Why marketers should adapt to reach Generation Alpha
The first time I heard about Generation Alpha was during my studies at institute Marangoni, my friend Chiana chose this topic as part of her dissertation; in the cover, the little Prince George of Cambridge was smiling in a baby blue cardigan. It is crazy to believe this was a couple of years back when advertisers were mainly focused on Gen Z as the key market segmentation.
Born since the year 2010 and until the year 2025, they have grown up in a fully digital world. According to McCrindle Research, Generation Alpha relies on technology to understand their environment which makes them way different than millennial and generation Z. Some of the key characteristics:
Visuals. Video is the preferred format.Video games will boost their visual skills and the ability to easily switch tasks.
Independents. They are independent when it comes to making their own decisions and managing their digital identities.
Technological. Being hyper-connected, they become experts in the use of new technologies, which facilitates their digital learning and opens up a wide range of possibilities.
Diverse. This goes beyond demographics, such as ethnicity and gender, but also to tastes, lifestyles and points of view.
From a business perspective, it’s well known that children have influenced their parent’s spending behaviours for decades. It has been reported children under 12 and teens influence parental purchases totaling between $130 to 670 billion a year. However it seems that never before has there been such a passionate relationship between two generations as the one between millennials and generation Alpha.Saying that, there are companies deep diving in this passionate and borderline obsessive relationship as an advantage to tailor ad campaigns partnering with startups or tech companies to reach this tech-savvy audience.
As marketers we should not generalize or assume we understand this new generation or it may cause a misinformed strategy especially since this is a new generation. While we learn more about Gen A, we should work on developing authentic connections through digital media; advertising that doesn’t feel like another ad. For example, change the narrative about customer-centric messages around holidays or develop actionable tactics that can empathize with younger generations and boost the long-term relationship with the brand.
