‘Gen Z' – what are they like? They introduce the word ‘like' into too many sentences for my liking, something they've inherited from millennials. Of course, social media ‘likes' are an important currency. But there's more, I learned a lot at the recent Protect Z event, where all of the speakers were under 30, with a few undercover boomers swelling the ranks of a largely youthful audience. We heard about the evolution of language – ‘platty joobs', the ‘genny lec', ‘cozzie livs' as well as menty bs (more of which later). Gen Z refers to individuals born between the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 2010s - they represent some 25% of the global population, it will be the predominant cohort in the workforce by 2030. For a more detailed exploration of Gen Z, I'd recommend the Oliver Wyman' A-Gen-Z' report here. The ‘Protect Z' opening address was by Clodagh Griffin, a 27-year-old journalist and content creator, who gave a really engaging talk on reaching a younger audience via social media, which was then built on via a panel debate. Social Life There were various themes – the need for authenticity, transparency and relatability, their strong sense of values, the importance of health and the absolute reliance on their phones, for social interaction, education and learning, entertainment and more. Clodagh suggested that attention spans are short – the first three seconds of any communication is key. Keep it simple (but not stupid). Consistency is important – you can't be on TikTok once a week and expect to be remotely relevant. The fact that some 67% of Gen Z use TikTok as their search engine really stood out for me. Companies that aren't on TikTok risk invisibility. Panel discussions reflected on 14 AUTUMN PROTECT NEWSLETTER Peter Hamilton Head of Market Engagement Zurich Talkin' about their generation
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