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Part 1/3: A Peek Into Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business and What to Do About It.
Did you know…
The oldest Gen Zs are already 26 years old.
Gen Z is the fastest growing generation in the workforce.
Gen Z already makes up over 40% of US consumers.
79% of Gen Z feels other generations do not understand their generation well.
Too many businesses and leaders recognized way too late in the game how to recruit, manage, engage, market to and sell to Millennials (hopefully by now they have – if not, God speed). When Millennials first hit the workforce, many people just assumed we would grow up and adapt to the “way things had always been done." We were labeled as lazy and entitled job hoppers, who don’t like to work and live with their parents – when in fact we were the largest generation in the workforce and many were in fact very independent.
"There is a constant disconnect between generational perception and reality." - Denise Villa, PhD
As a a Millennial (or Mega-linnel), a leadership coach and just an all around eager consumer of knowledge on the subject of generations, I feel a sense of responsibility to help spread the word about Gen Z, and help people and companies understand this generation so that Gen Z doesn't have to suffer (or at least suffer long) from the misunderstanding and delay of change that Millennials had to go through.
In fact, Gen Z is already driving so much change and establishing a “new normal” so quickly that companies who don’t come up with Gen Z strategy, who don’t take the time to listen and understand them, or who dismiss them as young, inexperienced and uninformed run the very possible risk of quickly becoming irrelevant and eventually falling off.
So I decided to crack open Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change The Future of Business and What to Do About it. I mean, how could you pass up that title?!
This book fired me up for this generation and for the changes they will drive over the next five to twenty years. And you should get excited too!
This book is so full of goodness I had to split this into 3 blog posts, BUT this absolutely does not replace the value of getting and actually reading the book. These 3 summaries will get you conceptually where you need to go to understand Gen Z and get you motivated to adapt to this generation, but Zconomy is chalk full of research, data, case studies, examples of companies successfully connecting with Gen Z, and most importantly great tips and suggestions for how you can to.
This is meant to wet your appetite, but trust me you are going to want the full meal. Click here to purchase your copy of Zconomy today!
(Side note: I am not an affiliate marketer and receive zero commission on purchases of the book made through this blog post. Just an admirer and fan of their work!)
Who are Jason and Denise?
Jason Dorsey and Denise Villa, PhD are the President and CEO of the Center of Generational Kinetics (CGK). CGK is the leader in generational research, speaking and solutions with special emphasis on Millennials and Gen Z. They conduct research on 4 continents and have worked with more than 700 clients.
Here are the main questions they answer and discuss in Zconomy:
Who are Gen Z?
What are they buying? What works to market and sell to them?
How do you recruit, retain and engage them as employees?
How will Gen Z change the future of business?
Not only do they answer these questions but they also provide a plethora of specific suggestions and tips for your business and for you as a leader along the way.
Who can benefit from this book?
All Industries, Businesses, Leaders, Managers, Innovators (...basically everyone in business)
It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in - you cannot afford not to understand this generation. They will change everything from how you typically recruit and manage employees, to how you market and sell to consumers.
Start Ups, Entrepreneurs, Influencers
Imagine building your company from the ground up with a Gen Z strategy! You will have the opportunity to stand out immediately amongst the competition and you won’t find yourself in a position to change existing strategies in two, three, or five years from now.
Gen Z
Calling all Gen Z! Understanding your generation, and not just from your own experiences and preferences but from data and research, will become your most valuable tool the workforce. As your company starts to recognize and adapt to your generation it’s going to impact how they market, sell, recruit and engage - EVERYTHING. Be the voice for your generation and position yourself to be their go to person for advice, clarity and to bounce ideas off of.
Let's jump into Zconomy! But before we do, quickly take all those preconceived stereotypes about this generation that are floating around in your mind right and throw them out the window. Have an open mind, be a sponge and be willing to listen and learn.
Who are Gen Z?
Before you dive into how to sell to, market to, recruit and engage, you need to learn and understand what makes Gen Z Gen Z. Don’t just assume you know what makes them tick or how to connect with them because you know they are young, always on their phones, or even from your own experience having Gen Z children yourself. This is the most dynamic and diverse generation in history and relying on that limited knowledge and stereotypes immediately does you a disservice.
One super key thing to always remember about Gen Z is that they are the first fully digitally-connected generation. They don’t know a life before Amazon or asking Alexa for help with their homework and will likely never step foot in a bank (or carry a wallet). Their teachers send important reminders about homework and tests via Snapchat because they know the students won’t check email (it’s for old people). They use social media as a resource for everything – news, entertainment, community, dating, job hunting, education, etc.
Millennials experienced the gradual shift to this new normal as adults or young teens. We remember life before social media and smart phones. But for Gen Z, this is all they know.
And this “new normal” drastically impacts their expectations on everything from learning, shopping, social interactions, work, and is already driving massive changes on the consumer and employer fronts.
Generation Defining Moments
Gen Z, while still very young, have already experienced many generational defining moments that are impacting their worldview, purchasing decisions and social behaviors. Some of those key generation defining moments are:
Access to and dependence on mobile technology
The number of 13-17 year olds with smart phones doubled from 41% in 2014 to 89% in 2018 according to research from Common sense Media. 31% of Gen Zs feel uncomfortable being away from their phone for 30 minutes or less. An average of 29.5% of Gen Z are on their phones 10 or more hours per day. 55% of Gen Z's are on their phone five hours or more a day.
Zconomy shares a hypothetical yet highly realistic story about how a Gen Z college female might use anywhere from 7-10 apps before she even gets out of bed in the morning. A life run by apps is all Gen Z knows.
I don’t think it comes as a surprises to anyone that social media apps top the list. On the positive side, it’s the glue between their family, friends, entertainment, news and well…the rest of the world. On the negative side, it’s driven a dangerous and significant spike in mental health issues. Still, Gen Z relies heavily on it.
The platforms that stand out most with Gen Z are SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, but they use each platform for different things. SnapChat is all about candid, “in real life”, low anxiety, playful posts sent only to selected groups of friends. Instagram is all about polished photos that the world will see. They may only take a few photos to find the right SnapChat post, but they may take up to 50 to find the right Instagram photo. Facebook is considered for old people (mostly), but they do use Facebook to keep up with groups, events, activities, local businesses, etc. Twitter is mainly their direct link to the news. Gone are the days where your access to news was limited to the lens of whatever 6 o-clock news network your parents watched. They get to experience and consume news in real time, on a plethora of channels, and from instant, real time, unfiltered footage, and all from their phones.
Great Recession & Student Loan Debt
Gen Z came of age witnessing and hearing about their Millennial or Gen X parents' struggles with the Great Recession and crippling student loan debt. This has drastically impacted their view on college and saving. According to research from CGK, 66% are worried about accumulating or not being able to pay off student loan debt. 79% are worried about the future overall. 86% of high schoolers say they plan to go to college, but 27% say they are not willing to take on any debt at all.
New Values & Activism
Gen Z has grown up in a time of highly political, divisive and very public voices taking the main stage and has witnessed a collision of values on the news, social media and in protests – all from a very young and impressionable age, and of course right on the phones in front of them. But more than just observing, Gen Z in large part has become a generation of activists themselves and their voice, their power and their leverage of technology is impacting everything from social change to branding, marketing and hiring. Research from CGK shows that Gen Z expects more from brands and employers when it comes to taking public stances on social issues - particularly diversity inclusion. 48% of Gen Z years are non-white compared to 39% of Millennials, 30% of Gen Xers and 18% of Baby Boomers.
Youtube, Netflix & Content Creation
Zconomy describes this generation as “the ultimate content consumers." Youtube, Netflix and TikTok are not just for entertainment anymore. Gen Z also uses these platforms for learning and research. According to a 2018 We are Flint study, 96% of internet users ages 18-24 access Youtube. It’s the second world’s largest search engine next to Google, but many Gen Z look to Youtube before Google.
Remember for Gen Z, everything is on demand, free or cheap, personalized to their preferences and available on any device and with limited to no commercials.
The COVID Pandemic
It's important to note that Zconomy was published in 2020, smack in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. So the impacts the pandemic has had on Gen Z are not included in the book. HOWEVER, The Center of Generational Kinetics (CGK) just released their 2021-2022 State of Gen Z Reports which package up all the data and research CGK collected before, during and after to pandemic, and reveals just how profoundly Gen Z was impacted by COVID-19.
According to report, Gen Z was "the number one generation to lose their job, have a reduction in pay, or a reduction in hours of work available per week. But this resilient, diverse, engaged generation persisted and navigated back into a world of hybrid work, the gig economy, or entirely remote work." Gen Z was hit hard and fast by impacts of the pandemic, and while they have come out resilient and resourceful, their experiences have drastically altered and shifted their expectations and demands on everything from shopping and saving to what they are looking for in a future employer.
Other defining experiences and moments include school shootings and school safety, mental health and physical awareness, and education and learning. I would imagine Jason and Denise and their team at CGK are also looking at the current war with Russia & Ukraine and its global impact as a possible generation defining moment as well.
Money, Spending and Saving
Many Gen Z witnessed their Gen X or Millennial parents struggle during the Great Recession and be strapped down by crippling student loan debt. Because of that, Gen Z has a frugal mindset when it comes to spending money, and a very conservative and forward thinking mindset when it comes to saving and retirement (many already are contributing to their retirement funds!). They are very focused on becoming financially independent and want to have stable work and be debt free.
They are using apps to manage their financial lives and have likely never had to step foot in a bank for day-to-day banking. They will be the first generation that will see cash as optional and many won’t carry wallets. 69% of Gen Z ages 18-23 are using money transfer apps like Zelle and Venmo once a week.
“Gen Z expects the future of finance to be mobile, intuitive, easy to use, and most important, extremely personalized to them and their needs - the same thing they expect at work and throughout their life.”- Zconomy
This fiscally conservative mindset not only impacts what they spend their money on, but it’s also impacting their decisions for college. They are more interested in getting a quality education at an affordable school, rather than going into debt to receive a degree from a school with a big name.
These key defining moments give us a foundational understanding of Gen Z and, as you will see in parts two and three of this series, each one plays a unique role in driving their expectations and behaviors as consumers and employees.
That’s it for this post…stay tuned for parts two and three of the Zconomy series where we look at....
How to Market to, Sell to and Build Loyalty With Gen Z Consumers
How do you recruit, retain and engage Gen Z as employees?
BONUS VIDEO!
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