What college students have taught me about marketing to Generation Z

For the past two decades, marketers have obsessed at length over the characteristics of Millennial consumers and how to appeal to them. However, in recent years, attention has shifted to a new age group — Generation Z, or Gen Z for short.

Exact definitions of Gen Z vary, but generally speaking, it refers to those born from 1996 to 2015, give or take a few years on either side of the range. The oldest members of this cohort are now in early adulthood, making them prime targets for many marketers, as well as the newest members entering the workforce. 

As a part-time instructor of several college marketing and advertising courses, I have spent a lot of time over the past few years talking to members of Gen Z about their relationship to brands and their consumer-behavior patterns. Based on class discussions with my students, I have some observations and advice for those who want to market to Gen Z. 

Brands still matter. Brand loyalty, on the whole, has been on the decline over the decades. American consumers are less devoted to specific brands in their everyday lives than they were in the 1950s and 1960s. That said, brands still matter to Gen Z, and a select few brands matter a great deal. On the first day of every class I teach, I ask all the students which brands they are loyal to or feel strongly about. Some of the responses I get, like Red Bull, White Claw, or Marvel movies, come and go with the changing cultural trends. But there are certain brands I know will be cited every semester by a large number of students. Nike, Apple, ESPN, and Wegmans are sure bets every time. It’s no coincidence that those are brands that have built up enormous equity over many years. The lesson to take from this is that Gen Z may be less responsive to branding in general than their grandparents were, but they respond enthusiastically to strong brands. 

Gen Z is influenced by influencers. It’s not news that social media plays a significant role in the lives of Gen Z. Therefore, it’s not surprising that social-media influencers on platforms like Instagram and YouTube are a major way that Gen Z is exposed to brands, and how the lifestyle associations of those brands are introduced and reinforced. When I’ve asked my brand-loyalty question in recent years, a growing number of students are naming specific influencers as brands they like. They instinctively (and accurately) see the influencers as brands unto themselves. Some students aspire to become social-media influencers, and influencer marketing often shows up as a component in student marketing-plan assignments. It should be pointed out that Gen Z isn’t naïve when it comes to influencers. They fully understand that the influencers are being paid and/or given free products to feature. While some influencers lose credibility if they are seen as promoting an offering that seems inconsistent with their persona or too much of a naked “sell out,” the top influencers hold a lot of sway with their online followers. 

Cause marketing needs to walk the walk. Believe it or not, most of the Gen Z-ers I talk to don’t seem to be much more enthusiastic about cause-marketing appeals than older consumers are about them. However, those in Gen Z who are devoted to the causes that marketers often associate themselves with — such as environmentalism or LGBTQ issues — care passionately about those causes. They will do research to find out if companies are doing more than paying lip service. There are plenty of activists online who will call their attention to companies that are seen as all talk and no action. If a company is truly working to improve the environment or increase inclusiveness, there are many in Gen Z who will respond positively. On the other hand, the same young people will take a dim view of companies that simply change their logo for a month or spout a few buzzwords without doing anything about it. Gen Z consumers are sophisticated about “green washing,” “pink washing,” and “rainbow washing,” and see all of them as empty virtue signaling. Marketers who identify their brands with causes run the risk of losing credibility with Gen Z if they don’t follow through on the implied promises of action.

Concerns about online privacy aren’t what they used to be. When I started teaching in 2013, the topic of online privacy was a hot-button issue with students. There was a discernable level of outrage when we discussed the ways companies collect personal data online and mine it for insights that are sometimes shockingly specific. Each year since then, the outrage has progressively subsided. In 2020, I’d characterize the feeling about online privacy as a dull resignation. Most of the students are aware that social-media networks and digital marketers harvest their data and use it to target them. They don’t necessarily like it, but they seem to view it as a necessary evil of today’s online world. That view may very well be more society-wide than strictly generational, but either way, the evolution of attitudes on the subject over the course of seven years has been a bit startling to observe.

Don’t talk down to them. This should go without saying. With any consumer segment, whether it be based on generational cohorts or some other variable, you need to show respect to the people to which you are trying to sell. That said, there is a certain cultural condescension toward Gen Z, just as there was with the Millennials before them. Even if you don’t sense it, they do. There is a reason that “Okay, boomer!” has become popular comeback in the rhetorical battles fought between generations on social media. Gen Z knows that many older people stereotype them as having tiny attention spans, being addicted to their phones, and being sensitive to the point of fragility. They are also weary of hearing about it. Few marketers would be overtly insulting in their messages to Gen Z, but some well-meaning messages can come off as condescending or pandering to broad stereotypes. As with any consumer segment, if you want Gen Z’s business, speak to them with respect.

Human needs and wants take priority over generational identity. When my students talk about their priorities as consumers and what they look for in brands, they invariably want products that work as advertised, a painless buying experience, good customer service, and fair prices. In other words, Gen Z cares most about the same things that consumers of all age groups care most about. That sounds obvious, but I mention this as a reminder that some marketers make the mistake of letting the nuances of generational segmentation become the tail that wags the dog. Offerings that fall short on fundamental benefits and value propositions are unlikely to succeed, even with the savviest generation-specific segmentation strategy. First, and above all else, appeal to the human being behind the label.                

Vance Marriner is research director at the Central New York Business Journal and a part-time instructor of marketing at SUNY Oswego’s School of Business.