Let’s Talk About Generation Z

Other fellow marketers reading this may be familiar with an annual report released by Tubular Labs, a cross-platform analytics and insights company, that details upcoming trends and important considerations when marketing to specific demographics. We’ve all heard the M word — millennial, but I think Generation Z has gotten a bit lost in all that discussion. Who is Generation Z? Why, the next biggest thing! Generation Z consists of current consumers aged 7-17. These consumers have grown up in a completely digital world. While millennials were present for the slow transition over time to social media, the internet, and digital communication, Generation Z has been fully immersed in it from the time they were just toddlers, so it only makes sense to focus our thought process on how to reach this new group of consumers.

The report I’d like to share with everyone is called the Cassandra Report, and focuses on identifying larger macro trends that marketers and advertisers can use to reach Gen Z. Join me as we explore some of the more important of those trends and identify how they may be relevant to us as communication practitioners.

Z’s Are Grownups

And they like to be treated as such. No talking down to these folks — anything you can do to boost their confidence and raise them up are effective techniques. These folks have taken an exceptionally mature stance on life compared with other recent generations. Marketers must recognize that they are smart, intelligent people who are able to make their own decisions. By that same token, Gen Z’s are of the mindset that leisure time should be spent more effectively, in which they focus on personal achievements and goals even when they’re spending time relaxing. We’ve come to identify this phenomenon as “proplay” — in which recreational activities that were once done for fun are now skills-based learning opportunities.

89% of Zs spend part of their free time doing activities they consider productive and creative instead of just hanging out. – Cassandra Report, pg. 57

The Importance of Feedback

Giving and receiving feedback is very important to Gen Z-ers. Because these folks have grown up in a world where they can have anything delivered to them, anytime of the day (whether it be a pizza, or instant feedback in the form of likes and comments on social media), Gen Z-ers are highly open to feedback. They want to be a part of a “Feedback Loop,” in which they can attain a “real time understanding of what they’re doing right and how to be better.” This is actually something I have noticed in my own personal life as well, and it’s fascinating.