A new decade is coming and this means we’re about to find ourselves facing a new generation that will bring new challenges for the industry. It’s never too early to start preparing for change so let’s give a warm, and premature, welcome to generation Alpha.
Who is generation Alpha?
Generation Alpha consists of those born roughly between 2010 and 2025. If we thought that generation Z was changing the consumer landscape, and therefore, marketing approaches, generation A is about to turn our world around. Even though this generation has yet to fully form or mature, according to Hotwire, by 2025 we can expect to have 2 billion Alphas in the world. The size of this generation is nothing to fear, however, we should expect changes in the way we approach this new generation.
What we need to know about Generation Alpha:
The first thing to take note of and recognize about this generation is that children belonging to this generation are more diverse than ever, both demographically and in terms of points of view. In a study made by HotWire, four questions were essential in determining what to expect from this generation from a marketing standpoint.
- How does racial and ethnic diversity affect this generations views of the world?
- How do points of view differ amongst Alphas, Millennials, and Baby Boomers?
- What do Alpha’s care about?
- How can brands prepare for the arrival of the Alphas?
A diverse generation will naturally have more complex points of views compared to former generations that are more traditional. Alphas will be characterized by being a generation with tastes and preferences that are fluid, that are able to see beyond established norms, and preferences that break them. For example, from an early age, generation Alpha is distinguishing itself by having professional aspirations that differ from the standard traditional jobs like teacher, doctor, and policemen amongst many others. They are also breaking gender norms. According to this study, more boys are increasingly aspiring to be fathers and are considering this an actual job, while becoming a mother is decreasing in popularity for girls. This helps us understand that equality is a topic that matters greatly for this generation.
According to the Hotwire survey, other topics that matter to the Alphas are child safety, equal access to resources such as food, climate change and the ecosystem, and helping others. Even though these opinions could change in the future as this generation matures, it’s possible to predict that these opinions will only get stronger with time. What’s for sure is that this generation will be more opinionated than its predecessors.
Preparing ourselves for generation Alpha:
According to Hotwire there are two ways we can adjust to the necessities and preferences of the Alphas.
The first is to make sure we know our audiences as best as truly possible, down to minor details. Even though this might sound as a basic marketing practice, it’s important to note that before, it was easier to segment audiences based on wider and more generalized demographical categories and still achieve great results. Now that we are facing a generation as diverse as they come, try to please everyone, while failing to please anyone because of generalizations. Because of this, Hotwire recommends to “not confuse diversity with variety.” In this case, having diverse needs does not require a one-size-fits-all solution, much less a solution composed of offering multiple options for the consumer to choose from. Instead we should focus on delivering the right options. This starts by knowing your consumer well, from a demographical standpoint, to their values and affinities across several categories.
The second recommendation is to not only know your consumer, but your non-consumer as well. We all know the saying, keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer. In the future of marketing we will be able to take a lesson from this phrase since in a world where everyone has an opinion, every opinion matters and is visible, and is able to become viral, it’s important to be one step ahead and know how to address a variety of opinions, regardless of whether they’re favorable to your brand or whether they agree or not with our target audiences.
Source: www.hotwire.com