbols in the wrong context, they can take on an unintended meaning and have negative consequences. The actual meaning can be lost across generations as the symbol takes on a new one.
The constant growth of technology and the way we access the Internet has also influenced the way different generations communicate.
While millennials had to deal with poor internet access and no cell phones, Generation Z and Alpha, in turn, grew up with the latest generation smartphones and higher quality internet access.
These two new generations are creative with their digital communication and memes are part of their culture and way of communicating. Generation Z is a master at conveying meaning more easily and effortlessly through a variety of images and symbols . Brands need this type of communication, with evolved humor and creativity.
