Unlocking: 4 key strategies to make what Gen Z needs next
Gen Z lives in their own micro-cultures and niches and believes in a unique political culture. They carefully curate the image they want to create on social media. There are often contradictions between what they show the world and their private attitudes. In Southeast Asia, Gen Z rejects Western health and wellness practices in favor of their own cultural practices and beliefs.
What does it mean? Gen Z is highly diverse, digitally savvy, and socially conscious placing a high value on authenticity when engaging with brands, and they tend to support companies that share their values. Why is this important to organizations? Their spending has a substantial impact, as they are projected to make up 40% of all consumers by 2025. Understanding their needs and ways of thinking can help organizations build products, services, and businesses that match and fulfill their needs. Prioritizing their own health and wellness Gen Z has a D.I.Y. approach to health. While they accept expertise, they want to do their own research and feel empowered by translating this research into what is best for themselves. Gen Z wants food to feed their mood. They look for food innovations that cater to their mind-body-soul connection, especially around cognitive benefits and evoking desired emotions. We asked panelist Grace Caines, Digital Insights Specialist for the Open Innovation team in Nestlé R&D Singapore: “There’s also the element of the private and public showcase of health and wellness. There’s this generational idea of what health and wellness should look like. But in the private sense, they’re also reacting to it differently, like self-care can mean decadence or indulgence. Whereas to the public, it’s more of routine, or it’s something that it’s more what you’d expect health and wellness to look like. There’s a lot of contradictions,” Grace said.
Open to new relationships and social connections
Papri Dev, Regional Communication lead APAC at Tinder shared that Gen Z is a generation that approaches relationships differently and is more experimental in making decisions about what they like.
“When it comes to relationships, instead of kind of dealing with it in the traditional way of following a traditional path, or following convention and a chronology of how dating or relationships used to be at one point in time, they’re kind of jumping across and making decisions, experimenting. They’re very honest and open to many different possibilities. They’re exploring relationships from many different angles.”
From a social connection perspective, gaming is transforming and taking on a new positive meaning for the current generation, with women emerging as new players in the industry. Derek Wong, Senior Product Manager at ONE Esportes believes gaming is not just about entertainment but also represents fun, connection, and relaxation, and even addresses mental health challenges. “We’ve seen through COVID that games are here to stay,” Derek said. “It’s how you meet new friends and bond. It’s this idea of play. And I think Gen Z is leading the front there, being inclusive about games and making it a core part of their lives.”
What does it mean?
Gen Z approaches relationships differently. Experimenting is a new step in their decision-making process. They’re more likely to experiment and try new things before deciding what they like. And this is expanded to relationships with people, brands, products, and services.
In addition, gaming, often associated with entertainment, gained a different perspective for this generation. Influenced by Gen Z, gaming has evolved into a space that fosters social interactions, builds communities, and provides an avenue for self-expression.
Accepting and open-minded
What does it mean?
Organizations need to develop digital and social media strategies that engage Gen Z and appeal to their values and interests, also considering omnichannel activations. Transparency becomes a truthful ally to build trust and loyalty among Gen Z. Organizations should also be conscious of social issues and strive for diversity and inclusivity in their branding and messaging.
So, how do you create products, services, and businesses that resonates with Gen Z needs and desires?
Keeping up with the needs of each new generation is a serious challenge and opportunity for organizations that want to win in the marketplace. In order to win, it’s critical to navigate complex hierarchies and decision-making processes quickly, overcome resistance to change, and drive more agility and flexibility in responding to market trends.
We have helped organizations to address these challenges and bring to their businesses as they make bigger moves, design better experiences or launch new businesses.
Do you want to keep innovating with the agility to capture the Gen Z opportunity? We can guide your organization to develop future-proof Gen Z strategies and also to foster a culture of innovation. Check some of our Gen Z cases below. And get in touch! We want to hear more about your journey building new products, services and businesses for Gen Z, and the future generations.
