5. Meet “Generation Z” Americans born after
Gen Y (@ 1996 to 2009) who are currently
under the age of 21.
We’ve been focused on Gen Y(a.k.a. Millennials) for
more than a decade. In fact, Millennials are
the most researched generation in history!
But Gen Z is different and in many ways
opposites or extreme versions of Millennials
How do we adapt our strategies for this new
market …
6. Understanding These People
• Born between 1996-2009
• Make up a quarter of the American population
• Are eager to build a better planet
• Are always connected through mobile, digital and
social mediums
• Want anonymous and unrestricted communication
• Love to curate their own content
• Are economically and environmentally conscious
• Hold little to no defined brand loyalty
• Are influenced by social and digital personalities
rather than traditional media celebrities
GENERATION Z
7. Millennials
•Tech Savvy: 2 Screens
•Think in 3D
•Radical Transparency: Share All
•Multi-cultural
•Communicate with Text
•Now Focused
•Optimists
•Want to be Discovered
•Team Orientation
Gen Z
•Tech Innate: 5 Screens
•Think in 4D
•Judiciously Share (GeoLoco Off)
•Blended (race & gender)
•Communicate with Images
•Future Focused
•Realists
•Want to Work for Success
•Collective Conscious
8. Growing up in a post 9/11 world during a recession
Gen Z were developing their personalities
and life skills in a socio-economic
environment marked by chaos, uncertainty,
volatility and complexity. Blockbusters like
The Hunger Games and Divergent depict
teens “at war”.
1 in 4
American children are
living in poverty
73%
of Americans were
personally affected
by the recession
9. 80%
know about
man’s impact
on the planet
78%
are concerned
about world
hunger
9 of 10
continue to feel
optimistic about
their own future
77%
are concerned
about the world
dying of
preventable
disease
7 of 10
feel optimistic
about the future
of the
environment
76%
are concerned
about man’s
impact on the
planet
10. Traditional choices don’t guarantee success
Gen Z witnessed the struggles of
Millennials (think: older siblings, many still
living at home), and have resolved to do
things differently.
11. Education focused on inclusive classrooms &
differentiated instruction
They were raised in an American
education system that focused
on mainstreaming and
classroom diversity.
As a result, they are
collaborative team players
where everyone is equal at
winning and losing.
12. They use social media as a research tool
52%
of teens use YouTube or other
Social Media sites for a typical
research assignment in school.
13. Their social circles are global
81%
of online teens
use some kind
of Social Media
26%
of Gen Z would
need to fly to
visit most of
their social
network friends
14. Generation Z’s Social Media Platforms
Instagram, 38%
Snapchat, 28%
Twitter, 10%
YouTube, 10%
Facebook, 8%
Other, 6%
15. Their attention spans are getting shorter
They are the
ultimate
consumers of
snack media. They
consume bite
sizes. Research
studies suggest
their brains have
evolved to process
more information
in a faster speed.
But, getting and
keeping their
attention is
challenging
8 sec
Is the average
American
attention span
11%
Of children 4-
17 years old
have been
diagnosed with
ADHD
17. 288,625, 322 mentions
33,016,067 mentions
19,692,028 mentions
As Gen Z adopts emoticons as
their primary language, a gap in
communication between the
rest of the population will widen.
Expect us all to become fluent in emoji in 2017
19. The 'On-Demand Economy' is Revolutionizing Consumer
Behavior
Personal service … … available on demand … … and priced by usage.
transportation food housing
20. Product quality is
more important
than brand loyalty
and they want to
test products
(either physically or virtually prior to making a
purchase)
24. Beloit College Mindset List: Class of 2020
They never heard Harry Caray
try to sing during the 7th inning
at Wrigley Field.
The Sandy Hook tragedy is their
Columbine.
James P. Hoffa has always
been president of the
International Brotherhood of
Teamsters
A Bush and a Clinton have
always been campaigning for
something big.
Robots have always been
surgical partners in the O.R.
The Ali/Frazier rivalry for their
generation was between the
daughters of Muhammad and
Joe.
25. Checklist for connecting with Gen Z
•Tell your story across multiple screens
•Live stream with them
•Optimize your search results
•Talk to them about value
•Include a social cause that they can fight for
•Have your house in order (in terms of sustainability)
•Help them build expertise; create solutions
•Tease
•Feed their curiosity
