Gen Z Brings Opportunity to Create Lifelong Potato Lovers

Representing more than a quarter of the global population and a projected $450 billion in spending power, Gen Z (18-28) presents a perfect opportunity to create lifelong potato lovers who will drive long-term growth and strengthen demand for potatoes.

The good news is that Potatoes USA’s most recent Consumer Attitude & Usage study shows that Gen Z is already eating a lot of spuds, but there’s even more opportunity to help them learn about potatoes’ nutritional benefits and convenient ways to cook them.

Because Gen Z consumes media differently than older generations, marketing to this age group has to be different, too. Here are four examples of recent campaigns to help Gen Z learn more about the joy and benefits of potatoes.

Campaign #1: Working with Gen Z lifestyle influencers on Instagram and TikTok

Where do you go to connect with Gen Z? TikTok and Instagram! In fact, 76% of Gen Z says they use TikTok, and 66% says they’re on Instagram.

Potatoes USA worked with Gen Z lifestyle influencers in January to share content showcasing positive potato nutrition information, convenient ways to enjoy the spud, and more.

For example, we worked with:

• Bearenger Petrella on turning potatoes into “toast” (Instagram, TikTok)
• Jen Zhang on potatoes’ versatility and nutrition benefits (Instagram, TikTok)
• Roice Bethel on how to make tortillas out of potatoes (Instagram, TikTok)
• Peter Simondac on how potatoes fuel active lifestyles (Instagram, TikTok)
• Taryn Lamb on how to make crispy, spicy air fryer potato wedges, affectionately called JoJo’s (Instagram, TikTok)
• Evelyn Chan on how to make one of her childhood favorites, Chinese potato salad (TikTok, Instagram)

Results: These campaigns drove over 600,000 visitors to PotatoGoodness.com in January, February, and March to learn more about potato nutrition and convenient, tasty cooking options. That’s 58% more visitors than in the previous three months.

Campaign #2: Paid Pinterest Ads

Gen Z makes up over 40% of Pinterest’s monthly active users, and it’s the platform’s fastest-growing demographic.

Three paid advertising campaigns earlier this year featured Pinterest boards,” which are a collection of recipes centered around themes like Friendsgiving, the Super Bowl, and potatoes as a “real” food.

You can check out the boards here:

• Friendsgiving board
• Real food board
• Game day recipes board

Results: These ads drove thousands of additional visitors to PotatoGoodness.com for potato recipe inspiration. Overall top-performing recipes were the Apple-Spiced Potato Cake and Chesapeake Bay Potato Chip Mac for Friendsgiving, while Gen Z loved the Pepperoni Potato Pizza Pockets and Crispy Buffalo Potato Nuggets.

Campaign #3: Spotify Ads

Potatoes USA ran ads on Spotify, the number one music streaming app among Gen Z, for the first time ever. One ad centered on potatoes as a “real” food, and the other around potatoes as a vegetable.

Results: Both ads exceeded industry benchmarks in terms of how many consumers they reached and how much consumers engaged with the ads, ensuring recipients had ample opportunities to see and listen to the message — that potatoes are a real, whole food and can be included in daily servings of vegetables.

Campaign #4: Power of Three Strava Challenge

More than 89,000 athletes around the world fueled their fall workouts with potatoes in the Power of 3 September Strava challenge—nearly twice as many participants as the New York City Marathon.

The Challenge: Athletes were challenged to track 180 minutes (3 hours) of movement on Strava, a leading platform for fitness tracking, from September 17-30. The Power of 3 Challenge was named for 3 hours of movement, 3 chances to win prizes and 3 grams of plant-based protein in a 5.3-ounce serving of potatoes.

Results:

• Over 42,000 people visited PotatoGoodness.com via the challenge, making it the third-largest traffic source to the website from July-September. The challenge page was also the most visited for the website in September.
• Nearly 50,000 first-time Team Potato athletes participated in the challenge (out of the 89,000 total participants).
• 1,171 new members were added to the Team Potato community, representing long-term, engaged potato consumers.
• The completion rate for the challenge was 88%, which Strava shared is “really strong” based on its benchmarks, adding, “These are awesome results.” Strava’s completion rate benchmark is 60%.

Up Next: Our next Strava challenge, the Hot Potato Hustle, just wrapped up! Participants who logged two hours of outdoor activity between May 19 and June 1, and used potatoes to fuel their exercise, will have a chance to win a grand prize—a National Park Pass, a Yeti lunch box, a custom Team Potato Osprey backpack and a thermos to keep those on-the-go potatoes hot!

Want to see more? Check out this video for more marketing campaigns to build the love for spuds with Gen Z.