Uncovering Gen Z’s Technological Future with Jen Campbell, Jason Kapadia & Felina Tan - Episode 25
Gen Z are the first generation not to know a time pre-internet - that makes them the driving force behind our technological future.
They’re often bundled in with Millennials when disparaging criticism is launched at younger generations, but there’s huge differences between the Millennial ‘digital natives’ and the tech-dependent Gen Z.
Discover what the next generation holds for us, from values-led living and a nose for sniffing out inauthenticity, to the effectiveness of influencer marketing and infamously short attention spans.
This episode of Disconnected covers:
Who Gen Z are, and the values that distinguish them from Millennials
How brands need to change their actions and messaging for future generations
Potential use cases and pitfalls of having ‘virtual children’
Social platforms adding premium subscription options
Influencer marketing with a generation that values authenticity
Episode Highlights:
“This generation is super interesting, because they don't know a time without the internet. One of the good explanations I found of millennials vs Gen Z is that millennials might be digital natives, but Gen Z are techno-holics. Everything is technology-led, and they're entirely dependent on digital devices.” - 6:20 - Jen Campbell
“I do believe that every generation is different. History shows that when we look at generations above us, so it will be interesting to see if they stick to their activism, if it's something that they're really going to demand going forward.” - 10:05 - Jag Sharma
“Brands need to tailor the way they speak and the way they show up, because of Gen Z, they're the future. There’s a lot of smart people in that generation, and it's just that the way that they do things and speak about things is very, very different to how I would say Millennials would.” - 11:25 - Felina Tan
“I don't think the Tamagotchi kids will replace having actual kids, we’re not all living in the Metaverse 24 hours a day. Having that physical presence I assume is why people have kids, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. But what I think is quite interesting about it is that it's quite a good testbed for having kids. ” - 17:55 - Jen Campbell
“Snap Plus gives you a customised app icon and special badges for your profile, you can see who's rewatched your stories, a special pin that you can mark someone as your best friend, and location history for friends on a map for 24 hours. But it's interesting, they won’t be removing ads. It'll be interesting to see the take up in the next six months because Snapchat has a very Gen Z dominant user base.” - 25:15 - Jason Kapadia
“Nearly 70% of Gen Z want brands to add value to society. So I think ultimately, brands do need to be mindful of Gen Z's BS detector, because they can smell rainbow washing and greenwashing from miles away.” - 33:40 - Felina Tan
“So I completely buy into the fact that brands need to do better and their storytelling needs to be better. But I still continually see brands selling through influencers without even having to try having a story to tell.” - 38:05 - Jen Campbell
“You used to be able to capture certain segments of the population within a couple of channels. You'd say Facebook is for this kind of person, Instagram for that kind of person - it really isn't the case for Gen Z. You can find Gen Z all over the place, they are not necessarily loyal. They're not only on Tik Tok, they do have individuality, and they do see value in different channels.” - 41:30 - Jag Sharma
Links & references:
Jason Kapadia:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonkapadia/
https://www.instagram.com/jasonkapadia/
Jen Campbell:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-m-campbell/
Jag Sharma:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagsharma
https://www.instagram.com/jagsharma/
Felina Tan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/felinagabrielletan/
Articles: