Gen Z are Leaders of Digital Transformation
What does it mean to be young in the age of the internet?
I’m always amazed by the new generations who are able to build businesses and rock-solid paths online. For the past few years, I’ve started to wonder if perhaps Gen Z (25 and under) are the real pioneers of digital transformation and a lot of the content innovation we are seeing.
Young people from YouTube to TikTok to social commerce are changing how we relate to content online and how we relate to retail in general.
We’re all aware young people matter not just because of the pace of digital transformation but also because they are a rather large segment and demographic. Gen Z and millennials combined are the biggest consumer group in history.
As a digital marketer and builder of startups like the WOM Protocol and YEAY (among others), I’ve come to see the wisdom in listening to Gen Z and their preferences to anticipate the future.
Gen Z as a force for digital and value transformation in society
Shopper marketing agency Zeal Creative has launched the findings of its most recent research. Entitled ‘Gen Z: Buying into Better’, the findings offer key insight into the next generation’s shopper behaviour, as well as advice for brands on how to best engage with this audience.
Gen Z are aspirational shoppers and consumers who want to be progressive. What does that mean? Everyday wellness and self-improvement is now a key part of shopper behavior that ranks high among young people. Brands, services and apps that want to get their attention need to be progressive, aspirational and add value to this core tendency of Gen Z.
Digital transformation isn’t just about innovation and online experiences (or convenience) but about keeping up with the values of the latest generation of humans on the planet.
With the rise of more immersive and creative content, editing apps like VSCO, or creative interfaces like TikTok, are enabling Gen Z to be creative online like never before.
Nearly half of Gen Z shoppers (46%) are buying more environmentally friendly products compared to this time last year. In addition, 66% believe their individual actions can help save the planet.
This means that the word “progress” really means an overreaching ability of a brand or product to be seen as inclusive, creative, sustainability conscious and a leader in contributing to positive efforts Gen Z are making to be better people and more holistic consumers. Young people are our idealists and in the age of the internet and social media, I think this is magnified.
Who are “Gen Z” as consumers, really?
Gen Z are also rugged consumers for a reason. Remember what they have been through. Still children during the last recession, research reveals the extent to which Gen Z has been hardened by the economic turbulence they grew up in. Nearly three quarters (74%) admitted to living frugally in some areas so that they can spend more money on things they like.
Gen Z are therefore pragmatic but positive with a strong selection for thrift shopping, discount awareness and less brand loyalty than previous generations. They still enjoy experiences like in-store shopping and are market leaders of BOPIS, which stands for buying online and picking up in-store.
Gen Z also has a special vantage point on the thrill of all things open source, peer-to-peer, highly collaborative and team oriented. The era of online gaming and E-sports is, I think, fairly reflective of those trends. These are digital natives who are fully embedded with their identity online.
They do not just share online indiscriminately, they value their group-think, their niche and their place on interwebs. Whether that is an app, a private group or a kind of behavior like streaming their gaming habits on Twitch or Vlogging on YouTube.
What’s really in a generation?
Bloomberg has lately been running a superb series about the generations growing up in the shadows of the Millennials. I think in this light Gen Z are able to combine the value upgrade of Millennials, with the more business-orientated savvy of GenX and Baby boomer influences. Without the 2008 hiccup, they will be able to put their values into action more tangibly, possibly, than Millennials were able to do.
Gen Z as digital transformation leaders will grow up in the shadow of the 2008 global recession, global warming, AI and automation and a general malaise of economic uncertainty and job insecurity. Combined in some parts of the world with heavy migration and a student loan crisis, Gen Z have more pressure on them than ever.
The whole notion of generations came about due to the work of two sociologists — William Strauss and Neil Howe, in the 1991 book Generations. While the idea is vague, it’s popular among marketers and retailers because with the advent of the internet, each “generation” is potentially more different from the next depending on what was popular for them growing up.
Gen Z is impacting every industry and segment of retail and content form online
In this light, a younger Millennial vs. an older Millennial is really pretty different in terms of their behavior in content online and even in their shopping preferences. Their behavior also mimics trends for all of society. They are often early adopters.
Many consumer-facing companies are implementing strategies to make sure they are in line with the needs of these digital generations. With Millennials and Gen Z, their “values” also matter since these are changing things like the future of food, fashion, entertainment, cosmetics, content, and E-commerce. Basically, nothing is not transformed by their “digital transformation” preferences.
From video to blockchain, crypto to peer-to-peer lending, streaming to buying online, Gen Z is formative to the future blueprint of how we work, live and shop in the future of society.
At the WOM Protocol, we are taking our direction from Gen Z itself. Convenience, speed, and entertainment in paths to purchase therefore are key for Gen Z since their attention is also reduced with so many options, digital distractions and pressure to live authentically.
Gen Z is distinctively less product or brand oriented and as a continuation of the experience native Millennials, are more lifestyle oriented. Gen Z want the best of all worlds and listen to their peers and group trends in a unique way. Growing up on YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and other ubiquitous apps has made Gen Z savvy consumers with well-defined tastes and preferences.
Gen Z are also the digital transformation leaders, from altcoins to personal branding to a new way of creating their own job as micro-influencers online.
