Winning over young generations is key for marketers in the chase for relevance and as those groups’ purchasing power rises. In the coming years, no cohort may be as valuable to reach as Gen Alpha, which is estimated to wield about $28 billion in direct spending power — not to mention a good deal more in indirect spending — despite its young age.

A new report from Horizon Media’s Why Group and Blue Hour Studios, “The New Media Multiverse,” analyzes strategies that could help brands connect with Gen Alpha consumers, along with their typically millennial parents. Among the highlights is Gen Alpha’s gravitation toward interest-based content and community-driven discovery. Household dynamics between Gen Alpha and millennial parents could also inform marketing plans as nostalgia helps parents and their children connect and millennials embrace screens in a new way. 

However, the Gen Alpha landscape isn’t easy to navigate, not only due to regulatory complexities but also intense competition. Gen Alpha, defined in the report as those born between 2010 and 2024, is exposed to more content than older generations, allowing them to refine their interests from an earlier age. Millennial parents cited over 250 brands that their kids ask for by name, according to Horizon Media, underscoring the challenge in cutting through the clutter.

“These kids are almost like mini-media planners — they’re extremely brand aware, they’re extremely marketing savvy and they have more purchasing power than any generation before them, and within their family too,” said Matt Higgins, head of strategy at social and influencer agency Blue Hour Studios.

“The New Media Multiverse” is based on an analysis combining cultural audit and social listening with primary research in addition to qualitative interviews. The audit analyzed over 250 pieces of content to identify emerging narratives, while proprietary research leveraged a panel of 1,000 American millennial parents aged 28-48 with Gen Alpha children aged 7-13 in February 2025.

The new family dynamic

Gen Alpha, described by Why Group and Blue Hour Studios as the first algorithmically native generation, and millennials, the first digitally native generation, are reshaping how families function. Notably, 77% of millennial parents believe that their children are more influential than they were over their own parents in determining purchases, a shift credited to algorithms and the role they play in helping kids build their interests. Simultaneously, 82% of parents agree they share more interests with their children than their parents did with them.

More specifically, nostalgic content is the “connective tissue” between generations, per the report. Eighty-four percent of respondents reported they gravitate toward nostalgic formats when they are seeking out shared experiences. For brands, that insight provides a valuable opportunity to consider rebooting or recreating older intellectual property for today’s consumers, according to Higgins. A number of brands have recently revamped iconic taglines, mascots and characters in the hopes of reaching younger audiences. 

“The way that Alphas are taking in nostalgic content with their parents, they see it as new content, and they’re bonding with their parents over it,” Higgins said. “One of the kids that we spoke to was saying how they love this show called ‘The Office’ — they talked about it like it just came out — because they watch it with their parent.” 

The predicted shift from hyper-personalization back toward community-driven discovery underscores the need for shared content experiences. Gen Alpha’s exposure to content is welcomed by millennial parents, who have adopted an alternative attitude to screen time than the parents who came before them. Instead of restrictive thinking, millennials are instilling independence among their children, accepting digital life as inevitable and working with their kids on how to navigate a complex landscape. 

As a result, 71% of parents believe their children are better equipped for today’s world because of their screen exposure. However, 65% of parents curate and edit their children’s online feeds through actions like watching videos they feel will make a positive impact while signed into their child’s account, another signal brands should broaden their appeal to the wider family unit. 

Redefining social

YouTube is the top-used platform within the Alpha-millennial household and could be the main platform for the family unit broadly in the future, experts said. YouTube ranks as the only destination across the 13 social media and gaming platforms analyzed in the report with both high usage among Gen Alpha (94%) and high feelings of control among parents, who have a longstanding familiarity with the 20-year-old video site. A deeper focus on YouTube and its various content formats can help marketers tap into co-viewing moments, Higgins said.

“Obviously focusing on YouTube, and seeing it as kind of this social platform meets traditional streamer — almost like an everything app for the family — is really important,” Higgins said. “That doesn’t just mean long-form, it means Shorts, it means other kinds of integrations.” 

Some behaviors from Gen Alpha could further accelerate existing social trends, including the rise of microinfluencers, or those with follower counts between 10,000 to 100,000. The majority of millennial parents (76%) report that, for their children, content relevance outweighs creator popularity when being influenced. Additionally, 70% of parents agree that their children don’t have strong attachments to individual creators, and instead just watch whatever interests them. For brands, that doesn’t mean macro influencers should be forgotten, but the day-to-day interactions Gen Alpha has with microinfluencers will be what moves the needle.

“When we started thinking about what that means going forward, there’s still going to be the Alix Earle’s, but they’re probably going to be more connected to the type of content that they make, or an interest they’re attached to versus our traditional understanding of influence or even fame,” Higgins said. 

Leveling up gaming strategy

Gaming is a key part of Gen Alpha’s routine, but not just for play. The cohort views titles like Roblox, Minecraft and Fortnite as social media platforms in their own right, using the experiences to connect with others, both virtually and in real life, per the report. Gen Alpha’s passion for gaming also goes beyond the console to include related movies, TV shows and physical items like books and toys. 

Gen Alpha’s relationship with gaming will require brands to advertise in ways that feel native to the ecosystem rather than disruptive, Higgins said. 

“That doesn’t just mean a branded space, it means as a brand you’re participating on Roblox, you understand, you get it, you’re working with influencers and creators that are in those spaces too, you’re bringing lore and pieces of Roblox into your brand and how it shows up on a TV spot or an [out-of-home] ad,” Higgins said. 

Higgins also emphasized the importance of following regulatory guidelines when crafting such experiences. Child safety concerns around advertising within gaming experiences has been particularly difficult to navigate, though platforms like Roblox have attempted to curb concerns with stricter guidelines. 

Though Gen Alpha is young, the cohort's habits on channels like gaming and social media could signal what’s to come for how consumers on a broader scale will interact with brands down the line. Marketers that begin to understand the generation now will supply themselves with a competitive advantage for the years to come, according to Maxine Gurevich, senior vice president of cultural intelligence at Why Group, Horizon Media’s in-house research unit.

“It’s really important to understand that even if you’re not marketing to Gen Alpha today, or your target is not the family, this is something that you really need to take on and think about as a brand marketer — what the future is going to look like for your brand — because these are sort of early markers and early indicators of real digital shifts that are happening,” Gurevich said.