Influence & Inspiration

INSIGHT OVERVIEW

• The audience does not want to be influenced, they want to be inspired.

• ‘Influencer culture’ feels outdated, empty and crass.

• For Gen Z, there are genuine concerns about the effect of influencer culture on mental health.

• Brands buying the biggest and best names in the business no longer works.

• Combining ‘big’ names with smaller names, is the new model: uplifting and acknowledging new people.

• We need to create new ways to connect to ‘small’;  setting up new systems and [quick] processes locally.

• Huge follower numbers no longer add up, it is the more niche accounts that the audience are inspired by.

• Gen Z expect anyone with the power to make a difference to use it and this applies to our partners too.

• When it comes to working with those that inspire, they must be real and representative.

• An admirable generation, Gen Z want to see versions of themselves reflected in our partners.

The idea of influence has changed drastically over the last 3 years; with the arrival of Gen Z online, they have eschewed the concept of ‘influencer’ inherited from the Millennial generation before them and redefined it on their own terms and turf. For them, the presence of influence in ‘influencer’ is void; as a word they use it ironically, disparagingly, or simply with derision. Moreover, it’s a concept they mock and a construct they avoid. For them, ‘influencer culture’ feels empty and rather crass, particularly post 2020 when equality and humility jumped to the fore. As one commentator replied under Kim K’s images of her birthday party on a desert island mid-pandemic: ‘Read the room, Kim’. Of course, it is not that they are not influenced but rather, influence without inspiration, without substance, no longer works. 

Responsibly, as a brand, we must acknowledge that the Gen Z audience tend to see influencer culture as detrimental to one’s health, particularly when it comes to the flaunting of wealth, ‘prize possessions’ or certain lifestyles. As a generation, they’re highly aware of mental health problems and are taking on discussions of it as a whole. For them, influencers can often make others feel ‘less than’, something they refuse to deem as okay. Seeing the problems faced by generations before them, they are actively doing things differently in a healthier, more proactive and realistic way. As 20-year-old Jimmy explained it: “An ordinary user looking up to them might see these influencers and try to live a life that is not genuine or realistic to who they are, it can really affect the mental health of the people looking towards them.”

For the Gen Z audience and the Originals of Culture, they see the current system of ‘influence and influencer’ as broken. The Age of the Influencer [now dismissed by the audience] saw brands flexing their finances through buying the ‘biggest’ and ‘best’ names in the business, even when the partnerships often made no sense. Buy-outs, as well as out-buying other companies, resulted in a rather capitalist led culture of collaboration. Due to this, the system tends to be seen as hierarchical, linear and led by money, detracting from the idea of influence overall. The over-use [not just by us] of Kanye’s ‘social circle’ is also seen as a rather pertinent example of where this flexing of funds has landed, namely - with brands using the same people over and over again. 

Of course, it’s not that we as a brand can’t work with big names but rather a case of we can’t just work with big names. Unequivocally across the audience, they want to see a mix of big and small names, those that are well known alongside those that are less well known. Uplifting local heroes and acknowledging and supporting undiscovered talent is the new maths here.  Whatever the age, whatever the generation, this is the new age of influence, or rather - inspiration and collaboration - that the audience will respect and admire. 

This idea of ‘niche’ and ‘normal’ is a formula that adidas have to bring to the brand moving forwards. Normal we can read as ‘expected’ big figureheads/celebrities, while ‘niche’ is the more nuanced, local and smaller names. For some, this is the idea of ‘micro-influence’, which was covered in a white paper written by Ruby for the brand previously. Micro-influence is still in the ascendant, where hype may still drive the market [for instance, Mexico, Russia and Asia]. However, for others, particularly in the West, it is the people with smaller follower numbers, who are more similar to the audience themselves that they are looking up and towards. Huge follower numbers no longer add up; it is the realistic numbers that the audience find inspirational.

Seeing influencer ‘culture’ as empty, it is no surprise that the Gen Z audience expects those who can make a difference, to make it. Whether it’s talking about social issues, highlighting problems or educating the audience, our partners must play their part. However, it must always be done in a way that is respectful, persuasive and passionate — never bullying or detrimental. Our partners, across the brand, must be exponents - people that persuade with passion, not polemics. Cancel culture - for both our figureheads and Gen Z - is not something they buy in to; indeed, it’s a state of culture again ‘inherited’ by the Millenial generation who have conjured it up [Gen X have been there, seen that, they know the PC argument doesn’t work].

Our partners, therefore, cannot be a part of cancel culture either; just because they’re celebrities does not mean they can point their fingers. If using their voices, their platforms and their power to make a difference, it must always be done in a way that is compassionate, intelligent and aware. Think of it as a collaboration of sorts; does it make sense that this person is speaking out about this issue? Do they have the right to speak out about it? Are they standing up for the ethics and issues our audience believe in too? Consideration, as always, is key. 

When it comes to overall inspiration, it must always be real and it must always be representative. For our Gen Z audience, outdated models of filtered perfection won’t wash and brands that fail to demonstrate an understanding of what being representative actually means won’t be tolerated by Gen Z or the audience overall.  Representation - for Gen Z - is about: age, gender, sexuality, body type, lifestyle, ethnicity, disability. As we see within the Inclusivity insights [which you can read here] this is essentially about ‘everyone’; it is a form of democracy whereby everyone feels seen and heard, not just the queer community and POC. For our audience, being real and representative is about showing humanity as a whole not as compartmentalised tick-boxes.

Importantly, for our new, young Gen Z audience, they want to see versions of themselves reflected. As arguably the most impressive of generations we’ve had for a while [and PSEUDO has been studying youth culture for nearly 25 years now] it is no wonder that they are inspired by those that demonstrate the same values as they do. Humility, kindness and courage, for instance, matter more for Gen Z than it did for generations before them, where Millenials were hot-headed and Gen X were simply disillusioned. Seeing their own morals, ethics, aspirations, lifestyles and backgrounds reflected back at them from our partners is therefore paramount.

Altruistic, Expectant Activists, Gen Z crave a better world and play their own part within that. Doing what they can to make a difference - whether it is using their platforms to persuade, volunteering, coaching, teaching or otherwise - they expect people in power and the public to do the same. Again, this reconfigures the expectations placed upon our partners and ‘influencers’, they must use their power to make a difference and inspire in positive, proactive ways.

In football, for instance, this kind of altruistic activism is seen in the work of Marcus Rashford within the UK - a player who is similar in age to many of his fans and who reflects back traits and characteristics that the audience can identify with. Taking on the issue of school meals in the UK made sense for Rashford and his fans; it was something he had every right to speak out. As an example of using power properly, his tackling of the issue was relevant, real and representative. Succinctly, this exemplifies the idea of being appropriate never appropriating when it comes to speaking out as a celebrity or influencer. As 18-year-old Londoner Dre explained: “I think Rashford and the free school meals thing he’s doing is brilliant. I hold people like him and Stirling in really high regard because they speak out about things they care about, Ronaldo too.”

Fluid Indie Experimentalists, Gen Z weave, wonder and wander as they wish. As a generation, they experiment and express themselves across various realms with ease and freedom, exploring and examining with acute curiosity and a desire to always know more, more, more. They admire those who are equally fluid, looking towards people that set the tone and are unapologetic, honest and real about their own bending of the ‘rules’, whether that’s through identity, art or otherwise.

They look towards those in the public eye that cause friction in ways that are fun, artistic and persuasively provocative, there’s a reason Billie Eilish caught the generation’s imagination in the way that she did, after all. Tyler, too, is another perfect example of being a ‘Fluid, Indie, Experimentalist’, lending his hand to myriad projects with his own distinctive, highly individualised voice, style and taste, exactly what we see with Bad Bunny, too. “Tyler, The Creator and Luka Sabbat are always trying to evolve and do new things that fit in with who they are. They set the trends, they don't follow them. Tyler is crazy, in a great way, you can’t ‘read’ that much about him, he’s just him, whoever it is that he is…” explains Ayomide, 21, London

Brave, Spirited Exponents, Gen Z admire and are inspired by bravery and courage, especially by those that are not afraid to be themselves or have gone up against adversity [and won]. The confidence to be oneself, without fear, is a trait they endlessly admire as an audience. Different to ‘activism’ or ‘activists’, this is about people who use their power to persuade others in ways that are stimulating, compelling and compassionate. They like people that are real, with highly honest and ‘human’ characteristics, like vulnerability, humility and kindness.

Lil Nas X, for instance, is a perfect example of this, seemingly spending his summer counter-trolling excessive, abusive commentary about his homosexuality from other rappers and trolls online. Another summer success story was Simone Biles, bravely putting her own mental health in front of prestige and publicity [rather Millennial traits], while calling attention to issues that matter more and most to this audience.