Publication: Advertising Week
Date: 08/08/2024
Link to piece: Here
According to figures from the BBC, Gen Z (defined as people born between 1997 and 2012) last year accounted for £353 billion in spending power globally. As more of the generation reach adulthood, this number will shoot up. Understanding what makes Gen Z tick, should therefore be a priority for all brands looking to grow fast in the years ahead.
However, pinning down the values of Gen Z isn’t as easy as media stereotypes would have us believe. They are not all “woke.” They are not all obsessed with identity. In fact, as our new report “The Great Unwokening: Have Hyper Femininity and Masculinity Divided a Generation?” demonstrates, Gen Z attitudes are evolving in unexpected ways that will have a significant impact on brands’ marketing programmes.
For the report, researchers immersed themselves in industry data, research reports, and news articles; conducted interviews with writers, Gen Z researchers and “thinkfluencers,” and spoke to Gen Z consumers to understand how young people feel about their lives.
Major trends have reshaped Gen Z attitudes
The research reveals that we have reached a critical inflection point in Gen Z attitudes. A range of powerful forces are behind this shift, with young people increasingly anxious in a muti-crisis world characterised by geopolitical tensions, the exponential rise of AI and the ongoing threat of climate change.
Concurrently, young women have grown increasingly disillusioned with the”girlboss” fantasy (where women win success through individual ambition and assertiveness), while perceived downward mobility is causing young men to question their role in life. Meanwhile, social atomisation and a fast-changing value system are further shaking up attitudes.
In the face of these trends, young people are retreating into what they know. Having once subverted gender norms, some Gen Zs are finding comfort in traditional roles. This is visible in the rise of “tradwives” and stay-at-home girlfriends, as well as the increasing number of young men embracing macho combat sports and meat-heavy diets.
Gen Z rebooted: emerging values and beliefs
However, as our research reveals, the backlash to these divisive trends is already underway. Over the next two years (2025-27), Gen Z’s primary motivation will lie in finding a sense of shared purpose, and in decentring gender. Young men will seek everyday role models to guide them towards a more fulfilled way of living, while women will de-gender their communities, breaking down the ‘girls’ girl’ narrative created by Millennials. Commonality, empathy and unity will be the watchwords of tomorrow.
Genders will find common ground as the focus shifts from physical improvement to boosting intellectual strength. New hobbies like chess and book clubs will act as a social glue, bringing people together in new ways. Meanwhile, the idea of the “sisterhood” will adapt to become more inclusive, and provide a platform for friendships across genders, as increasingly popular mixed-gender running clubs are already foreshadowing.
Perceptions of parenthood will also evolve, as people come to view it as a vehicle for self-fulfilment. The family unit will be used by Gen Z to ascribe meaning to their lives, and traditional parenting roles will shift. Men, for instance, are already looking to play a role beyond that of traditional “breadwinner” and are helping to lay the foundations for more equitable parenting. Even rappers are getting in on the action, with the recent rap “beef” between Kendrick and Drake’s notable for the barbs traded over inadequate fatherhood. Clearly, being a good father is not considered aspirational.
There are other significant changes afoot, including renewed interest in blue-collar work, less gendered concepts of physical ideals, and a rejection of the vilification of sex. Combined, they reveal a picture of a highly nuanced and fast-changing generation, and an imperative for marketers and advertisers to think carefully about how they approach this audience.
Engaging with Gen Z: the keys to success
What practical steps can brands take in this regard? First, it’s important to ensure that products, services and communications are not bound by gender expectations, regardless of whether those are traditional or progressive. Think in terms of the values and aspirations that align with your target audience, rather than solely looking through the lens of gender.
Second, brands should resist the bad/good dichotomy that currently exists around gender in the media landscape and consider all of the forces that make up gender today. For instance, women not only have permission to find fulfilment where they wish, including in traditional family structures, but harnessing this trend could act as a salve for our current crisis of belonging. Similarly, young men often seek out the “manosphere” for understandable reasons. To normalise young men’s self-acceptance, we need to create accessible, welcoming spaces for self improvement.
Finally, brands should look to decenter gender and build a future centred on unity. This could mean reaching young people seeking guidance by grounding the brand in the tone-of-voice of more relatable role models, or reframing the traditions that young people yearn for with a new lens of positivity. It could also involve creating spaces for organic relationship-building between men and women.
There are no shortage of ways in which brands can authentically engage with this complex generation. Those that make the effort to really understand Gen Z and speak to them on their own terms will, of course, be best placed to benefit from their fast-growing spending power.