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Brands eager to connect with elusive Gen Z consumers are embracing an increasingly popular entertainment genre to gain their favor: anime.
In the last few years, anime has exploded from a niche interest to a mainstream entertainment format, largely driven by the genre's surging popularity among Gen Z. A growing number of brands, including Ikea, Duolingo and McDonald's, are jumping on the anime bandwagon and incorporating anime-inspired imagery and themes into their marketing. Brands are leveraging the genre's popularity to create commercials or content series that emulate the distinct animation style; collaborating with anime series or major players in the industry; or sharing social media posts nodding to popular shows.
"Gen Z, more than any other generation, is such a global generation. They're not just watching American-made content—they're listening to K-pop, watching anime or incorporating Korean beauty products into their daily routines," said Anastasia Pelot, a content marketing manager at youth market research firm YPulse. "Global content is here—in their living rooms and on their phone screens—and they don't have to go out of their way to be able to experience it."
In a YPulse survey of 16- to 34-year-old consumers conducted in February 2022, 66% responded that they "like anime," and just over one-third reported watching anime at least once per week. Data from Morning Consult echoed YPulse's findings, with 42% of millennials and 25% of Gen Z adults identifying as anime fans in an October 2022 survey.
Demand for anime content surged 118% between 2020 and 2022, according to Parrot Analytics, a global entertainment analytics company. Global media companies have leveraged this growing consumption of anime, with Netflix striking distribution deals and spearheading live-action adaptations of popular series including "Cowboy Bebop" and "One Piece"—the latter of which Netflix unveiled a trailer for at last week's San Diego Comic-Con.
The anime boom extends beyond just streaming series. Duolingo recently found that Japanese is the fourth-most-common language among the app's U.S. users—particularly those below age 30, who comprise 86% of Japanese language learners on the app. The language's popularity among Duolingo's target Gen Z audience drove it to team up with anime streaming service Crunchyroll in May, said Michaela Kron, Duolingo's U.S. marketing director.
The two companies brought about 50 words and phrases from notable...