Hello everyone and welcome to our newsletter on all things Gen Z.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Happy Thanksgiving to all our US subscribers. For many in America it is a time for family and loved ones as well as a moment to step away from the break-neck speed of life.

It is also a lot more than that - a time for reflection on the origins of Thanksgiving and how, by looking through a different “next generation” lens, we can ready ourselves for deeper conversations.

That was the flavour of our newsroom discussions and it is a debate that all C-suite leaders need to know how to navigate.

With that in mind, two pieces of content struck home. This thought provoking piece from Her Campus on why Thanksgiving raises important equity issues for Gen Z and others. And this from our very own The News Movement, who handed over the mic to Kyyen LeftHandThunder to explain why Thanksgiving is not "just a meal" for indigenous people.

In other news . . .

We know that this, literally, shouldn’t make us feel embarrassingly unsuccessful, but 19-year-old student Muneeb has beaten Gucci and Karlie Kloss as one of the most successful “avatar creator experience” operators on Roblox, the gaming platform with 70m daily users. His app (or experience to be more precise in the world of virtual, build-your-own fun) has been visited 1.6bn times, making it one of the most successful on the site.

If creating “clothing” that can only be bought and sold as a digital experience is not the very definition of the new world of work, we don’t know what is. Muneeb is engaged in the ultimate side hustle, building an online business whilst studying computer science at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

And - like Madonna and Kylie - he already goes by just the single name. 

Now, did you have to Google Karlie Kloss (👴🏽)? The supermodel has shown a considerable amount of business acumen with the growth of her own media company, Bedford Media. In doing so, she joins a growing list of creatives who are buying up creative assets.

Karlie, of course, is welcome to join us at Get to Know Towers. Anytime.

The internet is always racing ahead. . .

The internet speeds everything up: as soon as it hits November 1st, Halloween is over and advertising for Christmas and New Years Eve begins. Gen Z are also looking ahead, taking to TikTok to share their New Year’s resolutions for 2024. Jodie Taylor, a TikToker from Brooklyn shared a video plotting her self improvement plans: big career moves, a glow-up to her appearance. But does this do us any good? Gen Z finds purpose in planning ahead, but the pressure to post our best selves online and the subsequent standard that sets for others should be acknowledged.

. . .and so are many Gen Zers

A recent article from the Business of Fashion pointed out that Gen Z (who are no older than 27) are already obsessed with anti-ageing products. From serums and retinoids to injectables like Botox, the younger generation are exposed to a wealth of products via social media and are already investing in them. But are we surprised? Social platforms, selfies and sitting on Zoom calls mean we’re looking at our faces constantly, the imagery we see across the internet has so often been tweaked and we know algorithms prioritise a certain type of “attractiveness”. Not quite an unholy alliance, but certainly another example of market growth being rocket boosted by the socially native generation.

The cost of happiness

Does money buy happiness? 67% of Gen Zers in the US think so. But what’s the price? The average American thinks $284,167 a year is needed to ensure happiness, and younger generations are driving this figure up. Millennials say it would take $525,000 a year to feel fulfilled. For context, the median pretax income for a Millennial household is $71,566…

Personality vs productivity

A video celebrating a ‘personality hire’ in the workplace has gone viral on TikTok. But what does that mean? A personality hire is an employee who brings positivity and good vibes to the office (often instead of hard skills and productivity), and can get away with doing less work through schmoozing their colleagues and superiors. But the trend is quite polarising: some people argue that personality hires don’t get the actual job done, while others argue that classic ‘productivity hires’ lack character.

And finally…

32%

…of Gen Zers say they regularly get news from TikTok. The platform is increasingly the key information outlet for younger generations. 

Have a good weekend everyone, even if you do have a tonne of leftover turkey and pumpkin pie.

How can we help?

In my many travels and conversations, I’m increasingly talking to CEOs, executives and civil society leaders wanting to better understand the next generation of consumers and the next generation of employees. Gen Z is putting pressure on us all to transform in fascinating ways, and many of us are asking questions about how to cater for younger workers and future proof our organisations.

If this sounds like you, we’d be keen to have a chat and see if TNM can help. From our own content production to work we have done, for example, with The Oliver Wyman Forum, we have a raft of insights and data which can support you. We work closely with a number of global organisations – helping with high-impact story-telling, digital media, internal communications, through to employee benefits, HR and working structures.

Email me direct and all of us at TNM look forward to speaking further.

Kamal Ahmed
Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder
The News Movement

Our Top 5 News List

The top stories young people cared about this week, from our audience team and newsroom debates.