Ah, November. The leaves get crunchier, the air gets colder and we *finally* press play on those long-awaited Christmas playlists. Festive or not, November always brings an abundance of new campaigns and exciting ads. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the top five from the past month, and discuss why they resonated so well with student and Gen Z audiences.
1. Adidas World Cup
Ready, set, go!
The World Cup officially kicked off this November, bringing with it star-studded campaigns aplenty. With the 2018 World Cup drawing in a global viewership of 3.5 billion, this year is expected to draw in a record-breaking five million viewers, 36% of which are aged between 18-30. This year, brands like Adidas and Coca Cola ramped up their promotional efforts to target younger audiences – and it didn’t go unnoticed amongst Gen Z. Adidas launched a star-studded campaign narrated by none other than Stormzy to tell a story rooted in football culture with features from the world’s best players (including Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham). The advert built anticipation by airing just before the World Cup kicked off, but came as part of a wider, month-long campaign that sees global social media activation across various platforms. This is a smart move from Adidas to reach Gen Z, who are spending less time watching the games and instead moving towards consuming sports through short-form media such as TikTok and Instagram.
2. John Lewis
Hate it, love it, or feel totally indifferent: you can’t deny the effect of the John Lewis Christmas advert. On the 10th of November, the 14th manifestation hit our screens, bringing generations together to praise its charitable feel and heartwarming portrayal of the foster care system. For Gen Z, this advert marks the start of the festive season, drawing in a huge amount of online buzz and reviews. With the cost of living crisis affecting students around the globe and the pressure this year to dial down Christmas indulgence, the John Lewis campaign reflected the mood of the nation and focused on finding joy in the smaller things.
If you missed it (and we’d be surprised if so!), you can check it out below:
3. Movember and International Men’s Day
Mental health has never been higher on the agenda for Gen Z, with 79% of young people surveyed by Student Beans revealing they had struggled with their mental health during university. Each year, the month of November focuses specifically on the mental health of men, with International Men’s Day taking place on November 19th and millions around the globe growing a moustache as part of Movember. Movember’s relevance to young people couldn’t be more pertinent – ‘lad culture’ is an unfortunate permeation of student life, accelerated by heavy drinking and locker room chat culture. Movember, and campaigns around International Men’s Day, aim to dismantle this toxic masculinity through raising awareness around mental health and encouraging men to trade the concept of ‘man-up’ for something far more simple: opening up.
A poignant campaign by BBH Singapore was launched in partnership with Calm Collective. This campaign used the tagline of ‘Deal With It’ to depict a short film where a young man sits alone with his thoughts whilst an external voice narrates his struggle. The video closes with the line ‘Deal with it. Just not alone’, promoting the importance of asking for help to normalise conversations around mental health. You can watch it below:
4. Spotify Wrapped
Spotify Wrapped might just be the greatest Christmas present of all time. First hitting our smartphones in 2016, Spotify Wrapped has evolved into a community phenomenon around the world, causing its competitors to follow in its footsteps (but never quite as successfully – sorry Apple), as it presents a yearly round-up of our most listened-to tunes.
Spotify Wrapped celebrates all things Gen Z, with intricately decorated tiles ready to share on Instagram pages, verbage to make the most generic listener feel unique, and the introduction of a new feature this year that tells you your music personality type in a clever nod to Myers-Briggs. This year, social media imploded with memes, jokes and downright hilarious commentary:
We even had a little play on the concept ourselves…
5. Trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois
Trainspotting might not be the first hobby on the agenda for Gen Zers, but thanks to one man and his GoPro, it quickly became one of the biggest trending topics on TikTok this year. Lovable sensation Francis Bourgeois hit notoriety online for eccentric videos of him trainspotting around the British countryside, with his love for the locomotive world attracting him a whopping four million followers on TikTok. Hell – he’s even starred in an advert for Gucci, and counts Joe Jonas and Thierry Henry as fans.
Francis is an iconic figure for young consumers, who appear to be tiring of lifestyle influencers in favour of those who showcase authentic and original content. Francis’ November Youtube miniseries has received a huge amount of praise online from young consumers, with episodes featuring some of the most notable faces shaping youth culture today, including AJ Tracey and footballer Jesse Lingard. A special shout-out goes to his episode with Love Island star Chloe Burrows, which drew a huge amount of attention online.
You can watch one of the best clips from it below:
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