Traditionalists, baby boomers, gen x-ers, millennials, and now gen Z?

Marketers have five generations that they need to reach. This is not easy, because each generation is so different.

Let's take something like toys. The traditionalist generation, they will tell you all about playing with jacks, or a yo-yo. Ask a baby boomer, they'll tell you they're ready to rock a hula hoop, or maybe even play with their engaging pet rock. You ask the gen X, if video games came on the scene. All about Atari, or maybe Pong. Millennials were busy playing with their Tamagotchis, or even trading Pokemon cards.

So clearly you can see each generation has different attitudes or behaviors, so marketing to them can’t be the same. You can’t reach one generation the way you've reached the others, and now we've got a whole new generation coming onto the scene, gen Z, and the time to get to know them is today.

So talk about changes with toys really quickly. Each generation has preferences when it comes to what we buy, and where we buy it. So obviously it's time for everyone to adapt, and get to know the newest generation, gen Z.

What makes up a generation?

We've all googled what generation we're a part of and I'm sure you've gotten so many different answers so let's start by breaking down the generations by birth years:

First we have the Traditionalists generation, those born before the year 1946.
Then we have the great big Baby Boom generation, those born between the years 1946 and 1964.
Followed by Gen Xers, those born between 1965 to 1979.
Then came the Millennials, those born between the years 1980 and 1994.
Then came generation Gen Zers, those born between the years 1995 and 2012.

“Each generation has preferences when it comes to what we buy, and where we buy it. So obviously it’s time for everyone to adapt, and get to know the newest generation, gen Z.”

— Mauro Berno

Everyone wants to know what generation they're part of, so maybe you logged on and maybe you heard different birth years. That's because not everyone tends to agree on exactly what the birth years are for the generations. That's because that's not the theory behind generational differences.

If you really want to know what makes up a generation, go beyond birth years. You have to look at how each generation shares a common history. And because a generation has lived through certain events and conditions that took place during their formative years during adolescence, they've adopted a certain lens at which they look at the world.

Now we don't become more alike as we get older. Because we experience these events and conditions, each generation has a generational personality that they then take with them into every single life stage.

Let me give you an example. Take something like space travel. If you ask a Baby Boomer what their earliest memory of space exploration is, they'll tell you they remember NASA landing on the moon. It was very exciting. They had finally broken beyond the barriers of Earth. Government institutions were exciting. They were cutting edge.

Ask that same question to a Gen Xer. They'll tell you they remember the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. Obviously a much different time. Government institutions were now cutting corners. Maybe even a waste of money.

Now ask that same question of Gen Z generation and NASA's not even in the answer. We've only known a world with space travel as seen with independent companies like SpaceX.

So that's just one theme that played out completely differently for each generation and that's the challenge that marketers have. Too often we market to the generations, but we're only looking through our own generational lens. If we want to reach Gen Z, now is the time to understand the events and conditions that shaped them. Go out to get to know Gen Z. Find out what shaped them and then you'll really understand what makes them tick and how to market to them best.

“Find out what shaped them and then you’ll really understand what makes them tick and how to market to them best.”

— Mauro Berno

Gen Z's events and conditions

As we all know, what makes each generation unique are the advancing conditions that shape them. And this is the case with Gen Z. They've had very unique advancing conditions, starting with the economy, now if you think about for millennials, their dinner time conversations were really exciting, businesses were starting in the garage, over night becoming this big success, and news flashes were talking about what great opportunities there were, there was a tech boom. You name it. Well, you compare that to dinner time conversations with this generation, the economy was a lot different. It was the recession, so it was really about companies staying afloat, leaders being called into question, and what a much scarier world it was out there.

It really was a scary world, and another huge change is something like the entertainment and media industry. People don't even realize, but there's been a massive shift in the type of content that's being provided. Flashback to millennials during their formative years, they were given the series Harry Potter for example, a great book and movie series, that allowed kids to escape to this world where they could fantasize about attending this magical school.

Compare that to Genz Z generation, They were given series like Hunger Games, post apocalyptic, one versus the world, you don't win, you die. Weirdly entertaining, but not nearly as mythical.

That is a great point, media was different, like the economy, and another one would be parents. Every generation has had their own parents, and Gen Z was raised by the amazing Generation X.

But comparing the way Gen Zen were raised and the way that millennials were raised, both generations statistically got along with their parents. However, baby boomers raised their millennial children in what is known as the self-esteem movement. They wanted their millennial children to feel as though they were the best at everything they did. They were given the infamous participation award.

But on top of that Gen Z is a generation that has been shaped by many other things, they saw the first African American president, they saw the legalization of marijuana, they saw the rise of social media, climate change, so many different things have shaped the Gen Z generation.

So naturally, when you get to know Gen Z, knowing that they have such different shaping factors, you can't treat them the same as the past generations. Get out there and talk to Gen Zers.

That's exactly what your job is, find out what shaped them, what are their advancing conditions that make them unique. Of course it's not like another other generation.

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