Episode Details

One question that we’ve returned to time and again on this podcast and in our coverage, as media practitioners return to time and again themselves, is how to appeal to young people.

Young people who are often hard to reach. They overindex on low-attention social media platforms and, while they generally express a greater openness to and trust of advertising, also worry over how their media diets are shaping their still-forming brains.

One company that has made it its business to reach this exact demographic is LadBible. Founded in 2012 as one of the first scaled social publishing businesses, Ladbible operates channels including Unilad, Gamingbible, Sportbible, Tyla, and, more recently BetchesMedia, which it acquired last year.

Apart from producing editorial content for young people, the company drives revenue through working with brands to develop creative for commercial campaigns.

LA Ronayne is the executive creative director at LadBible.

As other more traditional publishers have increasingly invested in a social publishing arms race, Ronayne sat down with host Jack Benjamin to discuss her team's workflow, what sets social campaigns apart, and best practices for speaking to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Highlights:

4:11: The creative process for branded social content: from brief to output

9:02: Working with different social platforms: tracking algorithm changes, stopping thumbs

15:16: Latching onto short-term trends versus long-term culture

20:00: Trust and measuring success

23:06: Where LadBible sees itself in a crowded social publishing market

26:57: What does Gen Z want?

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