How Life360 embraced teens’ love-hate relationship with the location-tracking app

Life360 hasn’t always been on the good side of teens. The location-tracking app is usually the bane of sneaky teenagers. And yet the 16-year-old brand has reinvented itself with Gen Z by embracing its “ultimate snitch” reputation and focusing on funny tracking stories. Life360 is used to teens venting about parental surveillance. But in 2020, that anger sparked one 16-year-old to post a TikTok calling on other unhappy teens to leave 1-star, negative reviews about the company in the App Store. The hate campaign caused Life360’s executives to rethink the company’s social media approach and embrace TikTok to engage with younger users. On social media, the brand acknowledged its reputation but also emphasized younger users “stalking” their friends and parents while touching on some of the app’s safety features, such as crash detection. @life360 stay mad 😘 @notkb #life360 #life360lovesme #wya ♬ original sound - Life360 See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here The app’s TikTok account has gained 1.5 million followers since it debuted about two years ago, with 70% of the audience between the ages of 18 and 24. “We used to solely create content and use social to speak to parents,” said Brittany Lamp, director of brand, content and community at Life360. “While parents are the target demographic, we can see that kids are also spending as much time, if not more, on the app tracking their parents. That was a big shift to start making content for teens.” @life360 happy Olympics besties 😎🥇 #life360 #life360lovesyou #friends #olympics ♬ Kung Fu Fighting Jersey Fazo - fazo⚡️ TikTok, in particular, has helped increase brand awareness and user engagement. In the first quarter of 2024, Life360’s net paying subscribers nearly doubled to 94,000, and global monthly active users have surpassed 66 million, a 31% year-over-year increase. The brand’s content isn’t all funny memes. It does post videos that ask teens to be safe while driving or imagine how it would feel to get a “crash detection” notice. “Our content is 90% humor,” said Lamp. “But there is another 10% that talks about how the app can be life-saving, and there are situations where you might depend on it, like our SOS button, crash impact and emergency dispatch.” See Ad Age’s 2024 Breakout Brand Leaders and Work here

How Life360 embraced teens’ love-hate relationship with the location-tracking app

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