Over the past few years, marketers across all industries and categories have become obsessed with Millennials—what are the best ways to reach them and help them form meaningful connections with brands? This captivating generation has a unique sense of self and a nontraditional approach to life stages, and this has made marketing to them a challenge. Despite this ongoing challenge, there’s a whole new game in town with the rise of Generation Z. Born in 1995 or later, this demographic currently comprises 25.9% of the U.S. population and contributes $44 billion to America’s economy[1]. Generation Zers are the most diverse and multicultural of any generation in the U.S.—55% are Caucasian, 24% are Hispanic, 14% are African-American, and 4% are Asian. This is the first generation born into a digital world, and they don't know life without PCs, mobile phones, gaming devices, and MP3 players. They live online and share details of their lives across dozens of platforms, disclosing their likes and dislikes for the rest of the world to see with tweets, photos, and status updates.

In January 2017, IBM and the National Retail Foundation released a report entitled Uniquely Generation Z: What Brands Should Know About Today’s Youngest Consumers. This report surveyed over 15,000 Gen Zers between the ages of 13 and 21 and also conducted interviews with 20 Senior Marketing Executives to determine how these consumers engage with brands. As this generation continues to come of age, they will have a major impact on the future communication strategies to your customers. The findings from this report have a number of important implications for print/marketing service providers.

Generation Z consumers typically exhibit the following characteristics: