How do you engage an audience with an attention span of just 8 seconds?

Understanding Gen Z

Sky needed to win over Gen Z, but this was no easy task. Checkout was complicated, pricing felt steep, and the brand’s positioning simply was not landing. To dig deeper, we partnered with universities and ran interviews with 15 students, uncovering their motivations, housemate dynamics, media habits, and UX expectations. These insights formed the foundation of our design decisions.

Affordability was the first barrier, but it was not the whole story. Students wanted more than just a low price, they craved authenticity. That meant real imagery and video content, paired with tongue in cheek messaging that reflected their culture. With an attention span averaging just eight seconds, capturing and keeping interest became the design challenge.

To guide our approach, we translated our research into clear problem statements, hypotheses, and design principles that shaped ideation and kept us focused on what mattered most.

Perhaps we could...

We knew from research that:

• Gen Z love to share experiences with friends.
• They love a bargain and are more likely to buy something if they feel they're getting a good deal.
• They hate conflict, so asking housemates for money was gonna be kinda awks.
• They crave authenticity from brands.

So a household only needs one subscription. For a household of four, the price of Sky is then comparable to a pint.

And what if we could go one step further and actually split the bill for them? Meaning no awkward conversations on who owes who what, and less admin in general...

Benefits for Both Sides

Split Streamer made Sky’s premium products accessible to students on a budget, while unlocking valuable business opportunities for the brand.

For Sky:

• Multiple customer details captured instead of one.
• Data on where and when students move.
• Potential for streamer profiles, giving partners like GymShark, H&M, and Nando’s a channel for exclusive offers.

For Gen Zers:

• No more one person footing the bill and chasing housemates for money.
• Less stress and anxiety around payments.
• Access to exclusive bargains from Sky partners.

We tested two design directions with 20 students at the University of the West of England:

• Design A: Traditionally Sky branded, without Split Streamer.
• Design B: Social media inspired, tongue in cheek, with the Split Streamer feature.

Testing results

We wanted to see whether Gen Z preferred Sky’s polished visuals or a style more like the content they see on social media, and, of course, to test the Split Streamer Subscription concept.

Gen Z value comfort, familiarity, and authentic content, and they are also short on money, being students or early in their careers.

Interestingly, testing suggested a hybrid approach could work best. Some felt the social media style lacked product information and credibility, while others thought the traditional Sky style did not speak to them, but perhaps “more their parents.”

The Split Streamer concept landed even better than expected. We did have to keep reminding them that the product was still just a concept. Our Gen Zers loved that it split the cost, with their share feeling as small as “cheesy chips on a night out.” The result we wanted: a concept now generating serious interest internally at Sky.