Seed, a student and Gen Z marketing agency, has compiled a brand power index by surveying over 2,000 18 to 24-year-olds to determine their favourite brands.
The ‘What Matters To Us’ report found that brands that invest in cultural marketing, creating community, sustainability, mental health solutions and artist collaborations are the ones that resonate the most with Generation Z.
Some 20% of those surveyed chose Nike as their favourite brand, with Apple (8.5%) and Adidas (8%) taking second and third spot.
The other seven places, making up the top ten, included Primark (6%), Asos (5%), H&M (4.5%), Spotify (3.5%), Dr. Martens (2.6%), Vans (2.6%) and Gucci (2.6%).
“During this formative period of their lives, young people are exploring the products and brands that reflect their identities,” Seed CEO Joe Brailsford said.
“Brands become an extension of self, so establishing early advocacy can create a loyalty that lasts a lifetime. In an extremely competitive landscape, it’s more important than ever that brands understand, demonstrate and invest in the values that align with their target audience.”
READ MORE: How should marketers navigate Generation Z mistrust?
In addition to the list of the top ten most-favoured brands, the research also revealed some unexpected findings with bookstore Waterstones beating several gaming platforms in popularity.
“Gen Z is fuelling the resurgence of various industries, and literature is one of them,” Seed senior creative strategist Louise Millar added.
“Equity and access is central to their belief systems and if traditional institutions don’t cater to that, they’ll make their own. #BookTok is a great example. It has disrupted control of the industry from elitist critics to a community of readers providing peer-to-peer recommendations, and has been credited as one of the drivers of the highest print books sales since 2004.”
Independent fashion retailer, Lucy & Yak, also had a significant number of mentions.
Millar continued: “This could be credited to how aligned they are with Gen Z values. Sustainability – not just environmental, but also fair working pay and supply chain – is central to the Lucy & Yak brand. But aside from ethics, it uses its community as brand representatives and models, heroes young designers and actions feedback from consumers into its designs.”
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