Trends, truth and what Gen Z really thinks

Hi, Ellie here again. I hope you’re not bored of me yet – and even if you are, enjoy a quick catch-up: I recently released the second article of my Gen Z unfiltered series with the IPA, which summarised my apprenticeship journey. From 3 June 2024 to three months in, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I wanted in, but didn’t know what it would feel like. Those first three months helped me find my footing.

Sure, I’ve made mistakes, asked “silly” questions, posted things that maybe weren’t quite right – but I’ve made the most of the seat I wanted.

If you missed it, you can read my second article.

In terms of new experiences since then – there have been so many. A recent one includes speaking at my first industry event, the IPA Media Planning & Strategy Summit – and attending it for the first time!

And wow…what an event. Looking back, I took away a lot, especially from the very smart people in the room. But, it makes sense to start with my first speaking experience.

Equip and inspire

I went in feeling apprehensive which is expected when it’s your first time doing something you never dreamed of doing before. But the fact I was moderating a panel with two individuals who have a wealth of experience in the media space – Monica Majumdar, Head of Client Strategy at Reach, and Farhann Cachra, Planning & Strategy Director at Global, meant that I wanted everything to be perfect. Not to mention, give the audience what they were asking for but didn’t quite know it yet: How can we equip and inspire Gen Z, not to just survive but thrive in a world of endless distraction?

I positioned this question to Monica and Farhann as one that I needed an answer to there and then. Given their experience, I wanted to challenge them, so we know exactly where we stand in the industry.

From this discussion, we concluded that Gen Z must put their ego aside, particularly if they aspire to be, or are a planner or strategist in advertising – a job that requires a lot of doing. This will allow older generations to meet us in the middle, and guide us more effectively through adulthood in the industry. So, if you’re a Gen Z reading this (which I hope you are), you may be thinking “older generations don’t get us!”. But as explained, during the session we collectively recognised that they must meet us in the middle, which includes carving out time for us, telling us the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ to spark our willingness to learn – which we all know is buried deep down. We crave purpose and want to belong.

Why every little helps

I’m getting carried away on how incredible the session turned out, but that’s not the point. At times leading up to the summit, I let my nerves get the better of me, until they didn’t, and here’s what I did to manage them:

1. I spoke from the heart – equipping and inspiring Gen Z is something I’m passionate about, so I spoke about it.
2. I reminded myself that everyone is human – it almost felt like those in the room would be aliens!
3. I practised speaking in front of an audience. Yes, only to my parents (who don’t know what a planner or strategist is), but it was what I needed.
4. I tried not to procrastinate – easier said than done! But I read through my script a few times over, and got an early night.

It’s true when they say every little helps.

What I did not do was book my Uber early enough to accommodate the extremely severe train strikes that were occurring that week. This meant I unfortunately missed Simon Frazier’s, Head of Marketing & Data Innovation at the IPA, introduction, and Caroline Manning’s, Chief Design Officer at Initiative, keynote address. I knew I really missed out when all the other speakers kept referencing these two in their sessions. I can confirm that I did stream both the day after – and they did not disappoint.

You can watch the full summit (it’s so worth it).

Overall, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to learn from my own experience leading a panel, and that just tells you there’s a first time for everything. And if there’s one thing you should takeaway (as well as my four top tips above), I’d say grasp on to that small (or big) bit of confidence you have within because everything always works out in the end.

The takeaways

Enough about me…on to the actual summit. I might be bias, but I can confidently say that someone of any age or job level could have attended and learnt at least one valuable thing. Lucky for me – I learnt a few more:

1. Rachel Coffey, Chief Strategy Officer at Initiative UK, stated that accessibility in media isn’t optional, it’s essential. Why? Because 24% of the population live with some form of disability. A stat that I had no idea about, which encouraged me to have a conversation with my line manager the day after the summit. I asked whether our clients ever discuss with us, making their campaigns accessible to disabled people. The answer was no. Although this is the harsh reality, I’m so glad I had that conversation, because it made me think about how we, as agencies, can influence clients to have the accessibility conversation around campaigns. And if that backfires, we can at least be more aware of the negative impact this has on reaching disabled people. A truly memorable speech that I’ll never forget.
2. Women are adopting AI at a 25% lower rate than men. A great insight shared by Zehra Chatoo, Founder at Code for Good Now. This made me question why there’s a gender equality app being carried through AI. Is it because we’re not capable enough? I did some digging, and as fact from Havard University, and the Adaptavist Group, the real issue highlighted was that women were already underrepresented in tech, risk, and slipping further behind. But regardless of the true meaning behind this, I know that as women, our careers deserve every tool available – and that’s down to who we work for.
3. Attention is selection, and it’s directly linked to outcomes. Highlighted by Josh Barnett, Global SVP Agency and Advertising Partnerships at Lumen Research and Emma Withington, Chief Planning and Strategy Office at Havas Media Network. To put it simply, I learned that attention isn’t just about whether someone looks at an ad – it’s about how much and when. Therefore, to drive effectiveness, campaigns should be designed around when attention is at its strongest. It’s about working with the consideration and conversion parts of the funnel to identity the moments that matter the most. The sum of all the attention gained across touchpoints is a more powerful predictor of outcomes than isolated spikes, and the right level of repeated exposure helps solidify memory structures. Optimising for attention isn’t just about chasing a single “high attention” placement – it’s about designing campaigns that sustain and build it consistently.

And, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce that this is the future of media planning and strategy – and it’s one we all need to embrace.

The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and were submitted in accordance with the IPA terms and conditions regarding the uploading and contribution of content to the IPA newsletters, IPA website, or other IPA media, and should not be interpreted as representing the opinion of the IPA.