The marketing industry’s obsession with youth is nothing new. Thinking about what makes the next generation of consumers tick is a perennial activity.
Generic one-size-fits-all advice on how to crack the code on Gen Z (age 16-29) and Gen Alpha (age 0-16) circulates constantly. Sometimes these generations are awkwardly bundled together as “Gen Zalpha.” Much of it trades in lazy stereotypes. And it’s all pretty easy to spot.
SKIM, an insights agency, released a global study that found the number one reason younger consumers reject brands is for “trying too hard.”
I like this timeless advice from Ad Contrarian Bob Hoffman:
“There’s as much variation within generations as there is between generations.”
When talking about the impact of different generations, it’s easy to default to sweeping generalizations. But generations are not monoliths. And chasing the tropes of a new generation can be a distraction.
Bob Hoffman continues:
“Researchers, media, and marketing experts have been selling us the exact same generational twaddle for over fifty years now…
“It’s astrology. How can you possibly take an enormous component of the population—tens of millions of people—and say they all have this or that characteristic?”
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:
