Now that practically any marketer worth their paycheck can list the attributes of the Millennial generation in their sleep, it’s time to shift focus to those kids nipping at their heels: Generation Z.

As Ad Age puts it this week “if marketers thought they threw out the playbook with millennials, they need to know that Gen Zers aren’t even on the same field.

In a nutshell, these 2- to 19-year olds are the first digital native generation in America, meaning a world without iPads and streaming video is about as foreign as one with horse-drawn carriages.

They’re also the most diverse generation on record, with one quarter identifying as Hispanic, 14 percent black, and 4 percent Asian (whites make up 55 percent of the group).

Perfection is scoffed at, and the idea of an American Dream is more foreign than ever. They’re realists who don’t want to be sold some pre-packaged ideal; imperfections are acceptable and independence is valued above adherence to a group.

These are makers and do’ers who don’t come with the expectation of praise and perfection that plague millennials reared on participation trophies and the adoration of helicopter parents.

For brands, a well-executed digital experience and strategy is key to reaching Gen Zers, who will reflexively head to a digital platform as their first stop when they want to interact with a brand or project.

Read More: Ad Age, TVByTheNumbers

Brief Take; With 72 million Gen Zers out there in America, brands need to get up to speed quick if they want to reach a generation that in many ways is starkly different from their Millennial predecessors.

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