Digital Marketing Trends: From Gen Y To Z

The shift in the definition of young people from Gen Y or millennials to Gen Z or centennials is often not realized by the public or even marketers. In fact, we ourselves may still consider the current definition of young people to be millennials. Many people think that millennials are the teenage segment. In fact, the age of Gen Y or millennials is currently between 27-40 years old.

Of course, Gen Y is still relatively young, but not very young. If we talk about the youth or teenage segment, then we are actually talking about the Gen Z segment or also known as centennials. And it turns out, these segments are very different.

Gen Y & Z in Marketing

In determining marketing strategies, many companies tend to take the wrong steps. Companies design strategies to reach the youth market, but focus on the millennial characteristic approach. In fact, the target market of the company is actually intended for Gen Z.

These two groups of young people cannot be equated. The definition of young people from the Gen Y and Gen Z categories has very different characteristics. So, often due to a lack of understanding of the marketing strategy, it results in failure.

Case Study: Media Preferences of Gen Y & Z Segments

Gen Y is a very “jaim” segment. They always want to show “the best version of themselves”. They call it “the best version of me”. So, this segment has grown a very famous social media, namely Instagram. Because on Instagram, we can show “the best version of ourselves”, and this is what Gen Y needs.

Meanwhile, if we look at the characteristics of Gen Z, they are a very authentic segment. Gen Z wants to show themselves as they are, therefore this segment is more related to social media such as TikTok which tends to be rawer or more natural in showing themselves.

Case Study: Purchase Preferences of Gen Y & Z Segments

Gen Y is also known to be very emotional in their purchasing behavior. They often see the emotional benefits of a product rather than its functional benefits. While the opposite is true for Gen Z, where Gen Z focuses more on the utility or benefits of the product functionally rather than its emotional benefits. We also see that Gen Y views success from their socio-economic status, which continues to increase. This is consistent with their behavior or mindset to always show “the best version of themselves”. While the more authentic Gen Z always states that success is the same as my personal happiness, and my happiness is if I can continue to gather with friends and family.

Conclusion

The mindset between the two segments of Gen Y and Z is very different. Therefore, brands and companies must be careful when determining targets in each segment. In addition, brands and companies must be able to design specific and different campaigns to be able to reach the selected segment.