Next Gen: iPerson Z
Let’s start talking about the generation after millennials.
I just wrote about millennials in my most recent article, and I’m kinda mad at myself. Honestly, I’m bored. It’s not that I don’t love the people who were born between 1981 and 1996 (I’m on of those), it’s just that everyone talks about millennials.
I legitimately feel like every news article is about something having to do with millennials. Here are some of the things I’ve seen in the past few hours on LinkedIn, Medium, YouTube, and in the news:
Millennials are talked about so much because they’re extremely important! They have the most buying power of any generation, they’re the largest and most diverse, and they value community in their work more than any other generation. Instead of ripping on millennials like seemingly every article written about them does, let’s encourage them to be leaders in the world and mentor Generation Z.
But, before we talk about who’s next, let’s clearly define millennials. Pew Research Center just published a fantastic article about what a millennial actually is. They wrote:
“In order to keep the Millennial generation analytically meaningful, and to begin looking at what might be unique about the next cohort, Pew Research Center will use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials for our future work. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 22 to 37 in 2018) will be considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward will be part of a new generation.”
That means that almost all 16 of our interns this summer are in the “new generation”; that’s great! No where else will so many fresh perspectives, hard work, and lively spirits come together to help build something awesome. There’s a reason why our clients are getting better and better results (hint: we bring some fresh problem solving).
Hell, I’m an “old guy” at AMEND.
So, I think the millennial content industry is pretty saturated. The advice has been given and the publishers have gotten their clicks. Out with the old, in with the new.
One more thing…
Introducing Generation Z (also known as iGeneration or iGen or The Homeland Generation or Post-Millennials)
The younger part of Gen Z invented the selfie, they do not use Facebook (preferring Snapchat and Instagram), and they just finished watching Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why.
The older part of Gen Z is in college and about to go out into the real world. They’re sending LinkedIn connections and applying for jobs. At AMEND, this looks like students working with business leaders to solve tough problems.
This looks like AMEND Analyst Justyn Bostic interviewing guests on his podcast Creating the Game. He recently created a new episode with AMEND Partner Paul Delaney. Listen to it here.
At AMEND, this looks like Analyst Alex Ikezawa absolutely crushing a “Rolling in the Deep” cover on the violin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCMQ_uP-rU
Let’s stop talking so much about millennials. The media downgrades millennials and just writes about how much debt they have! We should be encouraging them and all the good work they’re doing! But, if we solely focused on millennials, we’d miss out on the next big thing. Let’s chase the next golden opportunity and the next batch of brilliant brains! Let’s teach millennials how to coach Generation Z to make an even bigger dent in the world.
