Over the past couple of years, whenever I create proposal documents & presentations one particular age range has been a bit constant when speaking about target audience, the 18–35 range or what the 2009 Nigerian Youth Policy officially defines the “youth” age range as. This range cuts across 2 major generations, they are the younger millennials and the older Gen Z. However within that range is a special set of people, those born between the 1990 and early 2000s (90s Babies) which I’d love to highlight, The Zillennials.
So who are the Zillennials? They are the last generation who saw the world before the internet but were still alive during the early formation of the internet, the kids who still went outside to play but were also at home learning how to surf the web and play video games. They are the “middle child” or “hybrid” generation, too old to connect with the traditional Gen Z & too young to connect with the traditional millennials and now with them attaining some level of financial freedom, they have the spending power to influence brands.
So why are they important? The beauty of being able to understand and relate to modern technology like tiktok, yet still having a sense of understanding of what the world was without streaming and having to download songs on limewire has an advantage because it tends to make them more aware of both generations before and after their own. This niche segmentation is becoming very important when trying to find a target market for your product. Why? Because you’re basically getting the best of both worlds with them. If you’re able to successfully get them to buy into what it is you’re selling, you’ve basically killed 2 generational birds with 1 stone. The older millennials (though they may not admit it) look at them to find out what’s cool, what’s trendy and where the future is headed, while the younger Gen-Zers look up to them as a sort of guide for what’s to come.
With Gen-Z being mostly a digital generation and millennials being the “outside babies” the Zillennials bridge the gap between the two worlds when thinking about your end product. How else do you convince the people who love offline and physical experience to explore more digitally while simultaneously speaking to the multi-screen generation to actually put their devices down and go outside.
According to Digital Crew, Zillennials will account for a whopping 40% of all consumers. They are the first Gen-Zers to have a source of income, so they are able to dictate the pace of their generational wavelength, and except you’re a brand not perturbed by trends, you would realize that the youth decides what is cool. There’s a very thin line between wanting your brand to appear cool enough and pandering to the audience, and the Zillennials dance on that line.
So how do you market to the Zillennials? I’ll break it down in 3 steps:
- Digital First: A big part of this generation are digital natives. They were the first users of Facebook and have migrated to other social platforms like Twitter, Instagram & even Tiktok (although not as much as their younger siblings). Whatever you’re selling should have a way to live digitally even if it’s expressed physically. Integrating things like filters, trends, picture-esque moments are a great way to boost your loyalty with them. They also have the capacity for longer form content as their attention span has not been totally eroded by short form apps like Snapchat & Tiktok, however, don’t bore them.
- Purposeful Brands: Like their Gen-Z counterparts, a big part of them are looking to connect with brands that share similar values. They’ve seen the impact of the industrialism wave on the planet and are often more likely to connect with brands that do more good than harm to the environment.
- Self-Expression Through Sales: Due to the fact that they’ve grown up and seen the world change rapidly through inflation before they had access to disposable income, many of them are choosing to prioritize themselves through their purchases without compromising on values. They prioritize the quality of their purchases over the quantity, less is more to them.
Now in trying to reach this micro-generation, there’s a number of things not to do so as not to scare or put them off your brand completely.
- Content Overload: Yes this is a content driven micro-generation, however just like their younger counterparts, they do not like being sold to. They may have a longer attention span than Gen-Z, however they can easily be put off by large amounts of information. If you can say it in 15 secs, don’t spend 30 secs telling a story. They will use that “skip ad” button. Being concise is always best.
- Pandering: Yes they are value-driven consumers, however they hate when brands pander to them. They aren’t strong headed like older millennials who believe brands shouldn’t have any political voice, but they can smell a fake from a mile away. You need to truly believe in your values as a brand and not just say it or have it on your website.
- Sales Only Experience: Finally, they need a lot more than just a sales experience. They need a full 360 customer experience to be able to properly invest in a brand or product. This is where you can get creative with storytelling and selling your brand’s persona. They want to know the what, the why, the how and any other details about your brand so they can connect deeper. From your social and digital pages to your BTL and physical experiences, it should all connect to tell a holistic story about your brand.
In conclusion, it helps to understand that different audiences have different ways to communicate or to be spoken to. And while I agree that sometimes we may feel like labels have a way of separating us further, it’s good to understand who you’re speaking to as a brand. Boxing multiple micro-generational divides under one umbrella will oftentimes hurt your brand and send a confusing message to your audience. It is equally important for brands to adopt a customer-centric experience as opposed to a product-centric experience, as it helps guide the narrative and build stronger brand loyalty.
It’s easy to forget that a big part of this niche audience currently owns the buying power, and if brands want to leverage them to build more revenue, they need to have an in-depth understanding of what makes them tick.
