Gen Z key game changer of future

Understanding and effectively targeting Generation Z will be crucial to businesses in the future.

To do so, businesses will have to unlock the trends and behaviour of this generation, something that will be the focus of keynote speaker Sam Stuchbury at the PwC Herald Talks: Millennials Move Up, Gen Z Move In event.

Stuchbury, the founder of creative agency Motion Sickness, says businesses need to be cautious not to overlook the impact of Gen Z.

“Like with any generation, Gen Z will change the way we do business,” Stuchbury said.

Generation Z — the demographic that follows millennials — includes those born in the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s.

Stuchbury says it’s important for businesses to stay on their toes as trends and the way consumers absorb information rapidly changes.

“[Gen Z] is quite sceptical, which is interesting from a brand perspective. We’ve seen lots of campaigns where brands go out there with something they thought was good but might have come across a bit silly and Gen Z isn’t afraid to rip them to bits and speak their mind over what brands and businesses are doing.”

A large part of the changing in how people absorb information has come through advancements in technology, in particular, mobile phones.

“With millennials and Gen Z, it’s really interesting how their behaviour affects how we [Motion Sickness] advertise and the content we produce.”

Stuchbury says 85 per cent of the ads and content Motion Sickness put out was consumed on a mobile phone. “Literally all of our content now is with mobile phones in mind.”

Digital and social media has been a game changer for smaller business to compete with companies with high advertising budgets such as the Coca-Colas and Nikes of the world. “The big thing we’ve seen is that with really creative campaigns and through digital and social media, it’s kind of levelled the playing field.

“You can get a return with quite a low investment.”

Founded five years ago in a student flat in Dunedin, Motion Sickness has eight fulltime staff, with Stuchbury, 28, the oldest. Two staff are from Gen Z. “It’s really great for us to have millennials and Gen Z . . . to give us a really good perspective. One difference we’ve seen with Gen Z is that they are very socially conscious and they are also really hyperconnected.”