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Beyond Millennials - Make Way for Gen Z!

Escrito por Tony Dillistone el 28/05/2019 a las 21:53:06
3939

(Partner MediaMojos)

Tony Dillistone

Well, I don’t know about you, but it seems to me as if we have been talking about and analyzing the likes and dislikes, moods, tastes, habits, etc. of the Millennial generation for eons. Discussing it to death (sigh). Millennials are defined as those born between 1981-1996 (ages ranging between 22-37 currently) and they have been perhaps given a bad rap… seen as generally being selfish, entitled, unreliable and remarkably self-centered. That is an obviously extraordinarily general observation… which is neatly encapsulated (in my mind anyway) by the widely quoted and paraphrased classic line uttered by the character Gold Hat in the brilliant 1938 film, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” – “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!”

 

Millenials

 

Now that we have studied the Millennials ad infinitum (for better or for worse… correctly or not) – as we have their predecessors…

 

  • The Silent Generation: Born 1928-1945 (73-90 years old)
  • Baby Boomers: Born 1946-1964 (54-72 years old)
  • Generation X: Born 1965-1980 (38-53 years old)
     

… let’s have a look at the up-and-comers; that Generation which numbers 2.4 billion worldwide… an estimated 32% of the world’s population… a segment of society who at this time represent $44 Billon U.S. in spending power.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen – we present to you Generation Z!

 

Members of Gen Z are loosely defined as those people born between 1995 and 2015 (meaning that as of this article they are between 4 - and 24 years old.

 

Gen Z are Digital Natives, having grown up with the internet and smartphones, constantly adapting to new technologies as a matter of course – a life fact looked at in one of our recent articles – “The Digital Divide or How Technology is Changing Behavior”.

 

As information about their habits and generational demeanor continue to emerge, let’s have
a quick and basic look at what their preferred apps and method of media consumption is at
this point.

 

According to a recent report by ZebraisQ – the 2019 State of Gen Z – a marketing and insights company, it’s not Snapchat or Instagram; there are important difference and interests between this Generation and the previous ones – e.g.: they watch Netflix twice as often as cable television and would rather view ads on an online music channel for music access, than purchase an “album” outright and own it forever.

 

Looking at media consumption, a new survey – “Taking Stock with Teens” -  by Piper Jaffray, while differing slightly from ZebraiQ conclusions (early days yet) finds that Cable TV has seen a significant decline in teen viewership since 2015, suggesting that teen media consumption is not being served by the traditional TV ad market. Netflix is leading the pack with 37.6% of daily consumption, with Cable TV falling to 16.4%, down from 29.5% in 2015.  Seemingly, YouTube has picked up the drop in Cable viewership, increasing from 21.4% to 33.1%.

 

The dominance of Netflix and YouTube predicts the potential future of video and TV advertising aimed at teens as they grow older and more influential. According to the aforementioned report and survey, they represent 77.7% of daily video consumption, but neither uses a traditional TV advertising model – with Netflix “banning” ads and YouTube using its own unique method of selling advertising.

 

Combine this with the uptick of disruption in other forms of media and entertainment consumption by Gen Z – mobile usage, gaming, eSports, new communities and platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, Unfold, Brat, NTWRK, Lomotif, etc. …… and we are looking at a fundamental sea-change in both the way media is consumed and the way media companies make money from their product.

 

There is so much to look at here…the rise of both influencers and micro-influencers, UGC and more… and we will in coming weeks. Stay tuned…