YouTube is the most popular brand among Australian youths, according to a new report from Growth Tank and Youth Insight.

The ‘Top 100 Youth Brands Report’ was presented for the first time this past weekend at the Youth Marketing Australia (YMA) conference in Melbourne. Winners of varying categories included Woolworths, Qantas, Commonwealth Bank Australia, Google and McDonald’s.

“To win with young consumers in 2019, constant innovation, exciting collaborations and staying on top of the trends are paramount,” says David Willey, founder of Growth Tank.

The survey included more than 2000 Australian respondents aged between 14 and 24, looking at which brands they love and impact their lives the most.

A curated list of 1000 brands was then presented to the membership community of student support organisation Student Edge – which includes more than 1.1 million young people – to determine the final ranked ‘Top 100’.

“It’s the big name brands that constantly offer something new that keeps them in favour with Gen Z,” Willey continues, “with the biggest innovators and disruptors rising to the top of our survey. Innovation is important to Gen Z and Millennials, who are always on the lookout for something new.”

The study also took into account how young Australians are discussing brands online – singing praises from, “Google knows everything”, “Big Macs are life” and “OMG NETFLIX IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!” to disappointing remarks on big-name brands, namely, Apple.

“When you hear the way our respondents talk about some of their favourite brands, you come to realise that the exchanges they’re having aren’t merely transactional; these brands have leapfrogged their rivals by embedding themselves in the very experience of being a young person,” adds Simon Miraudo, editor and head of communications and membership at Student Edge.

Taking all brands on equal footing, YouTube overwhelmingly took top spot with 95% of respondents saying they ‘like’ or ‘love’ the streaming platform; praised by fans for being a diverse content hub, some respondents even claiming it has replaced traditional television for them.

“No brand does it better than YouTube, which takes pole position in our survey. YouTube gives users a platform to communicate as well as consume, with the possibility of a celebrity always on the horizon,” Miraudo continues.

“The allure of becoming a ‘YouTuber’, or engaging with them, allows Gen Z to indulge both their introspective and outspoken sides. On YouTube, they’re the stars, but also, it’s where they feel most heard.”

Following YouTube on the overall top 10 was Google, Netflix, Woolworths, Google Maps, Spotify, Kmart, JB HI-FI, Instagram and Coles.

 

Related: Why YouTube creator Hank Green wants to kill the influencer »

Health and beauty

Dove took the top spot among cosmetic brands with 66% of respondents saying they ‘love’ or ‘like’ it, Nivea came in second (63%), The Body Shop third (62%) and Rexona fourth (62%).

As noted by Miraudo, Vaseline – which came in fifth for cosmetics – was also identified as more ‘impactful’ on young people’s lives than Telstra.

 

Telcomms

Optus was named most popular among Australia’s youth, with 63% saying they ‘like’ or ‘love’ it, Telstra came in second (60%), Vodafone third (47%) and Kogan Mobile fourth (34%).

An interesting note for Telstra. Much of its praise from younger generations still seems to come from its legacy status within the market, “Telstra are very reliable and I know I can trust them,” says one WA female, 24.

 

Digital and technology

Unsurprisingly, Google led the pack for technology brands with 93% of Australia’s youth saying they ‘like’ or ‘love’ it, Microsoft followed at 80%, Apple came in third (79%) and Paypal fourth (74%).

“Google has cemented itself as a brand that Gen Z cannot live without,” Willey comments, “its strong employment reputation and dominance in the online sphere have led to a perception of the brand as a hub of knowledge and innovation.

“Through practical and useful services like Google Maps, G-Suite and Gmail, in addition to the search engine itself, the brand has become integral to their daily lives.”

Also notably, Apple still managed to arrive at third overall despite the company having the largest proportion of ‘hate it’ responses from the study’s survey (5%).

 

Further Reading:

• Gen Z – marketing to an evolving generation »
• Talking ’bout the generations, again – how to really reach Gen Z and those to come soon after »
• Netflix trials ads between episodes, users threaten abandonment »
• For marketers, by marketers – Spotify Espresso Series uncovers audio branding excellence »

 

 

 

 

Image credit:Lucie Delavay