Breaking through the scepticism of Gen Z (Marketing Magazine, April 2017)
I was invited to share my thoughts about post-millennials / Gen Zs with Marketing Magazine. Here are highlights of my commentary from which, parts cited in Marketing's article in its April issue:
"Generation Zs (Gen Zs) matters to PSB Academy because it probably is going to be the best educated generation of individuals we’ve ever seen, as a product of future-oriented institutions and circumstance.
Resonance with future-orientation
Over 11,000 students study at PSB Academy every year. A significant segment of our student population belongs to Gen Zs. Studies show that around 8 in 10 Gen Zs recognize the value of a college education in achieving their career goals. Despite the rise in the cost of education, more than 6 in 10 feel that the benefits of a college education outstrip the costs of acquiring it. We are encouraged by these findings because they validate PSB Academy’s point of view – that a quality college education needs to prepare one for his /her future career. In fact, this perspective forms a key part of PSB Academy’s unique value proposition: A 2015 survey showed that around 9 in 10 students gained employment 6 months upon graduating from PSB Academy, while 6 in 10 of our graduates benefited from pay raises or better career prospects. Building on this track record of producing industry-ready graduates today, we unveiled our new brand identity in 2016, dubbed “The Future Academy” – an institution of learning that prepares one to thrive in the Future Economy.
As digital natives, the role of education for Gen Zs must evolve from rote learning, to application at an individual level, to learning through collaboration and consultation. After all, with the Internet at one’s finger tips, Gen Zs have access to a library whose repository spans digital footprints across the world. In this reality, the role of the educator becomes one of guide and facilitators. As the Future Academy, we announced last year expansion plans for a 100,000 square feet City Campus in Marina Square (in addition to our existing 150,000 square feet campus at Delta), which will be equipped with innovative learning technologies and platforms to enable more efficient and effective ways of learning, such as “flipped-classrooms”. Other innovations include the incorporation of VR and AR technologies into the learning experience, as well as e-books, to enable students the freedom of referring to learning materials from anywhere, any time.
Testament to how well our value proposition has been received is the double-digit percentage growth that PSB Academy registered in 2016. We were also conferred “Best private education institution in Singapore” by the Business Excellence and Research Group in the same year.
If Gen Zs were influenced by the impressions from these circumstances, then they must also be one of the most resilient generations in history.
Resilience from monumental experiences
Broadly defined by sociologists as “post-millennials” who were born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s, many Gen Zs have been imprinted with several monumental events that must have shaped their thinking and viewpoints, particularly since these impressions were received in their most formative years. Unlike the Generations before them who were born into eras of relative peace and stability, Gen Zs ushered the invention of the Internet during the Clinton Administration, the handover of Hong Kong and the rise of China, the after-effects of the Asian Financial Crisis, SARS, September 11, the Iraq war, the Arab Spring, and the Global Recession, to name a few.
As the largest population cohort (besting even millennials and the baby boomers), Gen Zs will matter even more as they form the bulk of consumers for most enterprises. To effectively engage with Gen Zs, organizations must tailor their brand narratives with a deep appreciation for their unique psyches, in the same way that each generation must craft, make and embrace mythologies that are compelling for the times.
Unlike Generations before Gen Zs who grew up in eras of relative peace and security, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Gen Zs comprised individuals seeking pragmatic ends to idealisms which tend to characterise the generations before them. This means that traditional storytelling motifs which speak to undertones of altruism that brands today seem accustomed to - of making the world a better place - needs to be tempered with propositions that also appeal to the self. In reference to the classic storytelling framework of the hero’s journey, the consequence of this self-appeal would therefore call for a greater emphasis on self-reliance. Storytellers ought to give more weight to what a protagonist must him or her-self do to triumph over adversity, instead of relying on the help of a “Gandalf-like” mentor or guide. In the same way, storytellers will also need to focus on what a protagonist would gain from the journey, over the prize that one would gain purely for his or her community."