George T. Wittman’s latest blog post
There’s been a lot of talk about millennials these days, as they graduate from college, go out into the workforce and make a name for themselves. Businesses have been working to accommodate these millennials, but a truly mindful entrepreneur will be looking even more toward the future, to the so-called “Generation Z”. I recently came across an article about how businesses can prepare to accommodate and profit from this new generation. This is especially important, since many of them are starting to come of age as consumers. One big thing that the article focused on was the importance of online shopping, but there were other points that they addressed.
One thing that the author pointed out was that Generation Z will most likely not have any brand loyalty. They tend to lean toward companies with superior goods and services, and tend to rely more on their peers’ opinions and recommendations than ads. While this is problematic for big companies with multi-million-dollar marketing budgets, it’s good news for smaller companies. The article discusses some of the good business strategies for people trying to get Generation Z on their side.
More so than Millennials, Generation Z will be completely reliant on social media and mobile devices for content consumption, browsing, shopping and interaction with friends. Because of this, your business strategy needs to focus on this market. This will include having a mobile-friendly website and a good strategy that will consistently engage with customers through social media.
If you can create a value in your products through superior-quality design and manufacturing, this will elevate the reputation of your company, which is an important attribute to Generation Z. It won’t be enough any more to create value just through branding, since they will see through this and ultimately call you out.
Generation Z will demand that companies be honest and transparent with them. Between social media a peer reviews, companies won’t be able to hide from negative press or controversies. Rather, they should be ready to face these challenges head-on with a well thought out, expedited strategy for dealing with the inevitable conflicts.
What’s unique about Generation Z is that they appreciate individuality while also placing a great emphasis on group acceptance. It’s a complicated balance, that baffles plenty of people. Nonetheless, you have to learn to use it. Embrace new and unique tastes to help your company connect better with this generation. Your company should think about hiring and listening to individuals from his generation as part of your marketing (when they’re old enough).
You should never assume that the same conveniences of your generation will be enough for Generation Z. They’ll be demanding the convenience to browse, shop and receive customer service through mobile and social media channels, so that your strategy, whether it’s marketing, operations or human-resource management, needs to keep it in mind.
The collection and use of extensive data has been a big topic recently. While plenty of companies regularly collect and use customer data to tailor shopping experiences, Generation Z will be a lot more tech-savvy, with a better understanding of how to control the data that they share. Because of this, businesses will need to respect privacy to a greater extent, otherwise they could risk losing customers to other companies who will.
One example of a successful company working to take advantage of younger generations is Under Armor. When they started, their goal was to overtake Nike as the top sporting goods company, which was no easy task. Instead of trying to compete with them head-to-head, Under Armor instead went after youths who had not yet developed a brand loyalty to Nike. By aggressively going after youth sports, then growing with their consumers to help supply college teams and eventually professional sports teams, they nurtured a large and loyal base of customers, while also making exceptional products. Many businessmen are concerned about the challenges that Generation Z will pose, but companies with the patience to deal with them properly will benefit greatly from it.
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