N O I T A R E N E G
Z
N O I L L I B 2
RISING
AUG / SEPT 2014
A CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT SUMMER 2014 // GENERATION Z
lore
CO NTEN TS
1
3 5 7 9
10 11 13
A LETTER FROM THE EDITORS READY FOR A TRULY PLURAL WORLD? THE CONNECTED 8 SECOND CONSUMER YOUR AUDIENCE HAS AN AUDIENCE
THEY EXPECT YOU TO CARE SHUNNING A ‘STUFFOCATED’ WORLD AUGMENT YOUR BRANDS 2
A LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
3
PLURALTHINKING GENERATION Z
As marketeers we’re overloaded with news about the millennials or Gen
Generation Z’s values, behaviour and approach to brands represents a
Y. In 2014 the last of Gen Y turned 18. It’s time to turn the page.
compelling shift from their predecessors. We’ve been sweating it about Millennials for a while now. We reckon it’s time to turn the spotlight on
Are you ready for this tidal wave of consumers? Born between ‘95 and
what comes next.
2010, Gen Z make up 28% of the world’s population, a percentage that varies widely between societies. To put it into perspective – 120 million,
In this brief pluralthinking postcard we’ll try to get your thinking started.
the population of Mexico, are going to be turning 18 every year for the
We’ve collaborated with our mates at Lore Communication to bring this
next 16 years.
thinking together for you. As you’ll see, collaboration is what it’s all about now.
Generation Z, like many generations before, embody some important contradictions: More comfortable with their devices yet more isolated
If you’d like to know more, we’d love to drop by and share a bigger,
from their immediate environment; more trusting in digital information,
broader piece with you. Just ask.
yet more concerned for their privacy and reputation; more globally aware yet more locally engaged; more values driven yet more commercial in outlook; more optimistic about the future yet more challenged than the generation before.
BRETT TEMPLETON
BRETT.TEMPLETON@PLURALTHINKING.COM
lore
GARRET CUMMINGS
GARRET@LORECOMMUNICATION.COM
URALTHINKING PLURALTHINKING PLURALTHINKI TION Z GENERATION Z GENERATION Z GENERAT 4
GEN Z + PLURAL WORLD ARE YOU PREPARED?
Gen Z globally numbers just over 1.87 billion, 28% of the
group. And within most societies, Gen Z’s peer groups are
global population.
multi-racial. In the US only 52% of Gen Z are Caucasian. “The world isn’t pink skinned and blue-eyed any more”.
The majority lives in developing and under-developed countries, while in many
Why do we imagine Western brands will set
mature markets, the population is older. In
the agenda? West isn’t necessarily best any
2010 Nigeria had 43 percent Gen Z in its population. In Germany the figure was only 13.5 percent. While countries such as Nigeria, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, South Africa, and India have in excess of
THE WORLD ISN’T
PINK SKINNED AND BLUE-EYED
ANYMORE
rise in local loyalty, led by Gen Z. Global is been normalized for them, so there’s a need to identify with being from somewhere in a borderless world. Local brands feel more ‘real’ than the big globalized behemoths. Gen
35 percent of their population in Gen Z, the
Z consumers in rising nations are taking pride
most developed countries (G8) have 20
in their – and their regions – brands.
percent or less of their population belonging to this age
5
more. At pluralthinking we are seeing a huge
THE DAYS OF BRAND UNITY ARE EMERGING
INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES Xiaomi, Apple’s rival in China, recently outsold the iPhone in China emulating the all-so-familiar sleep-outs outside their stores. Its tablet (the MiPad) sold 50,000 units in its first four minutes. In Brazil the World Cup party scene in Saõ Paulo and Rio has seen the global fashion houses struggling to compete against local designers, with the Brazilian great and good wanting to wear and showcase the local. Global brands will need to ‘localise’ their offering or build alliances locally to sustain momentum. McDonalds, probably
.
one of the most carefully replicated brands in the world have started to adapt. They recently started selling Ebi Shrimp in Japan, Gazpacho in Spain and the “Beef Fan-tastic” Prosperity Burger (a sliced beef burger with baked rice buns) in Singapore. Germany has seen the rise of ‘ostalgie’ – with a generation not born in 1990 having fun with faux nostalgia for the ‘bad old days’ brands or beer, confectionary and food. We were hearing similar on our last trip to Moscow; ‘Soviet-style’ beer brands are gaining traction.
6
7
The connected Gen Z consumer has no unknowns. If they doubt you, they’ll ask Google. If they think you aren’t as clever as you make out, they’ll ask reviewers around the globe. Transparency is the only way to establish trust. Connection is all they’ve known. They won’t knock your door; they’ll text you when they are outside. They expect nothing less. Youtube isn’t just a website to watch videos. It’s a network – a place for conversation, connection, learning, earning, celebrity. They
hours of multi-screening.
expect the real world – and brands - to work the same – to be able to hack it, comment on
They won’t wait for a web page to load, 32%
it, earn from it, personalise it and make it fit to
will start abandoning slow sites between one
their individual needs.
and five seconds, after 8 seconds they’ll consider it broken. If something takes a week
Gen Z have never been passive recipients of
to get delivered they’ll consider it not worth it.
brand messages, users of products or choosers of ideas. They expect to be
Although this may look like distraction it is not,
involved in a brand’s creation and destiny.
it’s efficiency. Gen Z’s are fitting 11 hours of entertainment into 7.5 hours of actual time1.
Gen Z has the lowest attention span to date (8 seconds is the average US attention span -
Brands need to learn the fine balance
down from 12 in 2000). It’s not a hindrance
between narrowing down choice and content
however. On the contrary; they’ll often sit with
to maintain attention spans and deliver speed
multiple screens, flowing between content and
while still catering for variety.
will squeeze 11.5 hours of attention into 7.5 We’re seeing various brands nowadays becoming adaptable and catering to the needs of these fast decision consumers; while others remain latent in their approach. If you can bend with the trend you’ll survive. Successful Gen Z brands stick to snack-sized data. Use five word sentences. Use bullet points. Think about headlines. Think about the first 8 seconds. Be ruthless with your copy. The Guardian
Cut down the decisions your customer has to make. Be faster.
Amazon are catering the short attention span with Amazon Prime Air Drones - guaranteed delivery within 30 minutes. Vine are delivering bite sized content with their 6 second video app. Pizza Hut have reduced their pizza sizes down to two - Individual and Large. Lowes adapted to the 6 second Vine by releasing 6 second quick tips for fixes around the house, in turn advertising their expertise and products. Even Internet Explorer have released 6 second Vine adverts about latest software updates. Buzzfeed simply took videos of their employees dancing which turned out a huge hit.
8
YOUR AUDIENCE HAS
AN AUDIENCE BRANDING IMPLICATIONS
Gen Z know brands. The one brand they know better than any others is their own. Facebook is their stage, Instagram, their canvas, Twitter, their broadcast. You as a brand can enhance their story if you fit their narrative. When you market to them, you are marketing to their ‘fans’ too. They’ll use your brand to illustrate their passions – so you’ll need to let them personalize the story to align with their vision, not yours. They want to be a hero in the eyes of their team. This means being in the know, having tips, bringing new ideas, opinions, giving them work-arounds, value, experiences, visuals that they can share with the team, comment on and cache in their timeline. If you provide them with this, they’ll shout it from the rooftops. If your brand ‘experience’ goes no further than the four corners of the product, then your brand isn’t ‘audience ready’.
INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES Mountain Dew trawl the internet for viral video trends like super catapults and massive water slides then take the ideas and scale them into super-viral videos. Their angle is great videos that are cool to discover and hence share. Hiut Denim have jeans with their own blog so every time their wearer tweets with a certain hashtag, the blog is updated. This encourages the user to tweet about their jeans and be associated with something new and innovative. Uniqlo London offer their ‘magic mirror’ – you try the range virtually and ask opinions of your twitter and facebook followers in real time. Doritos have set social media on fire – literally – inviting Gen Z to ‘set fire’ to their own content – creating material for Vine ads for Hot Chili Doritos. Ben & Jerrys allow Gen Z to generate content for twitter from their Go Phish game.
9
“60% of Gen Z want to have an impact on the world with their jobs
achieve. It’s enough that a brand is transparent and trying to do
(compared to 39% of Millennials)”. “50% of Millennials think that
better. Green-washing won’t cut it in a fully-informed world. Honesty
business, more than any other sector of society, can achieve the
will.
greatest impact on solving society’s biggest challenges.” - Gen Z, we predict, will be even more so inclined.
Gen Z’s highly value the integrity of a brand if the authenticity is at the core. By superseding a true belief system and harnessing this
Brands will be expected to play their part and do far more than just
energy, it can be beneficial for both parties.
sell stuff. They’ll be expected to have a purpose beyond profit that is deeply rooted in all they do and not just be a side CSR wing of
It’s a win-win, by tapping into Gen Z’s deep beliefs, you can remind
the business. They’ll be expected to have an opinion and to listen to
them of your brand’s purpose and at the same time do something
and celebrate the opinions of their consumers.
good for the world.
Environmental awareness isn’t an advantage – it’s expected. Yet Gen Zs aren’t utopian idealists. They know the reality is hard to
Unilever are working to reduce packaging sizes and usage of palm
Panasonic’s project - ‘Cut out the Darkness’ – provides solar power
oil.
lanterns to villages in Asia that don’t have electricity.
Reckitt Benckiser are working to spread health with Dettol in
Nudie Jeans offer free repair or recycling of worn-out jeans at their
Schools across the developed and developing world.
store in Soho, London.
Patagonia are printing ads saying ‘Don’t buy this jacket’ to raise
U by Kotex is asking Gen Zs to wear pledge bracelets to show their
awareness of a wasteful society.
commitment to – and commitment to teaching others – about vaginal health.
10
SHUNNING A STUFFOCATED WORLD >>>>>
11
Gen Zs are demanding a ‘grassroots approach’ to marketing; in a world where anyone can create slick, expensive-looking brand image, there’s more kudos in offering your product honestly, 3 openly and straightforwardly. There is a global shift that is redefining prosperity. Two in three people worldwide believe they would be better off if they lived more simply. In March 2012, the UN placed ‘happiness’ on the global agenda. Gen Z may not realise it but they’re growing up into a new world-perspective. Through a mix of necessity through economic
Gen Z expect to ‘sweat their assets’. Whilst sharing is the order of the day for the younger Gen Zs, as they age they start to monetize. The majority want to run their own businesses one day. Many are starting now. They can earn money on youtube, they can make a pre-drinks party a paid theme party, they can blog, advise brands,
REMEDIES
turmoil and a heightened awareness of waste, Gen Z have a new opinion on ownership – it isn’t necessary. Ownership is expensive and inconvenient. They don’t want to be lumbered with a Ferrari – but they do want a wild day at the track instagrammed and tweeted to their mates.
Peugeot has trialled a ‘membership’ where you have access to all Peugeots in the store, at any time. Drive a 7 seater for the weekend trip away and swap it on Monday for a more economical option. Zip Car allows members in large cities to use a car from a bank of cars whenever they need it and pay per use. Similar schemes are used in over 20 countries around the world.
‘Pinterest don’t purchase’ is the order of the day. The reward is in being into something, appreciating it – not necessarily owning. The desire to experience wealth is rising above acquiring it. Sharing is acceptable. In certain cases it’s cool. Sharing cars, clothes, tools, houses, clothes are all on the rise. This, if it continues to grow as we expect, will require deeply innovative approaches to commerce.
Airbnb allows anyone to put a spare room online for short term rent and has been used by over 4 million people in over 190 countries. Rentez-Vous is a new clothes-sharing app that provides regulated peer-to-peer garment sharing. LeftoverSwap.com allows you to cook some extra and ‘swap it out’ for variety or for profit. plan their friends wedding. Armed with a smartphone and a network, everyone is a businessman or woman.
12
YOUR Gen Z don’t differentiate between online and offline. The physical and virtual are the same thing. Their whole lives are interconnected with what they do, how they do it and why they do it. The physical and the virtual have the same resonance. They expect to be able to change, mod and hack the offline world (the “meat-world” as they call it in Sweden). For brands to relate to Gen Z, they need to do likewise. Brands can no longer have an ‘online strategy’ on the side. Nor can they have a purpose or mission written in the ‘about us’ section or an ‘activation strategy’. The brand IS its activation. Equally, a brand IS its innovation. Innovation isn’t exciting or admired. It’s expected. Narratives that boast about the unchanging nature of their brand elicit a “why?” These things must be an integrated part of the brand. They must permeate out of every touch-point available to your consumers. Only 33% of Americans befriend a brand on Facebook. The more human a brand, the more likely they are to have friends.
13
AUGMENTATION IN ACTION Southwest Airlines recently ran a campaign that trawled twitter for customers complaining about the airport, found them, and gave them small gifts to cheer them up. Redbull run and sponsor real world events and in turn, turn them into online campaigns that allow fans to feel a part of the event in interactive ways without actually being there. Finisterre call themselves the ‘cold-water surf experts’. They tell their company story through the founders’ lives – which unsurprisingly revolves heavily around cold-water surfing. Heineken recently switched from celebrating the aspirational man of the world to creating him; offering a random plane ticket swaps to travellers at New York airports. Adidas aims to “unite all Originals” by curating creative collaborations between artists from differing backgrounds. Result? Interesting mash-ups, collisions and great marketing content.
BE LIKE THEM, BE HUMAN. TO BE HUMAN IS TO BE VIRTUAL NOW.
14
This has been an article by pluralthinking in collaboration with Lore Communication. www.pluralthinking.com @pluralthinking
lore
50A Nansen Road Battersea London SW11 1DL
87 Charles Rowan House Margery St London WC1X 0EJ
+44 207 450 1652 +44 2890 428996