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In this paper, we examine Generation Z, the generation currently attending high school and college, our target market at the University of Minnesota Learning Abroad Center. We introduce the concepts of the hero's journey (demonstrating it as a metaphor for studying abroad) and avatars (demonstrating their wide use in marketing). Then we present the various ways in which an avatar-based integrated marketing campaign was created to appeal directly to Generation Z-from print to murals to sidewalk decals to social media to video-and to encourage members of that generation to study abroad through the University of Minnesota Learning Abroad Center.
Keywords: Generation Z, avatars, marketing
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Generation Z, the current high school and college generation, has a short attention span and a strong preference for imagery. To appeal to this generation and encourage them to study abroad, in 2017 the University of Minnesota Learning Abroad introduced an integrated marketing campaign featuring avatars. For the first year, the campaign featured Alex, a gender-neutral student; the following year, 11 more avatars-diverse in gender, race, major, and interests-joined the group. From 2017-2020, the avatars appeared in print materials (viewbooks, planners, stickers, posters, and flyers); social media (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter); sidewalk decals and murals; webpages and newsletters; animated videos; and augmented reality. The avatar campaign won innovation awards in 2018 and 2019 and continues to represent, elevate, and differentiate the Learning Abroad Center brand.
INTRODUCTION
Generation Z is a generation born from 1995 to the mid-2000s. They are digital natives and multitaskers who have a short attention span-around 8 seconds-and give up quickly if they can't find the content they need.
They highly prefer images over text, which is no surprise, since images are extremely important in today's world: Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. Text is 80% more likely to be read when paired with colorful visuals, and visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media.
Given the prevalence of generic stock photos, there is a growing trend toward bespoke, handcrafted visuals and illustrations. Inspired by this bespoke illustration trend, we created our digital avatars, the focus of this paper, to appeal to Generation Z.
An avatar is, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, "an embodiment (of a concept...