Bauer Media Launches OFFSCRIPT Gen Z Sentiment Survey

In Australia, magazine publisher Bauer Media has partnered with MR agency The Lab to launch a study called OFFSCRIPT, to understand the thoughts, feelings and social media behaviour of Gen Z, as well as how advertisers can target this generation.

Bauer reaches more than 1.5k Gen Z members through publications including Girlfriend, ELLE, Who, InStyle, Marie Claire, BeautyCrew and Syrup - these engage with women aged 14 to 24 years through social media, print, digital and other experiences. The OFFSCRIPT survey used artificial semiotics to analyse more than 2,000 Instagram posts to uncover and classify the clusters of themes that connect this generation - supplemented with qualitative research and manual semiotic analysis to provide context.

Findings have been used to shape Bauer's new Gen Z product, Syrup - a fashion, beauty and culture brand launched earlier this year for 16-22 year-olds. According to the publisher, the OFFSCRIPT research is the 'playbook' that advertisers need to develop bespoke ways for their brand to connect with the Gen Z generation.

Anna Preston, Head of Strategy at Bauer Media, comments: 'It was great to partner again with The Lab, to apply this methodology to uncover [Gen Z's] emotional signature. We have never seen a generation like this one before. They are less rebellious than those which preceded them. They are also more thoughtful about how they chose to live and the choices they make'.

Web sites: www.baueradvertising.com.au and www.thelabstrategy.com .