Gen Z digital stars Larray and Sienna Mae Gomez host the inaugural TikTok Song Breaker Awards
Getty Images for Logitech“If [Gen Z] aren’t our customers today, they will be. And so it's about finding a way to have a relationship with them.” - Meridith Rojas
Gen Z, loosely defined as those born after 1996, continues to grow as a dominant customer demographic that brands are dashing to win over. Presently, the group accounts for 40% of the United States consumer population and commands upwards of $143 billion in spending power. However, those tasked with marketing to this lucrative group are finding that the usual approaches may no longer be as effective.
“Gen Z doesn’t want to be sold to,” explained Meridith Rojas, Global Head of Creator Marketing at Logitech. “So we need to become friends with them, and we need to show up for them in unique ways so that they can discover us on their own terms.”
Rojas, a relative newcomer to Logitech, brings insights over from a long career working with Gen Z talent via the company she co-founded, DigiTour Media. And after almost a decade of learning what young creators look for in brands, she’s found that winning over this demographic isn’t necessarily about brainstorming copy or putting products in front of faces. Instead, it’s about showing potential consumers that the brand cares about what they care about.
To that end, on March 13th Logitech, in collaboration with TikTok, streamed the inaugural Song Breaker Awards to celebrate creators who influenced the biggest songs of the year. The show drew in over 500,000 unique viewers and featured appearances from popular Gen Z talent including musician 24KGoldn, pop star Lil Nas X, and comedian Nick Antonyan.
Logitech gathered some of the most popular faces of Gen Z entertainment for the show
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The event recognized 14 honorees who used their platforms on TikTok to initiate viral music and trends (named Artist Breakers and Originators) or pick up existing trends and expand them into the global phenomena they became (dubbed Amplifiers). And apart from Logitech’s name being front and center, there was no true advertisement to be seen anywhere. This was fully intended to just be a genuine celebration of creator culture, and the company worked alongside actual creators to make that happen.
“Our mission is to go creator-to-creator. So, in order to do that it's like walking the walk. We can't just say that and then sit behind our desks,” said Rojas. “It's like- Nas [Lil Nas X], what is cool? What do you want to do? Noah [Centineo], what do you care about?”
The idea for an event like this came out of frank conversations Rojas and her team had with some of TikTok’s most popular creators, young talent who’ve partnered with the brand. And it was amid these discussions that the team stumbled upon just how much Gen Z’s digital talent have had an impact on the biggest songs of the year.
“We're like, wait a second. There are so many creators here that are directly responsible for the songs that are nominated for this year's Grammys. And nobody's really talking about it,” said Rojas.
After a deep dive, the team discovered that 20 Grammy nominees can be traced directly back to viral TikTok trends from the previous year, as can 90 songs which later hit the Billboard charts. All this was the real, palpable impact of Gen Z culture on mainstream hits. And so, this was the opportunity for the brand to celebrate something Gen Z had done.
Logitech's Meridith Rojas poses with the event's co-hosts
Getty Images for LogitechOriginators honored at the event included Keara “Keke” Wilson, the creator of the Savage dance, and Jalaiah Harmon, the creator of the Renegade dance. Amplifiers included popular TikTok creators such as Michael Le and Sienna Mae Gomez, the latter of whom also served as one of the night’s hosts.
“I was honestly super excited and super happy that I had the power and the ability to be able to help someone else out, and honestly just do their dance,” said Sienna Mae Gomez about being named an Amplifier. “It's pretty simple. It was just fun, you know?”
Crucial to this strategy is the idea that it isn’t a one off. Rojas isn’t interested in doing a single event and then returning to traditional advertising. The long term strategy is to become a constant, trusted presence in this space, helping empower young creators. And so, to keep this going, Logitech created Castle.
“We wanted to go creator-to-creator. And so I said, rather than just using a traditional social agency, why don't we just give [Sienna] the keys to the castle?” said Rojas.
Castle, a new initiative from Logitech, is a creator collective composed of some of Gen Z’s most popular faces, including Lil Nas X, Noah Centineo, and of course, Sienna Mae Gomez. And rather than a content creation house, Rojas envisions this as almost a United Nations for creators. The young media titans will sit around a table and brainstorm both on how to improve Logitech’s social strategy, and how to build a broader, more supportive community for creators.
“I'm pretty much just here to share my perspective as a creator. Because I think a lot of brands aren't really sure what my generation needs,” said Gomez. “We'll be creating content together, and I'm also going to help them just create a community better on Instagram and TikTok and kind of get into the social media world.”
Lil Nas X, perhaps TikTok's greatest success story yet, celebrates his award at the show
Getty Images for LogitechAccording to Rojas, the Song Breaker Awards was only the first of many projects to come from this partnership. Down the line, the company plans to do both more award shows and also more in-person, pop up events. The point of all this is to help Gen Z see the brand as not just another marketer vying for their attention, but a partner in everything they’re trying to build.
But of course, with so many talented artists in one place, it won’t just be meetings and strategy sessions.
“You know, we're going to have fun during the process. So certainly we'll get in front of a ring light and we'll do some dances at the same time,” said Rojas.
Sienna Mae Gomez and Logitech can be found on TikTok via the handles @SiennaMae and @Logitech, respectively. The full list of honorees from the Song Breaker Awards can be found here.
For more on upcoming creator content news, movies and TV shows, follow my page on Forbes. You can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and of course, TikTok.
The Link LonkMarch 22, 2021 at 11:10PM
https://www.forbes.com/sites/anharkarim/2021/03/22/gen-z-marketing-isnt-easy-logitechs-allying-with-tiktok-stars-to-make-it-work/
Gen Z Marketing Isn't Easy. Logitech's Allying With TikTok Stars To Make It Work - Forbes
https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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