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

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We pride ourselves at Get to Know on not falling into the trap of thinking “all Gen Z are the same”. There are certainly some major themes that tie the next generation together more closely than older demographics - we suggest “equity” (things should be fair) and a “better planet” (from climate change to incomes) are two well worth remembering. Beyond that, differences in how generations approach the world around them are as important as the similarities.

In 2023, we spoke about the female/male split around ideas of what “progressive politics” looks like. The issue was back in the headlines last week when the Financial Times’ brilliant data journalist John Burns-Murdoch produced this slide:

TLDR - young women tend to be more “progressive”, young men tend to be more “conservative” or traditional, and the gap is growing. What we love about this debate is that there is a tremendous amount of nuance within the overall trend, and it is well worth following John on X (Twitter) and particularly the conversations sparked by his reporting. That he handles it all so calmly is a joy to behold.

At Get to Know (and TNM), we are not big fans of zero-sum arguments, that one person’s gain must be another person’s loss. It is a media disease that we are here to mitigate. John positively posts Stanford visiting fellow Alice Evans on why, overall, we can be very positive about higher levels of gender equality.

And we agree.

Bookworms

The latest trendy place for Gen Zs to spend their time? Public libraries. Young people are using the institutions more than older generations, and for more than just book borrowing. As well as reading and community, pretty libraries have become a coveted backdrop for content creation - like Henry Earls, a student who uses New York’s Public Library for his TikToks. As with many Gen Z trends, it’s all about the aesthetic. 

Trendsetting for 2024

YPulse has published a roundup of the trends Gen Z will drive this year. Here are a few we found interesting:

• Gen Z will truly champion the hybrid work model, over “all office” or “all remote”

• Sporting trends and interest will be driven by their intersection with pop culture (e.g. interest in NFL due to Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce)

• AI use will shift to specific, genuinely helpful practicalities rather than endless blue sky ideas

• Snacking and convenience will drive food trends, building on no-prep meal concepts like ‘girl dinner’ 

Check out the full thing here.

We’ve got issues

Opinium has released a new report on Gen Z and politics in the US. The whole thing is worth a scroll, but we were particularly drawn to the way Gen Z cares about specific issues compared with their predecessors who tend to be more partisan. Overall, Gen Z believes the top three issues facing the country are inflation and the economy (29%), economic inequality (22%), and abortion/women’s rights (17%). Gen Z is also much more likely to perceive

racism (15%) and LGBTQ+ rights (14%) as top issues facing the country.

Battle of the brands

The latest Ad Age-Harris Poll Gen Z tracker is here to tell us the brands that are winning with Gen Z right now. Brands are ranked by change in brand equity - i.e. those that are gaining more affiliation with the demographic. Here’s a shot of the top 20: 

And finally…

30

The length, in minutes, of videos TikTok are trialling on their platform in a bid to compete with YouTube. They are also experimenting with horizontal video, because if there’s one thing platforms are going to do, it’s stealing each other’s successes.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

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

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