How to target Gen Z?

For the last ten years we have been obsessed with Millennials. They dominated the market in their tribe groups, the Hipsters, the Makers, the Side-Hustlers. Entrepreneurial in spirit, we have seen an emergence of brands, a new wave of new companies all competing for our attention like never before. Tea before Millennials was PG Tips and monkeys digging the Channel Tunnel, now its slow infused, organic handpicked green vegan matcha tea in silky bags. Juice before Millennials was orange or apple and you could get adventurous with the choice of bits or no bits. Now it contains nutritious charcoal and superfood chlorophyll and someone somewhere has now realised that you can milk a pea and we have pea milk. Gin before Millennials was Bombay, Tanqueray and Gordons. Now there is such an explosion of craft gin, The Gin Guild can’t keep up and craft beer is exactly the same. With vegan beers, fruit beers, yoga beers and even craft beer for Millennial pets. French bulldogs of course.

For the last 10-15 years we’ve all been talking about craft credentials and brand stories, but now the cultural centre of gravity is shifting. Young people are the centre of influence. Traditionally younger generations reject the trends of their older generation to create a new norm. What happens, is the centre of gravity moves towards them and the people outside of that demographic move towards the centre of gravity. That’s why my dad is now more concerned about the provenance of his coffee bean and has become experimental with his gin and tonic pairings. When I was a kid he didn’t even like gin and the fact that his coffee was instant Nescafe with one sugar was just fine.

A scary thought, in 18-months the oldest Millennial will be 40 the youngest 25. When people hit 25 the neural pathways in their brain become less welcome to new ideas and change. In effect, your brain starts to solidify. Great! What that means for brands is you need to be thinking about how to attract the next generation of customers now, because Millennials have already made up their mind about you.

Click the below to read on and find out

How are Gen Z different?

What does that mean for your brand?

What do Gen Z want from brands?

How loyal are Gen Z?

How can brands engage with Gen Z?