Understanding Generation Z: The Digital-Native Consumers
Generation Z refers to people born between 1996 and 2010. They’re the second-youngest generation, between millennials and Generation Alpha. Gen Z identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape, and COVID-19. They’re known as ‘digital natives’—the first generation to grow up with the internet.
Marketing to Gen Z is unlike marketing to any other generation. They represent a new frontier in brand-consumer relationships—one where authenticity and relevance reign supreme.
How Marketing to Gen Z is Different?
Every generation creates an identity independent from those that came before it. What makes marketing to Gen Z so different is that they’re our first generation of true digital natives. Their earliest memories are tightly linked to internet ephemera, like web games and viral social content. They likely took notes in school on a personal computer or tablet. Today, more than half of the people spend over four hours per day on social media.
While the content they consume is free, they realize that advertising dollars are what make it all possible. The generation is hyper-aware of when they’re being sold to. Brands still use these tactics, of course, but it’s harder to make an impression now because we’re so used to it.”
Brands need to be willing to break the mold to effectively connect with Gen Z audiences. Otherwise, they’re spending time and resources on campaigns that have a high likelihood of falling flat.
