Where Generation Z meets the Millennials and why it matters?

Right now, the brand world is in a very unique situation. As is finally begins to truly adopt digital transformation and latch onto the fact that the way the world works is much different from the way that is did 10 years ago, we are beginning to enter into a new era.

For the last 15 or so years, this digital transformation has been driven by the most researched demographic in history — the Millennials. Dependant on technology, Millennials have forced brands to rethink nearly everything that they do. This is partly because of the group’s sheer size, but also because in order to connect to them, you needed to communicate through their preferred channels.

No one can doubt that Millennials, in spite of their ‘everyone gets a trophy’ upbringing and gif-driven communication, have been an integral part in digital transformation. However, just as brands are beginning to catch up to their expectations, the tides are shifting and there is a new kid in town. Literally.

Generation Z. The last generation. iGen. Generation Always On. Whatever it is you want to call them, and we can debate that just as we did with Millennials, are just beginning to enter the workforce. And, they aren’t Millennials. In fact, in many very distinct ways, they are the complete opposite.

So, as experience strategist, we are screwed, right?

Not really.

In the midst of the recession, when Millennials were trying desperately to find jobs and brand were desperately trying to get them to buy, the main question was, “How do we communicate with Millennials?” Much of that communicate was through earned media — social, bloggers, influencers — and that worked, but it wasn’t sustainable. Today, brands are starting to realize that in order to be fluid and get Millennials over time, they need to invest in platform changes. Customer experience and computer learning are driving those changes as users expect individualized experiences.

This is the intersection of Millennial and Gen Z. For brands to succeed into the future, they need to invest in the technology that not only does the things that these two generations expect, but communicates and learns how to reach both of them in spite of their differences as cohorts.

Creating fluid systems that gather data, learn and react means we don’t have to agonize over whether or not we have the right content and messaging. It doesn’t mean we don’t’ have to think about that messaging, it just means it takes some of the guesswork out of it. Instead of spending lots of money on creating, defining, research and adapting our marketing campaigns to an audience segment, we can create content across those segments and rely more on technology to actually serve it up. Which means less time worrying about the actual delivery and more time creating the RIGHT content.

The thing to remember is that a main key to success is going to be the technology itself. It’s going to drive this individualization of data and content. Without it, we are just going to spin our wheels and scratch our heads wondering why engagement from these two cohorts is low. This is because they expect individualization. They know the technology exists to provide it and they won’t be impressed when we give them something they didn’t ask for.