Newsflash: Millennials aren’t that young anymore. And they’re also not the most digitally savvy either. It’s their kids, Generation Alpha that have got tech in the bag, and this will be the generation for which the term ‘digital natives’ really takes its full form.
Defining Generations can often feel like broad brush strokes and stereotypical. But they can be useful terms for marketers at a very top level in understanding how different generations interact with the world, how their mindsets are different, and their differing needs that result from this.
With this in mind, some have already started researching and trying to define Generation Alpha. These consumers were, or will be, born between 2010 and 2024 and one of their most definable features is their relationship with the technological and digital world.
As infants this generation are using smartphones and tablets while still learning to speak, in school they’re learning to code, and by the time they reach adolescent or early adulthood it’s very likely our streets will be full of smart, electric, self-driving cars. It’s a totally different landscape to previous generation’s upbringings, one shaped by our ever advancing connected world.
What’s more, they’ll make up a pretty sizeable portion of the global head count, with estimations that this Gen will be 2 billion members strong. So as a brand it pays to get a racing start on forecasting what they’re after.
So what makes these tech savvy consumers different to the current tech savvy consumers?
For Gen Alpha, technology and the connected world is not something additional or separate to themselves and their life. It’s an extension of self, it’s part of their consciousness and reality. At the moment we have a strong idea of physical versus digital – but will they?
This sets up an exciting prospect for marketers; brands really will live across these physical and digital worlds seamlessly.
For brands for which the term ‘omnichannel’ appears outdated and unnecessary – you’re ahead of the curb and ready for the Alphas. For brands that are still wrestling with getting your omnichannel presence and propositions up and running – millennials may already be finding this frustrating, but for their kids this may be an unsurpassable barrier.