While this level of tech sophistication is exciting, it’s also one that requires caution: with great tech comes great responsibility.
As young people become more exposed to conspiracy theories, fake news, and online propaganda, and measure their self-worth on likes and virality, it becomes the responsibility of marketers to understand what makes this generation tick and how best to serve them well.
What shapes the decision-making of these Gen Z youth? Is it that they grew up in a world of smartphones and social media, using their parents’ devices with an instinctive ability to swipe a touch screen? Is it seeing a world where they’re exposed to crises on a global scale: droughts, floods, pollution, famine, disease, war, corruption, and now Covid-19?
Technology has exposed today’s youth to so much more than the youth of the 1970s or 1980s. Marketers need to look deeper — beyond the emojis and acronyms — to understand the values they live by, and the consumers they’ll become
Now in its 17th year, Sunday Times GenNext, in partnership with Yellowwood and Gautrain, celebrates SA youth and the brands that have found footholds in their lives hearts.
Join industry experts on how brands can ensure they’re relatable, authentic and trusted by SA’s young people, by building marketing campaigns that are engaging, sincere and approachable.