Marketers wear many hats. In addition to determining the right marketing mix (price, product, and promotion), it behooves marketers to have a line of sight on understanding research data, technology’s impact on business, consumer insights, and trends.
All of the above are leading practices to ensuring desired results, Marketers must also keep a line of sight on future generations and model impending business potential.
With that being said, let’s meet Generation Z. Gen Z is below 20 years of age. This generation makes up roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population. Believe it or not, Gen Z is larger than Baby Boomers and Millennials.
This is great news for marketers because Generation Z offers an opportunity to realize continued revenue growth in the future. Here are a few things to consider about this generation:
- Highly sophisticated when it comes to technology
- Digital usage is very pervasive; includes heavy social (i.e. Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, etc.)
- Activities include: texting, emailing, surfing the web, playing mobile games
- Tablets are key device
- Influencers for this group stem from digital videos and/or social media recommendations
- While this is a younger demographic, security/privacy play a factor in their digital behavior. A shared trait that is especially seen with their Boomer counterpart
As the rush to be all things to Millennials/Gen X and Boomers continue to weigh heavily on marketers’ minds, take a breath to look ahead at future relevancy with Gen Z. Given its size, this generation will quickly replace the Millennials in importance once they become that coveted age group of 18-49. Right now, Gen Z’s teenagers are already having some financial implications with certain products or brands such as Apple, Samsung, YouTube, and Instagram.
There is an old Chinese proverb saying, “When we have nothing to worry about, we are not doing much and not doing much supplies us with plenty of future worries.” In essence, start preparations to determine who your future consumers may be and how you can gain your unfair share of their wallets.
Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years experience, freelance writer and author of “Elements of Buying” (a self-help advertising guide), available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed as Black Enterprise’s 2011 Top Execs in Marketing & Advertising and Black Enterprise’s 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]
