Top 100 Youth Trends of 2016

It's easy to think of youth products as toys and to leave it at that, but the 2016 youth trends are evidence that youth are far more diverse consumers. Though toys and play are certainly a large portion of the 2016 youth trends, Gen Z is likely the most web-savvy of any demographic, and their use habits have spilled over into the products and services that exist for them. Our annual innovation conference dives deep into Gen Z's habits and thinking processes, but this summary can suffice for now.

McCain Foods' 'Emoticons' are a perfect example of how kids' online lives can be used for marketing. The baked potato snacks are shaped like various emojis, an acknowledgement of how ingrained online communication is in young people's lives.

Companies are also harnessing some of the most popular media among kids to get their messages across. MTV's 'Pants Off' is a sex ed program that played exclusively on Snapchat, eschewing more traditional media entirely.