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At a recent Advertising Week New York meeting, Gen Alpha was on attendees’ minds. This group, which is made up of people born 2010-2024, is expected to be valued at $5.46 trillion by 2029. 

Gen Alpha are the first true AI-digital natives, having been digitally immersed since birth.

The Advertising Week New York meeting featured multiple Gen Alpha-focused sessions. These 5 takeaways provide food for thought for marketers:

• Gen Alpha: Household CMOs. Although Gen Alpha consumers are age 14-16 and younger, they still affect almost half (42%) of family purchases and have a direct spending power of $100 billion+. Marketers should be looking at both short-term and long-term plans for connecting with this group.
• Shaped by AI, but don’t call them the AI generation. Yes, Gen Alpha’s routines and brand choices have been affected by AI, but they feel that being referred to as the “AI generation” disrespects their individuality. They are looking for authenticity.
• Speak Gen Alpha via creators. This group gets much of their information from platforms such as Roblox and YouTube. Thus, marketers need to learn how the various AI models work and adjust their strategies accordingly.
• Intellectual property (IP) is more important than following trends. Trends come and go quickly, but engaging IP such as microdramas captures and hold the attention of Gen Alpha. Your organization may not have all the resources needed to create their own content, but creators whose portfolios resonate with Gen Alpha can work wonders.
• Make the most of co-viewing opportunities. Very few families gather in the living room to watch programming on TV in a unifying experience these days, but there are possibilities for similar experiences with streaming platforms. Opportunities for children’s programming with valuable educational content are becoming more numerous as many brands seek to counteract a current of “brain rot social content.”