When we hear the term "Gen-Z," people's subconscious minds can quickly grasp the context of "the lazy generation," "the defiant generation," "eager demanders with seemingly little effort," and so on. People can already envision how the future will unfold with just one word. Regardless of all the stereotypes about Gen-Z, they are the promising customers of the future. Let's keep sight of them!

Getting to Know Gen-Z

In broad strokes, Gen-Z is the designation for a generation born between 1997 and 2010. Some of us may be familiar with terms like Baby Boomers, Millennials, X & Y Generation, or the Silent Generation. Each of these generational labels has distinguishing characteristics that set them apart. For instance, Gen-Z, having been born when internet penetration was already widespread and nearly ubiquitous across the globe, is highly adept at using and leveraging digital technology. They use various application platforms and websites for social and economic purposes.

Proficiency in navigating the "digital world" has earned them the title of "Digital Natives." This digital cultural behavior doesn't arise spontaneously. The role of the external environment significantly influences the formation of functional and emotional behavioral patterns. The technology industry responded rapidly by competing to create the most usable platforms for Gen-Z. We can observe how platforms like TikTok actively undergo iteration processes and how Spotify provides personalized services to their target users, Gen-Z.

Returning to the core topic, why must we know and understand this generation?

Gen-Z is Incredibly Promising

The primary reason why we should understand and be aware of the current state of Gen-Z is because this generation is proliferating. Sooner or later, they will reach their peak performance. They represent the next target market for businesses. Therefore, business leaders need to understand how they think and what functional and emotional aspects they experience.

Gen-Z has yet to reach the pinnacle of its prime. Only a portion of Gen-Z has recently secured stable jobs, attained sustainable incomes, and started their families. The rest are just embarking on their career journeys with internships or even entering secondary and tertiary education. These opportunities are promising, as buying power in the current market will continue to increase with improvements in their quality of life.

Businesses can start positioning their strategies towards Gen-Z by delving deeper into their preferences. Discovering what's on their minds through qualitative research, for example, can help identify their current priorities and the needs that businesses can effectively cater to. Then, Clove Research & Marketing Analytics provides in-depth qualitative studies tailored to your specific needs and expectations!

Not only is it Money-driven, but Gen-Z is also Highly Emotionally Driven

Being born when technology adaptation was at its peak has made Gen-Z a highly tech-savvy generation. However, beneath that, they experience high anxiety and mental health issues due to being born in an increasingly competitive economic era. Gen-Z is aware of this and has consequently developed a money-driven mentality and a solid commitment to quality.

They are money-driven, and they don't squander money. Gen-Z aims to achieve financial freedom, and they need to reach this goal with strong financial literacy skills. Therefore, in some of our previous Clove Research studies, we found that Gen-Z is very selective when choosing products or services. Their prioritization scale and how they manage it differ from Millennials. Millennials may be very objective about their goals, but Gen-Z often adapts to the current occasion.

They are highly emotionally driven! "Bored," "lazy," "stressed," and "enthusiastic" are some of the emotional conditions that often accompany Gen-Z. More is needed for a product to offer functional benefits alone. Emotional benefits play a significant role in this regard. Therefore, a communication approach that emphasizes the emotional benefits of a product will influence Gen-Z's perception of that product and make them consider it more seriously.

Gen-Z are Trendsetters, not just Trend-seekers

Gen-Z began their journey in an era when the boundaries between regions/countries no longer had territorial limits, a phenomenon known as deterritorialization. Many platforms that facilitated communication across continents emerged, proliferating with various applications like Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok. Gen-Z has become deeply attached to their smartphones and social media in such an environment.

The online world has evolved into more than just a means of individual communication; it has become a space where Gen-Z vents, seeks ideas, expresses diverse thoughts, and initiates social movements. Their easy access to abundant information sources is no longer surprising for Gen-Z, enabling them to recognize trends that once boomed long before they were born.

Gen-Z is not merely content with being trend-seekers; they are now becoming trendsetters themselves. In realms like fashion, lifestyle, and music preferences, Gen-Z has a strong presence. The phenomenon known as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) associated with Gen-Z illustrates their thirst for trends and "viral things," resulting in the continuous proliferation of contemporary fashion and lifestyle trends. It's no longer unusual to hear about a Gen-Z aspiring to be a YouTuber or gamer or the emergence of new trends like unique ways of preparing instant noodles and collective fashion events such as Citayam Fashion Week.

Brand Must Respond Appropriately

The significant potential of Gen-Z necessitates businesses to take note and start crafting their ideas and plans to win the perception and preferences of the market, particularly the Gen-Z target customers.

Due to Gen-Z being money-driven, businesses must look at the average prices of products in the market to rely on pricing, especially with the increasing competition and price wars. Clever branding is needed in this situation. A recent breakthrough can be seen in Swatch's collaboration with Omega and Blancpain.

Omega is a luxury watch brand known for the high quality of its Diver and chronograph watch series. Blancpain, on the other hand, pioneered the rotating bezel feature in legendary diver watch models. Both of these brands had low awareness among the younger Gen-Z market. Their collaboration with Swatch gained broad awareness by emphasizing values like "fun" and "fresh." Omega and Blancpain made the correct and precise decision to enhance their brand awareness in the Gen-Z market.

The branding undertaken by Swatch, in collaboration with Omega and Blancpain, emphasizes the emotional benefits of a product. Swatch played on the perception through the emotional benefits of their products. From this, we can learn that winning the branding battle requires adjusting to the target customer's characteristics, preferences, and considerations.

Therefore, having in-depth knowledge of Gen-Z's characteristics, how they think, how they behave, and what motivates them greatly today can be used as a new approach to branding. The right communication approach, appealing benefits, and the values a brand should provide will be answered if businesses can understand and acknowledge Gen-Z holistically. Let's get the deepest understanding of Gen-Z with Clove Research & Marketing Analytics!