Forget Gen Y, meet Gen Z! The millennials on steroids

This is the era of millennials, says the world. To meet their demands, companies are changing their way of thinking. Soft drink companies are changing the way they advertise. Hotels are targeting the way Gen Y thinks, and there are even conferences organised to make managers understand the way millennials function. Today is indeed the hour of Generation Y.

But then, this is a phase and suddenly millennials will be irrelevant. Enter Generation Z, for that is what they are called at the moment, a group of kids who are born post 1995, and can change the way things function. This group of individuals can change the way we look at social media, fashion, marketing, sales, etc. If you thought that targeting millennials called for disruptive thinking, you  will have to take disruptive and take it to a higher mathematical power to reach Gen Z.

In an article titled Move over, millennials, here comes Generation Z, published in The New York Times, the writer Alex Williams quotes Lucie Greene, the worldwide director of the innovation group at J Walter Thompson as referring to Gen Z as ‘millennials on steroids’. 

Social media is different 
For Gen Z, it’s all about networking. They use Facebook, but do not log in regularly. Nineteen-year-old Santa Cruz resident Rachel Pinto, says that Facebook is primarily for events or starting businesses.  “Facebook is less formal than LinkedIn, but we prefer it for putting up events and as the starting point for setting up a business. My friends and I are more active on Instagram and Snapchat, as we get news and feeds that we want,” she says.
Rachel adds that while she reads the newspapers on a Sunday, she usually consumes news from Twitter or InShorts, an app that gives news in 60 words. 

Kolkata resident Shyamosree Dasgupta, who is an avid Instagram user, says that the platform helps her showcase her art to more people. “I am able to reach people who I don’t follow because it’s easier to have an open profile on Instagram. There are several art pages that have featured my work  on a few occasions. So it helps you give your talent more unbiased, international exposure,” says the 18-year-old, who also uses Snapchat and WhatsApp regularly. 

How do companies change the way of selling?
Stacey Ferreira, the 23-year-old author of the book $2 Billion Under 20 once said, “People don’t buy stuff in actual stores anymore; stores are there to just, like, expose people to the brand.” While  quoting her, business website Quartz said that this meant that “Gen Z uses stores as showrooms, so retailers better provide an amazing experience. If you interact with a friendly salesperson who consults on, say, an outfit for an upcoming job interview or the best phone to buy, you’re much more likely to develop an affinity for the brand and buy those products.”

Sales professional Chinmay Palekar says that the ideal platform to sell products would be using a medium such as Facebook. However, when we mentioned to him that Gen Z finds Facebook irrelevant, Chinmay expressed surprise and said that if that were the case, then companies would certainly have to look at new and innovative ways of marketing and selling a product. “I sell electronics and if I were to sell a phone to this segment, then I would put up an ad or a stall outside a popular college hangout spot, let them test the phone and figure out whether they want to buy it,” he said, adding that the trick will be to connect to them within the firstw five seconds. “The five seconds is what can make or break a deal. That is always the case in sales and it will continue to be this way,” he added.

Fashion is about carrying it off
According to a study by Sparks & Honey, a New-York based marketing firm, Generation Z is a nightmare for retailers because the lack brand loyalty. However, Sohini Dey, a senior fashion editor with Elanstreet, a Banglore-based fashion website feels that a lack of loyalty needn’t be a nightmarish situation. “Gen Z are constantly in touch with international fashion trends, new style  inspirations, and it’s an age when one is constantly ready to try new things. Achieving brand loyalty is really only possible once you’ve reached an age when you’re sure of your personal style and know exactly what works for you,” she says.

Sohini also adds that one needs to consider the fact that buying designer wear is not an affordable option for youngsters. “If you see a lot of new industry trends, the emphasis is not on what you wear but how you wear it. A lot of bloggers showcase designerwear, but there is an equal focus on mixing high fashion with more affordable look. There is a lot of love for DIY activities being showcase that allow you not only to make new things but also restore old, forgotten clothes, and accessories in your wardrobe.”

The solution
Gen Z may seem formidable to the current working generation, but they don’t bite. They know what they want, and we need to understand their behaviour as a consumer, if we are to stay relevant.