Stop Chasing Gen Z Across Screens—Meet Them at the Movies
- Evan Shapiro
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Turn Upfront season into showtime for your brand.
Marketers love to talk about “the unreachables”—and Gen Z often tops that list. They watch less TV than previous generations. When they do tune in, they’re often watching on YouTube or Netflix, platforms that either fragment attention or skip ads entirely.
That’s why the marketing hive mind has settled on TikTok as the go-to answer—because it feels like the only place the 18-34 age demographic can be reached.
Rethink the narrative around Gen Z media consumption
But reducing Gen Z to TikTok obsessives misses the bigger picture—and the bigger opportunity.
The baggage the media heaves on Gen Z about their social media addiction distracts us from the truth the data proves about these powerful, particular consumers. Yes, Gen Z loves TikTok. So do a lot of people. But, no, their attention span is not any shorter than older generations. Yes, younger Americans still love great, even classic, storytelling. And yes, they are willing to pay for it, plan for it, and set time aside for big stories in a premium environment.
Most importantly, there is a way to reach this ad-avoidant, fragmented, discriminating, diverse, digital-first audience, without giving all your money to walled gardens. Better yet, this platform caters to Gen Z, features premium first-run Hollywood content, and captures much greater attention than TV or YouTube can. It’s called the movies.
Why movies matter more than you realize
According to the National Research Group, Gen Z goes to the movies more than any other—90% of this generation goes to the movies regularly, along with 80% of millennials. Because the Upfront season and the summer movie season coincide, data was pulled from National CineMedia (NCM) to explore an idea ...
