Axios Event: Young consumers want realness from brands

CANNES, France – Young consumers are demanding authenticity, interactivity and relevance from media and brands with which they engage, said creators and industry leaders at an Axios event at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Why it matters: Millennials and Gen Z spending is outpacing the broader global population and companies are looking for ways to capitalize on that.

Axios' Sara Fischer and Kerry Flynn spoke with podcast host Jake Shane, Spotify chief public affairs officer Dustee Jenkins, Business Insider CEO Barbara Peng and Dotdash Meredith CEO Neil Vogel at the June 18 event, sponsored by Uber Advertising.

What they're saying: Young consumers are seeking more than just words about a brand's authenticity.

• "For Gen Z in particular, video podcasts have really grown. … They not only want to hear you, they want to see and feel exactly what's playing out," Jenkins said. "It speaks to this idea of tapping into culture. Culture is unfolding on platforms like Spotify, it's unfolding through the creators."
• "Influencing inherently is like an authentic thing," said Shane, the host of "Therapuss with Jake Shane." "If you're an influencer, you're a tastemaker, you're influencing people, and the only way you're actually able to do that is if you are like authentically yourself."

Media companies are shifting attention to original video and smart TV platforms where audiences are watching long-form content.

• Business Insider's videos are watched for about 14 billion minutes a year. "A lot of it is YouTube, where we have audiences that want to engage very deeply with us," Peng said. "We have over 10 original series, and people like to watch that not only on their mobile phones but with the rise of smart TV and a lot of the streaming options, that's been huge."

As for Dotdash Meredith and its repertoire of legacy brands, Vogel says it doesn't matter where consumers are finding their content, what matters is that they are engaging with it.

• "We get traffic from everywhere to our web – but we also don't care," he said. "I could care less if you're in the app, if you are on the website, if you read the magazine, if you're on TikTok or Instagram. As long as you are part of our brand, we can figure it out."
• "You can't say 'I am going to make Gen Z love me.' That's the quickest way to make Gen Z or any gen not like you. You just have to be authentic to what you do."

• On the creation of its unique app that had elements of its editorial content as well as Instagram and TikTok, Vogel added: "We didn't want to make an app until we could figure out how to do something special that would resonate with Gen Z."

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, Uber's global head of advertising Kristi Argyilan said the company is the "platform of now" as it taps into cultural moments through concert rides, food deliveries and its newly launched creative studio.

• "That creative studio is designed specifically to cater to what we're hearing loud and clear from what we call 'Gen Uber,'" Argyilan said. "And this is a large group of consumers who want to be able to flip from digital world to physical world at a flip of a switch. And so we're bringing these activations that brands participate in that acknowledge their participation on our app but then also … eventually the destination they go to."