Gen Alpha aren’t waiting to grow up, they’re already shaping what brands look, sound and act like. Born between 2010 and 2025, they’re digital natives with seven-hour-a-day screen habits, billion-view attention spans and a nose for authenticity that rivals any media strategist. And for marketers, the challenge isn’t just reaching them…it’s doing so responsibly.
Martin Kevill, Creative Director at Tangerine Communications, and Kim Bull, Brand Communications Lead at Specsavers, took to the stage at Prolific North Live 2025 to explore how brands can thrive in a world where children are both consumers and creators.
The latest instalment in our Focus Week coverage from Prolific North Live – headline sponsored by Dotdigital, Slater Heelis, Buymedia and CTI Digital at UA92 in Manchester on 6 November 2025 – examined how this emerging generation is transforming attention, influence and brand loyalty.
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Kevill described Gen Alpha as “super spenders” whose impact is already being felt. “They’re not the future consumers — they’re consuming now,” he said. “Their financial influence starts before they’re even born.” With 2.5 million births a week globally, the generation is expected to influence $500 billion in family purchases annually by 2034.
They are the first true digital natives, growing up on Roblox, Minecraft, YouTube and Snapchat and often juggling screens before they can read. According to Kevill, 76% enjoy branded moments in games, 58% play Minecraft, and nearly 40% spend at least three hours a day on screens. “They know they’re being marketed to from a very young age,” he said. “They can spot what’s real and what’s not.”
That awareness is driving higher ethical expectations. 66% of Gen Alpha want to buy from companies with a clear purpose, 96% believe in fair treatment, and nearly four in ten check the accuracy of news they find online. “They’re looking for brands not only to say what they stand for, but to show it,” Kevill said.
Bull said Specsavers took those insights to heart when designing its campaign to reach children aged three to 11. “We wanted to reach them authentically, in a space that felt natural, while also being responsible,” she said. The answer was Roblox — where the brand built a branded obstacle course game and virtual merchandise giveaway with sight and sound messaging at its heart.
Research showed age eight is the point where parents start letting children play unsupervised. “That meant we could talk to both audiences at the same time,” Bull said. “We built in question gates that required children to speak to their parents to progress through the game.”
The campaign leaned heavily on Roblox-native influencers, including Ethan Gamer, and introduced branded avatar items such as glasses and hearing aids. “We awarded 298,000 pieces of digital merch,” Bull said. “It went global — influencers in the US were telling followers to log in via VPN just to get them.” The earned reach alone was valued at £30,000.
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In total, the campaign generated 19 million impressions, 71% positive sentiment, and an average playtime of three minutes per user. “That’s three minutes of active brand engagement,” Bull said. “And 82% of players answered sight and hearing questions correctly — proof it worked educationally too.”
Specsavers followed up with a campaign to tackle children’s fear of the opticians, turning that anxiety into creativity. “We discovered kids were more scared of the optician than monsters,” Kevill said. “So we asked them to design monsters to welcome others in.” The resulting ‘OptaMonsters’, drawn by children, appeared across Specsavers’ stores, website and social media, creating what Bull called a “360-degree consumer journey” that spoke to both children and parents.
Tangerine also applied Gen Alpha insights to its work with Horlicks, launching Choco Land — a campaign built on a dual insight shared by Gen Alpha and millennial parents. “Both generations crave time offline,” Kevill explained. “Kids want real connection, parents want moments that matter. We built a campaign around that — ten minutes of creativity, shared over a cup of Horlicks.”
The result, he said, was “a dual-message campaign that spoke to two generations at once – and it worked.”
Closing the session, Kevill summed up the key challenge: “Gen Alpha will grow up co-creating culture with brands. If you want their loyalty, you have to live in their world – not just advertise in it.”
