What Gen Z Wants From Your Brand Right Now

Live on Zoom - Wednesday, June 24th at 11:00AM PST

As soon as the national emergency was declared, Wattpad tapped into their U.S. Gen Z youth panel, Generation Wattpad, to find out how COVID-19 was impacting their lives. In a follow up survey in late April, they tapped into the panel once again in order to better understand how they are coping and to gain insights into their current content preferences, what approaches from brands are working (and aren't), what they plan to do differently once things return to "normal", and much more.

Hosted by

Chris Stefanyk

Head of Brand Partnerships Wattpad As Head of Brand Partnerships at Wattpad, the global multiplatform entertainment company, Chris Stefanyk leads the strategy and execution of Wattpad’s Brand Partnerships business. His team works with leading agencies and the world’s biggest brands -- including Netflix, Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, and many others--to solve marketing challenges through the power of storytelling, building deep engagement with Wattpad’s Gen Z consumers. Prior to Wattpad Chris has held roles at Torstar Digital, Zalora and Accenture. Chris is a proud graduate of the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.

Featuring

Katheryn Frederick

Special Gen Z Guest

Katheryn Frederick is an eighteen-year-old content creator who shares positivity and personal development tips with her followers. She uses her platform as a way to spread light and love to all, and is constantly sharing messages that show vulnerability and struggle. She holds the title of Miss Aloha Hawaii and will be going on to compete for Miss Hawaii this upcoming May of 2021. She writes Young Adult Fiction on Wattpad and has loved every second of it. Through her podcast, blog and Youtube Channel, she shares even more of her life and beautiful writing voice. As a Gen Zer herself, Katheryn will add a valuable perspective to the panel.

Christine Hunt

Director of Media

e.l.f. Cosmetics Christine Hunt is the Director of Digital Media at e.l.f. Cosmetics. She has been at e.l.f. since February 2018. Hunt is responsible for driving best-in-class digital marketing strategies that deliver against company objectives within Paid Search, Programmatic Display, Paid Social, Affiliate channels. She works to identify test and optimization opportunities for the brand. She has pioneered e.l.f.’s first ever digital-only brand campaign, which has helped e.l.f. to drive record breaking engagement with their audiences, as well as helped the business realize the potential of a full-funnel approach to media. Prior to e.l.f., Hunt, worked at Sephora where she owned US digital marketing strategy across all real-time biddable media. Before that, Hunt worked at a digital ad agency, AKQA where she had the opportunity to work with clients such as Autodesk, Balsam Hill, PetSmart, Ticketmaster/Live Nation, Safeway, The Clorox Company, & Time Inc. She currently resides in Oakland with her husband Austin, and feline fur baby, Frank (or Franklin, on the ephemeral occasions when he is well behaved). She enjoys cooking, travel, and live music.

Danni Patterson

Managing Director Invention+ and Connections+

Mindshare Danni is culture-obsessed – from today’s pop culture to revisiting the classics, and everything in between. She brings this passion every day at Mindshare as a creatively-driven media strategist. Danni is a Mindshare boomerang, having recently returned after a visit to the creative side at Droga5. In her hybrid role she creates consumer experiences that go beyond advertising at the center of every communications plan; inventing culturally relevant ideas to touch people’s minds and hearts. Every day, she thinks, ‘what can I dream up today?’

Rich Thomas

Vice President of Communications, Culture & Content Insomniac Events Rich Thomas is an award-winning content creator, brand storyteller, culture strategist, and writer with over 15 years of experience in the music, entertainment and live events industries.

As Vice President of Communications, Culture & Content at Insomniac Events, Rich leads all PR and communications strategies for the company, and is responsible for creating and evolving the brand voice of some of the world’s largest and longest running electronic music festivals, including Nocturnal Wonderland and EDC Las Vegas.

As an internationally published music journalist and pop culture writer, Rich’s stories have been featured in over 30 publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, LA Weekly, EQ, the FADER, Magnetic and Flaunt. He is the former editor of Raygun Magazine, and has produced marketing content and copywriting for global brands like Red Bull, Virgin, Restoration Hardware and Mattel.