Target? Audience.

Let's talk about Gen Z.

I have mentioned on my two previous posts the target audience, but I thought I needed to expand a little more on the subject, so here am I.

Let me first explain the decision on the target audience a little better. When we first discussed the choice of projects, it was advised for anyone who chose the Music Promotion package to use a local band/artist, for that would give us the opportunity to work closely with the band/artist and create a brand from the ground up. Amazing. I went ahead and chose to work with a local band, which I've said before to be a group formed by a friend of mine. The logical target audience for a local band would be the local, surrounding, prominent audience, and since we are all high school students, that's our high school. I've chosen a place filled with more than 4,600 students between the ages of 14 and 18, all of whom belong to Generation Z,  I figured that if I can get a realistic and generous number of people from this sample to be aware of Surfing on Saturn, it'll be a great start.

Now, deciding the target audience may not be an easy job, but it's definitely easier than what comes next. This definition of audience is the starting point, it's what allows me to make conscious decisions, with reasoning behind them, that will work with the audience. The methods of distribution, the specific type of music video, even what song can make a single, all vary depending on the target audience. So now I'd like to introduce you to some of the characteristics that will affect my decisions from now on.

General characteristics:

• Yes, they were born between the mid-1990s and 2010
• Digital natives: generation Z has grown up with technology and has seen many technological advances in short periods of time.
• 81% of them are on social media: gen Z likes their social media. A LOT. Specially on mobile devices (a.k.a. smartphones). Margarita Hakobyan said on her article "If your website never shares its content to social media, it's a safe assumption that Gen Z will never see your content, no matter how sharp, well written, on point, or SEO targeted it may be."
• 93% of them visit YouTube at least once a week: YouTube is the primary media for music, so... that's good, right? Right.
• Gen Z-ers crave for a sense of fulfillment, purpose, which is way they like "personal, immediate social platforms like Snapchat" (I'm not gonna talk much about this for my last post was entirely dedicated to Snapchat). Gen Z is looking to connect on deeper levels with the media they consume to feel like a part of it, to feel some sort of accomplishment by consuming it. 
• Hakobyan on her article also said that to "show off behind-the scenes pictures, candid images from your company, and real pictures of real people doing real work" is another great way to interact with Gen Z.

Basically, Generation Z likes easy availability, uses social media ubiquitously, and wants to feel personal connection to the media they consume. Based on those characteristics, I have to craft a personable band not only through the image of the members, but through how I present their material on every medium they use. It has to be accessible for the audience and not feel like it's being marketed. 

In all honesty, this is a target audience I feel very comfortable with. We've had a whole lesson on Generation Z, an activity on marketing for a sub-group, and I chose it as my target audience for a major marketing project we've worked in class. Not only that, but I am a part of Generation Z, plus all my friends, all my brother's friends, and all my sister's friends. I spend my days around people from this generation, watching how they behave, what they like, how they consume media. In a way, it is personable for me to work with this audience.

Since I don't know how to end this post, here's a picture that pretty much defines Generation Z.

http://mashable.com/2014/11/20/gen-z-marketing/#JpzjT9F7sGq1
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-media-fuels-a-change-in-generations-with-the-rise-of-gen-z/
https://www.business.com/articles/5-things-we-know-about-marketing-to-generation-z/