Millennials are, like, so 2000-and-late. Marketers now hope to sell stuff to kids born after 1995—so-called Generation Z. And this latest demographic designation is just as removed and reductive as any other. This is how marketing firm FutureCast puts it: “They view their identity as a curated composition.” (So ... selfies are a thing!) “All it takes to change their outward identity is a simple swipe and an upload to Instagram.” (Swipe to upload?!) But fine, we’ll play along. After rigorous review of marketing reports and press coverage, here’s a portrait of your new sales target: the screen-swapping, painstakingly curated, social-good-performing Gen Zer (as imagined by Gen Xers).
- Considers Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games a role model
- Ranks Lorde as a favorite artist
- Uses Facebook as an “information hub” rather than an “engagement platform”
- Knows someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns
- Employs five screens
- Prefers YouTube influencers to Hollywood celebs
- Loves Snapchat and can’t live without YouTube
- Deletes Instagram photos to optimize likes-per-photo ratio
- Checks social media 100 times per day
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Gen Z Sources: Adweek, CNN, Defy Media, Ernst & Young, FutureCast, Huffington Post, The New York Times, Sparks & Honey, Variety, Vision Critical. Photo: Christopher Polk, Getty Images
