How GenZ is changing the world.
GenZ are Humans born from 1996.
There are now 69 million GenZers in school, and by 2025 they’ll be one fifth. of the Us labor force.
This is the first generation that from the beginning has grown up with a supercomputer in her pocket. YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, Siri and Alexa, they consume information in a frictionless, snackable format.
GenZ lists public speaking and communication skills as the top two.
Did our teaching as GenX parents influence their wordlview versus the Boomers who raised Millennials? How could we describe the leaders of tomorrow? What will GenZ build?
I’m the proud mother of two boys and now young adults, born in 1995 and 1997
I’m pretty optimistic. Let’s see what is means for Brands and what’s next. But first,
LET’S SHARE 5 LEARNINGS ABOUT GENZ
They’re the rising leaders of our world.
A conference organized by Orange Silicon Valley’s team has gathered a few of GenZ influencers and a set of diverse speakers about the future of home, well-being, family, work, transportation, and fun…Let’s share some valuable. insights.
1) Born with content, they’re Global Thinkers.
They’re have been growing up in online worlds with a wealth of information at their disposal.
They’are born with content. The world is at their fingertips. Discovering information in feeds made Generation Z global thinkers. They’re aware of social issues, they learn anything thanks to tutorials, they know ways brand operate.
Video is a great way for them not to waste time. Fast and easy, and he majority watch video on the go (meaning without the sound).
2) For GenZ, Social Media is the real me.
The new celebrities are not any longer Hollywood or sport stars.
If you ask them what they want to do as an adult, they could say «I want to be a social media star», it seems simple.
They follow influencers. It’s like a «cinéma vérité», self -discovery is part of the game, people growing as an adult, wanting to be an author, a music player, an actress.
Being true to oneself is essential.
Editing has been redefined. Are you cool as a teenager if you use toaster filter, upload pictures with you siblings, use hastags, post picture of your tv ? Nope, it’s uncool!
Influencers could have things in common with Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs in their garage. It’s all about talent and story telling. They don’t have a management team, a lawyear, they do it themself. The channels are their channels, therefore they’re sensitive about what they say.
You say influencers?
They weren’t trying to influence, they just wanted to share their stuff!
3) For GenZ, Real time got Real.
GenZ want responsiveness, they want an on the ground and immersive experience.
Do you know these logos? They didn’t exist five years ago.
Twitch enables hard gamers to look at high level competitions commented by super stars in the field.
Soon, we’ll see new companies in the Beauty industry enabling people to connect, because what matters is being with other people, sharing emotions and content.
Snapchat, Facetime live, stories on Instagram are part of their daily life.
4) Work is a new space of flexibility.
GenZ will work and live with unprecedented automation. And for them, space at work is as important as work.
The space is important. How they feel when they go to the work place.
Fun and learning, yes please. 47% GenZ’rs list «fun working environment» in top two factors for a job alongside «flexibility».
They enjoy space to collaborate, they like to have a sense of community, where they can just spend time with people they meet, or their friends. We might call this massively scaling phenomenon «WeWorkization» with more people in coworking space.
If Millennials made cities safe for bicycles, GenZ willl experience cities as a new playground: sharing cars and using self-driving vehicles, they’ll spend time in a more efficient way, will socialize.
It’s part of the flexible world we describe.
They are about to invent a new narrative to what work and business is.
5) GenZ want to have an impact on the world.
Yes, they want to access adulthood in their own terms.
They are accessibility native. Now «to adult» is a verb. you can choose to be an adult when you want to.
They want simplicity in a world of insane complexity.
In all surveys, 3 values unite them as a generation: loyalty, honesty, sincerity.
It’s how they would define their best friends (which could mean 17 persons in Brazil or 3 in the US!).
As a brand, you’re nowhere if not tapping into their passions, aligning values with theirs. New comers mention fair trade, support to local farmers, investment in charities to help some populations at risk. Being committed to make the world better is not negotiable for GenZ.
GenZ are also financial pragmatists. They have experienced the 2009 crisis.
In a survey lead the CGK (Center for Generational Kinetics), they are diligent, hard-working, they have a deep aversion to (student) debt, they plan to use personal savings for retirement, they want a digital-first banking relationship.
Indeed the meaning of banking is different : digital peer-to-peer payments, cryptocurrency and tokens have their place alongside traditional currencies and investment vehicles.
We could see new «tech bank» reinventing the industry as understanding their core target, Millennials but also GenZ to come.
As a Conclusion, GenZ is a learner generation.
GenZ is at ease with raising their voice wether on social media or at work.
Flexible is the new normal
Fun and learning too. For them flexibility is correlated with positive social outcomes.
They have a sense of urgency, in a complex world.
They were too young to incorporate 9/11 as a life event, but in 2007, they could notice everybody older that them was staring at the mobile phone.
They could be upset by other generations inability to deal with global warming and protecting the planet, financial crisis, immigrants one in Europe and student debt in the US.
If they are already thinking about retirement savings.
Millennials entered the workforce in a global recession, and they feel positive about GenZ: they expect them to have a positive impact, including on the workplace.
GenZ are at ease with computer science skills as well as creative thinking and new ideas.
51% feel they will need to retrain their skills, and almost the same, 48% expect «significant use of automation/robotics/AI»
In an era of rising Artificial Intelligence, they’re more than ever aware that human connections are what define us and could even define happiness. Far better than wealth and success.
And …What does it means for BRANDS and WHAT’S NEXT?
Let’s talk about what Brands need to manage to succeed.
In 2017, in the Silicon Valley or anywhere else, each entrepreneur has «a story telling» and share his company. vision, mission statement and values. For GenZ, what you are is who you are. Who you are defines your brand.
BE AUTHENTIC
GenZ expect authenticity from brands. They expect brands to create content that matter, to be direct, informative, consistent. As some famous global brands have experienced, any fake behavior can generate a massive and fast. negative reaction.
BE UNIQUE, CUSTOMIZE…
Now the challenge is «How do you stand out?» The winners will be the ones understanding what consumers want and tailoring content and products : behaviors, preferences, context, each person is unique. You can’t treat any longer customers like a single audience. You must recognize them as individuals with personal tastes.
AND DATA DRIVEN
There are ways to build brands using direct connections with fans and data, as shown by
Ipsy (with the Beauty influencer/blogger Michelle Pham).
In another way, Stitchfix emphasizes the human touch by the stylist and data interaction, the customers helping the company to understand her taste thanks to visual boards, feeling part of a community.
Killy Jenner has generated 420 Million dollars of sales, she is followed by 99 Million instagramers.
Brands. have a wealth of data about GenZ, which could be used in responsible and helpful ways to make products and services more relevant. Personalization from retailers and brands could shape new expectations for GenZ.
If Global Brands are getting smarter about how they customize both contents and products alike, they have a huge competition from indie brands, niche brands, born with social media and e commerce.
HAVE AN IMPACT
It’s quite likely the Millennial built by -and for- companies will make adjustments to GenZ preferences easier and faster than legacy brands.
And GenZ are the rising leaders.
Like they don’t take a job, they make a job, they don’t take a brand, they make a brand.
72% of GenZers in high school have gone on record as saying they want to start a company in their careers. They may be the ones to find the optimal mix of human and machine intelligence for themselves.
Be ready for a new generation of fierce entrepreneurs.
They want to have an impact now. They have a sense of urgency.
Natively at ease to raise their voice on social media, educated with no fear of Artificial Intelligence, they will use computer vision, text analytics, voice assistants and automation.
Mission and data driven, they’re begining building companies and brands for the best.
And with the help of technology, some of those companies could scale faster than ever.
Be ready for rising stars! 🤳👉🏼🚀
Thank you to Orange Silicon Valley team. Mark Plakias Georges Nahon and Guillaume Payan, and great speakers, key note by Elav Horwitz Global innovation Director at Mc Cann World Group, and Kelly Monahan, Deloitte Center for Integrated Research.
