5 Keys to Engaging (Marketing to) Generation Z

No generation the size of 2-3 billion can be fully described with a simple bullet point list. And yet there are some generational commonalities we should be aware of. Generational research is a sifting process, and the biggest job is to weed out the noise between the true signals. After discarding myths and spurious effects, a few nuggets remain. The following five points are some of those I believe represent true shifts that you should be aware of when reaching Generation Z.

1.Price-Conscious and Frugal

The price of college weighs heavy on many Gen Zers’ mind

Growing up in the shadow of the recession and with information technology to do price comparisons 24 hours a day, don’t expect this generation to do many impulse purchases. TD Ameritrade’s 2nd Annual Generation Z Survey discovered that if given $500 a massive 70 percent of Gen Zers would save part of it and 30 percent would save it for college. Such monetary dispositions might seem obvious to the adult reader, but rewind your memory back to a time before your pre-frontal cortex was fully developed and your life revolved around keeping up with your peers. In this context Generation Z’s cautiousness is quite astounding. The price of college weighs heavy on many Gen Zers’ mind these days, a topic After the Millennials has done extensive research into recently. Stay tuned!

2. Keeping it Real

The distance between the entertainer and the audience is shorter and the viewer feels more co-creative with the final product.

Why are so many Generation Zers ditching polished advertisement and professional entertainers for quirky amateurs on You Tube? Because they’re projecting an image which feels more real and authentic. And by being real and authentic, they are more relatable. And being relatable means that the general Gen Z audience feel that they have a vested interest in the message or product. With digital communication, the distance between the entertainer and the audience is shorter and the viewer feels more co-creative with the final product. Cassandra Report and Deep Focus found that 63 percent of Gen Z prefers to see “real” people in ads, while just 37 percent favor celebrities. The same goes for movie scripts. Pragmatic and realistic, Generation Z don’t want to be lulled into a happy ending that doesn’t seem real. When the Pixar movie Inside Out became a blockbuster a few years ago, we learned that it was not perpetual happiness, but sadness who won at the end. With the world literally at their fingertips Generation Z is innately attuned to B.S. and can wrangle far more complex emotions than the reductionist narratives children’s entertainment have traditionally served them.

3. Customize everything, but with data integrity

While younger generations are more frugal with their green cash, they are quite willing to share their data with you if you can offer them something in return

If you are sitting on databases full of customer insights and you are not mining this to provide customized offers, you are wasting your capital. Your customers’ data is your capital. While younger generations are more frugal with their green cash, they are quite willing to share their data with you if you can offer them something in return. The idea of harvesting data to create personal recommendations is less controversial to digital natives, but there is a catch. Data capital is earned via trust. Do not share with third parties unless explicitly stated in the agreements. Provide ample opportunities to opt out. Prevent hacks and treat personal identifiable information and purchasing history with discretion. At first glance it might seem as if this generation is “post-privacy” and will shrug off data hacks and breaches nonchalantly. Nothing could be further from the truth! While youthful indiscretions are temporal, digital footprint stay forever. This generation of future data scientists and cybersecurity analysts will remember the brands they could entrust with their data and shun those who didn’t take it seriously.

4. TL;DR or Reduced Attention Span

The infamous 8-second attention span has another very credible explanation: The amount of available content grows exponentially while total time remains the same.

Children’s shortening attention span has been the subject of psychologists and pediatricians alike since the introduction of the television. The incidence of ADHD is growing, as is probably the motivation to diagnose it. Neurologists claim that children who spend too much time with screens show noticeable changes in brain chemistry similar to other addictions, particularly dopamine imbalances. While these trends are worrisome and could explain why kids tend to ignore content with a longer duration than a simple GIF, the infamous 8-second attention span has another very credible explanation: The amount of available content grows exponentially while total time remains the same.

5. Don’t be Evil

Actually, being non-evil is not enough. Proactively care about what they care about.

By all means, you don’t have to do a thing beyond day-to-day business if you’re ok blending in with the wallpaper. You can continue to be a greyish inconspicuous brand, and Gen Z won’t bug you. But they won’t hug you either. If you want them to hug you, you need to hug somebody or something else. Hug a tree, hug a near-extinct animal, hug and include those who have been marginalized. In general align with the values that define this generation and support the future they are trying to build. But only if you are truly feeling them. You can’t be Big Mean Corp one day and suddenly decide to project yourself as The Caring Commons by taking some ideas from Chipotle and Tom’s shoes. It might even involve a complete corporate strategic overhaul or your desired patrons will sense your attempt is phony. Just like my headline won’t win you over just because I euphemistically replaced the word “marketing” with “engaging”.

Because in the end, marketing to generation Z is not about marketing at all. It’s about understanding and empathizing with young people’s ambitions, dreams, anxieties and motivations at this transitional and quite intimidating time of history. Having cataloged this generation for years my consultancy After the Millennials has found that during disruptive times it is not enough to understand the “whats” and the ‘hows”. To meet Generation Z in the future you will need to understand the “whys’. To learn more, please contact info@afterthemillennials.com.