#MobileWatch: Mobile-centric, always-on, cross-device, multi-tasking, 5 screen user: Meet Gen Z!

(As appeared in Anika Sharma's weekly column in Adage India: MobileWatch)

My family (complete with two kids and a dog) is what they call in advertising, the ‘perfect family’ – except that the dog is an English Springer Spaniel, not a Golden Retriever and we do not have a white picket fence. My family, in many ways also represents the new family – we have 3 times as many devices as family members, which, counting the dog, is at a current total of 18 connected devices! I recently asked my 13-year old son how many devices he has. Not counting his Alexa and Google home, he said he has 6 computers. In fact, he said he is using one computer as a stand for his other computer! Did he think it was ironical? Yes. Did he think it was an aberration? - No! But then he is Gen Z (born between 1995 and 2012, give or take) – digital natives who have never known a phone that was not smart or an advertisement that was not targeted towards them. On average, this generation uses 5 screens (verses Millennials’ 3 and Gen X’s 1),switching amongst them for different purposes: smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop and tablet. At 26%, they are currently the world’s largest population segment, and one that marketers cannot ignore. 

Like most Gen Z, my son has an average 8-second filter to gauge if something is worth his time. This is very different than attention span. They do not have a short attention span – they are consciously deciding in 8 seconds or less, what or whom they want to engage with. Considering YouTube is their go-to for most things digital, I would safely bring that 8 seconds down to 5! While Millennials are touted as the ‘optimistic’ generation, Gen Z is being referred to as the pragmatic generation. But pragmatism does not translate to patience. Most Gen Z are open to new experiences such as digital assistants and virtual reality and they are also likely to pay a premium for ‘right-here-right-now’ services such as overnight or even 1 hour shipping delivery! That is a big ask for retailers and one that Amazon has perfected from the get-go. Amazon is already working on its own delivery network because they have seen the gold in that last mile of the consumer journey. Plus, they have what every Gen Z is looking for: Concierge services (Amazon’s Alexa), 2-day, overnight and sometimes one-hour delivery, as well as automatic subscription service (thanks to which, I may run out of Cilantro but my dog will never run out of his favorite dog food!). They are catering to tomorrow’s ‘I- bought-it-because-I-wanted-to-buy-something’ Gen Z.

At any given point of time in our house, no individual is doing just one thing on a single device. We are the cross-device, cross time zone, always-on, on-the-go consumer or what advertising would call, a media planner’s nightmare. Imagine trying to target and reach this consumer. What device would be your door-to-entry? How will your chart this consumer journey? What will media buying for these devices, all connected on one consumer journey, look like? And how will you use data to offer the personalized experiences that Millenials and Gen Z are expecting as the norm, while they are also worried about privacy and sharing details that can help with that uber-personalized experience? 

The mobile-centric, always-on, cross-device, multi-tasking consumer. If there is a single habit that will define our generation as well as help blur the lines between baby-boomers, Gen X, Millenials and Gen Z, it will be our ‘always-on’ mind set/thinking/behavior. The average consumer checks his/her phone 80 times a day, and some of us are clocking in at more than 300 times a day. That’s close to 12 times an hour, which means we are checking our phones almost once every 10 minutes! Remember, while we are checking our phones, our TVs may be running in the background, our laptops are usually on, and we may also be on some streaming service, binge-watching one of our favorite shows! Take out time for texting, whatsapping, or gaming online with friends and you have a life that is always-on. It is almost magical how seamlessly these consumers go from device to device, all across the same journey. Google has a term for it: ‘friction-free’. They assume that this is the way – from browser, to app, to device, to store (don’t forget the store, don’t ever forget the brick-and-mortar store!). And brands are expected to follow suit. Alas, there are very few brands that have understood this need for a friction-free, seamless brand experience for this almost-schizophrenic consumer. In my mind, one of the few brands that have come close to understanding this always-on consumer is Netflix. It knows where you left off, irrespective of the device used. The experience is tailor-made to your needs, even though there are 5 other members in the household. And, if I am going on a road trip or expecting to be on a plane with no Wi-Fi, I can download my favorite shows and/or movies. What’s not to love?! In a new era, where the existence of brand loyalty is being questioned, we have been Netflix members for 18 years and counting! (Not bad for a brand that has only been around for 21 years!). Do we love Netflix? Absolutely! Is it because of their content? Yes. But more than that, it is because they ‘get’ this new, always-on, always-connected, review-sharing, multi-device consumer. It is a brand that understands what a friction-free brand experience is and has stood the test of time – morphing from DVD mailing, to streaming to content sharing. Perhaps there are lessons here for India’s own iconic brand: Shemaroo. With Netflix already inventing the wheel, all they had to do was follow suit. Today, Netflix is worth close to $150 billion while Shemaroo, according to online data, seems to be close to $200 million!

The smartphone - this little device that we hold in our hand is a game-changer, accounting for 73% of Internet consumption in 2018 alone. And the numbers are growing, expecting to surpass 5 billion devices in 2019! Add 5G to this mix and the world is already going to be very different than what it is today. The generations driving the change? Gen Z, Millenials and a smattering of Gen X’ers.

Scary? Yes. Fascinating? Absolutely. I say, there is no better or more exciting time to be in advertising! Join me every week, as we navigate these ever-changing waters to make sense of this ‘always-on’ consumer and the technologies that define their everyday. I will be bringing you insights from some of the sharpest global minds in the industry as well as in academia. And do join the conversation. 

Until next week!

Anika Sharma

A seasoned Advertising and Digital expert, Anika has worked across countries and continents and spoken at companies such as Google and universities such as NYU. She is currently Professor of Business at NYU's Stern School of Business, teaching Digital, Social and Mobile Marketing