Recently, Horizon Media, a major U.S. media company, released a report titled “The New Media Multiverse,” which analyzes the family characteristics of alpha-millennials (alpha and millennials) and provides strategies to help brands connect with alpha generation consumers.
The report argues that in alpha-millennial families, the model of millennial parents raising alpha children is reshaping family influence, and they have co-created a new media multiverse that combines individual solitary discovery and family shared experiences across multiple smart devices and web platforms.
“Generation Alpha will be the most populous generation, expected to exceed 2 billion”, predicts Mark McCrindle’s research firm.
At the same time, the research company also said that by 2029, when the first batch of Alphas reach adulthood, their consumption value will reach nearly $5.5 trillion.
As the first generation of algorithmic natives, Generation Alpha has been immersed in digital tools since birth, and their parents will use mobile phones, tablets or other smart devices in their daily lives before they can speak or walk. According to the report, 47% of millennial parents say their children were exposed to electronic screens before the age of three.
However, the trends of Generation Alpha are not easy to grasp. Their preferences change rapidly with rapidly changing digital trends, and limited data makes their footprints difficult to track. Marketers must navigate the changing landscape without clear “cues,” balancing brand engagement with Generation Alpha and the values of their millennial parents. At the same time, government protection and regulation of minors’ information also prevent marketers from collecting their data.
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Therefore, by interpreting the report, we can explore the different consumption motivations, challenges and changes of Generation Alpha families compared to the past, thereby providing marketers with a reference to connect with Generation Alpha.
Feature 1: Millennial parents take their children to embrace the Internet together
According to the survey report, 90% of millennial parents believe that digital content has become an inevitable part of modern parenting; 71% of millennial parents believe that children with internet exposure are better equipped to cope with modern society; 65% of millennial parents say they are more active in managing their children’s platform accounts behind the scenes, influencing personalized recommendations. For example, if parents want their children to see content about peer pressure, they can subscribe to relevant accounts and change the algorithm push.
In the past, algorithms and smart devices were often portrayed as “villains” of family life and should be avoided at all costs. But instead of falling into the binary of good and bad, today’s parents are choosing to embrace digital life and teach their children how to navigate it comfortably.
This means that instead of fighting electronic screens, millennial parents are teaching their children how to search, ask questions, and make the right choices in a vast array of media, helping them build autonomy, media literacy, and digital resilience to help them navigate in an algorithm-driven world.
Brand Marketing Advice:
Brands need to rethink stereotypes about millennial parents. Today’s parents no longer just restrict their children’s use of smart devices and no longer see them as flood beasts, they are using digital networks to educate their children.
According to the report, two-thirds of millennial parents say influencers who introduce their children to new hobbies or skills are more trustworthy. Brands that can truly help Alphas build autonomy with digital tools, smart collaborations, and effective content will win the competition.
Feature 2: Alphas are now co-decision-makers in the family
Children have now become the main players in influencing daily household purchases, with children dominating the influence in 11 of the 14 categories surveyed. When researchers discussed with parents what brands their children want now, parents mentioned nearly 250 different brands. These brands span a wide range of sectors, from big tech companies to gaming, toys to fast food, entertainment to apparel, and more.
According to the survey, 70% of millennial parents say their children are more brand-aware than they were at this age; 65% of millennial parents believe that their children now have a greater influence on family decisions; Two-thirds of millennial parents believe that their children have more autonomy than them in making purchasing decisions at the same age.
Generation Alpha not only knows the product and brand very well, but also immerses themselves in it. With a myriad of web information and tailored algorithms, Alphas are shaping their identities around their unique interests and passions. Compared to previous generations, Alphas no longer influence household purchasing decisions through knowledge, contact, and a keen sense of popularity.
Brand Marketing Advice:
For brands, this changing family dynamic is more than just a trend. Today’s younger consumers are more aware of brand dynamics and more influential than ever before, and understanding how new family dynamics will affect brands is key to keeping brands connected to Generation Alpha.
If your entire family strategy starts with “mom and dad,” you risk losing Gen Alpha. Brands need to see Alphas as savvy consumers while giving the whole family a reason to buy together. Ignore this, and your brand may age in the alpha-millennial economy.
Feature 3: Entertainment, education… Family needs are integrated and rich
According to the report, 78% of millennial parents believe that “family activities now make me and my children happy.” ”
Alpha-millennial families are embracing the new multiverse of new media, and content that caters to multiple family needs is the one that brings everyone together. Millennial parents’ needs for family activities include “relaxation”, “entertainment”, “education”, etc., so they are more willing to accept activities that can meet a variety of needs and enrich family life, such as watching movies in the theater, watching TV shows at home, playing video games and board games together, etc., which can help them reduce the burden of raising children.
As a result, Gen Alpha children and millennial parents co-curate and experience this content, with parents acting as navigators rather than gatekeepers. They look for mediums that combine entertainment, education, enrichment of life, etc., to enhance the well-being of family life.
Brand Marketing Advice:
Brands need to meet the multi-layered needs of alpha-millennial families with innovations that serve multiple purposes. Parents are seeking media and merchandise that entertain, educate, and enrich their lives. And brands that offer versatility – blending fun, functionality, and family connection – will stand out and thrive.
Feature 4: Nostalgia + tradition, entertainment content suitable for both parents and children
Generation Alpha’s media usage time is divided into “I” and “we”, which is shaped by platforms, genres, and activities.
During the time that belonged to “me”, they were drawn to platforms that mainly focused on games, short videos, and handmade content. During “our” time, they tend to enjoy activities such as watching movies and playing board games, as well as entertaining with their families on traditional platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video.
The report shows that 84% of millennial parents spend at least some time playing board games with their children, and 71% of millennial parents watch Disney with their children at home.
In “us” time, family viewing options lean towards nostalgia and traditional forms of entertainment and content, which are becoming important areas of activity and engagement for alpha-millennials. What parents loved as children is now being reintroduced and recombined to appear in a way that is more suitable for their child.
For Alphas, the internet warps time – making nostalgic content both fresh and timeless. The algorithm and recommendation engine break the time boundaries of Alphas and re-present old content in a whole new way. From classic movies to meme moments, retro pop culture has been given a new lease on modern platforms.
Brand Marketing Advice:
Brands can view co-viewing moments as new primetime and most valuable media moments. Standing out from traditional entertainment experiences like cinema or nostalgic IP is essential for any brand that wants to appeal to alpha-millennial families.
Nostalgic content is not a regression, but a connective tissue between generations. Smart brands buy, blend, mix and match, or reboot them.
Feature 5: Family members will influence each other’s interests and hobbies
The common interest is the glue that binds families of all generations together. Interest is the glue, acting as a conduit in the new multidimensional media landscape, driving engagement among family members.
In alpha-millennial families, there is no single “content curator” – each family member’s hobbies form part of the family culture, influencing each other.
The report shows that 82% of millennial parents agree, “I share more interests with my children than my parents share with me.” “62% of millennial parents regularly watch YouTube with their children.
YouTube is the go-to and most used platform for Alphas and parents to discover content, watch together, and stay connected, while also being a competitor to traditional streaming and social platforms. Of the 13 social and gaming platforms surveyed, it is the platform most used by Alphas and the one that parents feel most in control.
Brand Marketing Advice:
To win over alpha-millennial families, brands need to join these areas of shared interest and view YouTube as a cultural hub for families, creating content and activities that cross generation gaps and become of interest to any member of the family. If your brand is only for one generation, it may not be suitable for any generation.
Feature 6: Every screen is part of the story
Rather than the fragmented behavior of using one platform or device at a time, Alphas prefers to use multiple smart devices at the same time to achieve the same goal. According to the report, 59% of millennial parents say it’s common for their children to use more than one device at the same time.
Alphas excels at multitasking over multiple medium connections simultaneously. What some call “brain rot” (describing the negative mental effects of over-browsing low-quality content online) may actually help Alphas distill information. For example, through the “PDF-to-Brainrot” learning format, serious content from textbooks is superimposed on ASMR, games, or meme videos to better adapt to their multitasking brains. This way transforms learning materials into engaging content that makes learning as natural as their habits.
This shows that for Generation Alpha, “medium-consumption” is not decentralized, but connected. Multiple screens don’t distract them, they are synchronized around shared interests and intentional engagement.
Brand Marketing Advice:
To attract future Generation Alpha consumers, brands need to always think from a multi-platform perspective. Forget about traditional media planning now and start building cross-screen multi-platform storylines and campaigns across social, gaming, and streaming, among others, to work together for brand marketing.
Every screen is part of the story, and brands need to seamlessly transition from YouTube to Roblox to streaming or risk disappearing from the Gen Alpha storyline.
Feature 7: Interest and content determine influence, not online popularity
A new type of influence model is emerging, focusing no longer on the charisma of influencers themselves, but on content based on shared interests that give influencers influence. In other words, influence is related to content and interests, not personality-driven fame, to Generation Alpha.
When content consumption is made, Alphas discovers new content creators through what they create. For individual creators, algorithms favor content over popularity. Guided by algorithms, Gen Alpha, like Gen Z, slipped into passion almost effortlessly – with just one click, they plunged headfirst into the subculture. Whether it’s making guitars or a bird fanaticism, shared interests quickly give them an identity, and hobbies among friends become their social currency. These digital deep dives transform shared passions into stronger social connections.
This change has blurred the boundaries between influencers, self, and community, ushering in a new era of influencers.
Brand Marketing Advice:
Brands should not make decisions based on influencer fame, but should choose to join the interest-driven content ecosystem that is already driving Generation Alpha consumption. By aligning with the interests of the current Alpha generation, brands can be part of the Alphas exploring and shaping their future identities.
Feature 8: Games are not only entertainment, but also the social life of the alpha generation
Games are a way for Generation Alpha to connect with others. Whether in virtual or real life, social gaming has become an extension and alternative to face-to-face interaction.
Among parents of children who play video games, 85% of millennial parents believe that games provide a unique way for children to engage and solve problems creatively; 80% of millennial parents believe that playing games promotes bonding and helps their children develop valuable skills.
For Generation Alpha, content is not only entertainment, but also self-reflection. From “dreaming” in games to role-playing in Minecraft, they seek out stories of themselves becoming heroes, shaping their identities through narrative-driven, character experiences.
Games have not only occupied the social life of Generation Alpha, but have even become a part of their social life in their own right. This is where friendships are formed, where identities evolve, and where stories unfold.
The boundaries between gaming, entertainment, and social media have disappeared.
Brand Marketing Advice:
Brands need to treat gaming as social media, and the idea of “rejecting games” should be put aside and instead start seeing it as a cultural system in the social and creative lives of Generation Alpha.
But in-game ads alone are not enough to grab attention. Brands that want to build influence need to further integrate into the game’s storyline, characters, and experiences, building their lore both inside and outside the game.
summary
For brands, the emergence of each generation of consumers means a change or even innovation in the marketing environment, because each generation has its own characteristics of the times.
In the past, millennials were born in the era of the rise of social media, and they were attracted to brands that disrupted the status quo and represented a bigger vision, and they formed a deep and lasting connection with these brands, with brands with “vision, virtue, and mission” leading the way in this generation.
The birth of Gen Z is accompanied by the evolution of society and the prosperity of the online society, and unlike the grand vision that millennials believe in, they trust brands that resonate with them, become close friends, and are abstract and interesting, and those brands that bold entertainment will be loved by them, such as Duolingo.
Generation Alpha will lead us into a new era of marketing.
For Alpha, the brand curtain was drawn and the illusion created by the brand disappeared. They know that a brand is a brand, and maybe the brand itself is good, but they want a brand that is fun, useful, and worth their time — they want to be a part of it, to be a co-creator.
Generation Alpha is growing and has great spending potential, and brands should be prepared to welcome Generation Alpha consumption.
