Whether or not they’re your target audience today, Gen Z are already starting to influence how the world works. Their traits are only just starting to emerge but they show a marked difference to Gen Y / Millennials. Brand Genetics distilled existing studies and its own experience to uncover key Gen Z needs, identifying 7 relevant innovation opportunities that can help your business stay ahead of the game.

1. GEN Z ZING
7 WAYS TO PUT THE
ZING INTO GEN Z
INNOVATION

2. PUTTING ZING INTO GEN Z
INNOVATION
Generation Z is the next big
opportunity for brand
innovation. How will we create
products and services to appeal to
this cohort of kids who are post-
Millennials, second-generation
digital natives born at the turn of
the century? Under-researched,
Gen Z is still a generation in the
making with formative
experiences yet to fix generational
traits. Nevertheless innovation
opportunities are emerging along
with a distinctive set of
Generation Z needs

3. 1. DIGITAL DNA
If Gen Y ‘Millennials’ were the
connected generation, then Gen Z
is hyper-connected. Gen Z’ers rely
on no fewer than five screens for
their digital fix, and 40% of their
free time is dedicated to screen-time.
Digital is not merely native
to Gen Z, it is innate. Consuming,
communicating and creating their
lives via connected screens, digital
connectivity is the new oxygen
for this cohort of hyper-connected
kids
Gen Z Opportunity #1:
deliver the connectivity fix Gen Z
crave and expect

4. 2. CREATIVITY CALLING
Gen Z are growing up into a new
‘Maker’ movement where
technology is not just about
consuming and communicating,
but creating. From productivity
apps to 3D printing and self-publishing,
Gen Z are bathed in a
culture that increasingly reveres
creativity, and the technology that
can now deliver it. For Gen Z, it’s
as much about making stuff as
consuming stuff
Gen Z Opportunity #2:
help, inspire and enable a new
generation of Gen Z creatives

5. 3. REALISM RULES
If Gen Y were relentlessly upbeat
and optimistic, Gen Z are shaping
up to be more realistic about the
world and their place in it.
Technology is not seen as the
panacea to all ills, and this cohort
takes its technology with a dash of
Hunger Games-style dystopia.
Realistic about the dark side of
technology in limiting freedoms,
privacy and opportunities, Gen Z
are digital realists
Gen Z Opportunity #3:
help Gen Z win against the System
and deal with digital dystopia

6. 4. SHARE NO MORE?
Gen Y were open and compulsive
sharers, but Gen Z prefer private
and selective sharing through Ello,
SnapChat, Secret and Whisper.
Growing up in a world of Big
Data, Big Brother surveillance and
identity theft, privacy is shaping
up to be a matter that matters
massively to this generation
Gen Z Opportunity #4:
harness the renewed desire for
privacy and confidentiality

7. 5. BUBBLE-WRAP ME
Sometimes dubbed the 'bubble-wrap
generation’, Gen Z are being
brought up protected and safe
from the world of recession,
corruption, volatility, and
insecurity. As they grow out of the
bubblewrap and into an unsafe
and threatening world, Gen Z may
seek refuge in a new 'safe place’
Gen Z Opportunity #5: bubble-wrap
the lives of Gen Z by offering
safety and security

8. 6. LIFE AT LIGHT SPEED
Gen Z has a need for speed.
Living in an accelerated culture,
real-time is the new prime time
and there is a need to
communicate with speed. Instant,
on-demand technology, rapid-fire
communication and a culture of
instant-obsolescence is shaping a
now-or-never generation who
need satisfaction faster or not at
all. Less patient than Gen Y
elders, Gen Z hate to wait
Gen Z Opportunity #6: help Gen Z
live and love life in the fast lane

9. 7. RENT IT
Why own something when you can
rent it? With values being forged
by streaming technology, digital
feeds, subscription services, and
an emergent ‘sharing economy’
Gen Z is shaping up to become
‘generation rent’. Having all the
benefits of ownership without the
hassle of ownership makes smart
sense to this generation
Gen Z Opportunity #7: find new
ways to consume, share and enjoy
without owning

10. ‘GEN Z’ ZING
1. Digital DNA… deliver the
connectivity fix they crave
2. Creativity Calling… help, inspire
and enable creativity
3. Realism Rules… help them deal
with digital dystopia
4. Share no more?… deliver on
privacy and confidentiality
5. Bubble-wrap me… offer safety
and comfort
6. Life at life speed… helping live
and love life in the fast lane
7. Rent it… new modes of non-ownership
consumption

11. WHY THE ‘GEN Z’ ZEAL?
Generations, like people, have
personalities. While there are many
differences within generations, not
least across cultures and regions, our
connected world means global cohorts
increasingly share key influences; from
a common life-stage, to global media
and the shared experience of major
events and trends. The result is a
generational mindset that is more
global than ever before: Generation Z -
second-generation ‘digital natives’ -
are at tomorrow’s cutting edge of this
shift
We believe that by collaborating with
lead Gen Z (and Gen Y) thinkers and
influencers, future-focused brands will
identify exciting new opportunities that
are internationally relevant & scalable

12. RESOURCES
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