Generation Z versus millennials: The coolest brands according to young people

A Google-commissioned study concludes that YouTube, which it owns, is the coolest.

A study by pollster YouGov, commissioned by Google, into what big brands American teens and millennials think are 'cool' came up with some surprising findings.

Of course, there were also some unsurprising findings. Both groups of young people – Generation Z, aged 13 to 17, and millennials, aged 18 to 24 – rated Google-owned YouTube to be the coolest brand of all.

They also both put Google third, which is nice and convenient for the company, given it paid for the research. Netflix, not owned by Google, was second place in both polls.

But Generation Zers were much more aware of The Wall Street Journal – a financial newspaper of record – than youth-focused news and lifestyle magazine Vice.

And while the Wall Street Journal was also the least cool brand for teens, despite Vice's reputation as a hipster bible, it was only rated marginally cooler. In fact, it was ranked the second least cool brand.

Teens are, bizarrely, much more aware of Old Spice (and think it's cool-ish) than Vice. Millennials didn't even rate Vice as that cool, and they aren't massively aware of it as a brand, according to the study.

WhatsApp is much less cool to teens than it is to millennials. The X-Box is also the console of choice for Gen Z, whereas Playstation is the millennial pick.

But tastes and fashions change fast, and already these results may be out of date. YouGov used web-based polling to survey nationally-representative samples of teens and millennials between May and June in 2016. It also involved "aided awareness", so there was some prompting involved.

Google said the purpose of the study "is to provide a glimpse into the world of teens in the US through the lens of what they find cool. Cool is an indication of what people pay attention to, what gets them excited, and can often act as a manifestation of their hope and dreams.

"Unlike millennials, this group is ambitious, engaged, and feel like they can change the world. For Generation Z, what's cool is also a representation of their values, their expectations of themselves, their peers, and the brands they hold in the highest regard."