Cryptic lives of Malaysia’s Gen Z decoded

KUALA LUMPUR: Ogilvy has partnered with Ipsos to understand ‘The Not So Secret Lives of Malaysian Gen Z’ through a new study. This is the third part in a series of thought leadership piece, by Ogilvy, following The Secret Lives of Malaysian Millennials (2017) and The Secret Lives of Malaysian Millennial Moms (2018).

Born between 1995 to 2009, Gen Z make up 26% of Malaysians. At 99% smartphone penetration, Gen Z are considered Malaysia’s true digital natives, having not known life without the Internet and digital technologies.

Coupled with a 23% increase in spending power, Gen Z consumers are steadily becoming game-changers in an already fast-paced market. For any client, the focus is shifting from the millennials to the Gen Z.

At the launch of the study, Ogilvy and Ipsos shared behavioural quirks of Malaysian Gen Z with brand custodians, offering them insights into this generation across six elements of popular culture that are significant to them - language, sports and fitness, gaming and social media, music, food and beverage, and sustainability. Data was gathered through a two pronged process - first they spoke to the Gen Z through primary research (in-depth interviews and triads) and then they spoke about the Gen Z with experts in these six areas for validation and reading between the lines for understanding the drivers and motivations behind the behavioural quirks.

Arindam Chatterjee, regional planning director at Ogilvy Malaysia highlighted the crucial need to understand the behaviours of Gen Z and the way they interact with brands.

“Gen Z are a force to be reckoned with. While brands have been known to evolve over time to keep up with changing consumer trends, the scale and pace with which Gen Z grow in terms of influence and relevance is unprecedented. Engaging Gen Z is not only critical to the survival of a brand, it only helps brands re-discover and re-align their purpose to values that are important to Gen Z consumers. The funny thing, we realised, we know very little about them,” he said in a statement.

Alternate sports, whether it is Snookball, Ultimate Frisbee, Dodgeball, Archery or Esports, are gaining popularity among Gen Z.

In the digital sphere where individuality is celebrated – and to a certain extent, commodified – alternate sports speak to the hearts and minds of Gen Z for the novelty and talkability of standing out and cultivating an uncommon interest.