Pure Beauty Magazine July 2016

Beauty and the Gen-Z

This article is all about Generation-Z, or Gen-Z, and how beauty brands need to develop new ideas on how to appeal to them. Gen-Z’s are the youngest consumer of today’s markets and have birthdates ranging from the mid 1990’s to the early 2000’s and are aged from about 13/14 – 19/20.

This is a generation that has been brought up with unlimited access to the internet and social media, this make them incredibly “tech-savvy”. Gen-Z’s always have access to the internet, the most popular way being through their smartphones. This is because they are quick, easy to use and there is never a moment where a Gen-Z is without its smartphone.

Gen-Z’s are said to be “concerned about the planet and self-expression is a key trait as they believe in equality and celebrating everyone’s individuality and uniqueness”. As a Gen-Z myself I don’t believe this to be 100% true, but that’s just my opinion.

Beauty and Fashion Research Analyst Karla Rendle says that Gen-Z’s today have the tools and abilities to become an “expert” on their own. She believes this is possible thanks to the work of beauty bloggers/YouTubers.

The most well-known one would have to be Zoella (Zoe Sugg).

Zoella first started posting videos on YouTube in 2009, she now has over 11 million subscribers. Zoella’s videos offer a range of techniques and helpful advice and information about products they also provide some entertainment. Zoella video’s cover reviews on products and tutorials, this provides her fans with all the information they need to do it themselves.

The future 100’s Greene states that Gen-Z’s heroes are their peers from social media sites like Instagram and YouTube. Mike Ramseyer, Founder of My Market Insight, says that this could be the reason why he found very few teen-focused beauty product in this year’s print and online media.

The top 3 most mentioned teen brands of 2016 in offline and online media are Barry M, Miss Sporty and Rimmel.

Theresa Yee, WGSN’s expert, says that Gen-Z’s are experimental and not afraid to try new products and brands. This means that they might not be loyal to one brand but they might try a few different brands but go back to their favourite one and then wait till there is a new one to try.

Because Gen-Z’s have the internet at their fingertips they will research about a product before purchasing it. This means that brands must have the information as easily accessible as possible as it makes it easier for consumers to find it.

Gen-Z’s have a short attention span so if they can’t find the information quickly they will just give up and look at a different product. The product/brand needs to offer value, not in terms of price but in doing something extra, something that makes them stand out from the others.

This could be anything from donating money to a charity to supporting a cause like Gay star news.

As Gen-Z’s are always connected to the internet the website needs to be impeccable and it must be smart phone compatible. Just because they use the web to brows the products doesn’t mean that the display can slack in store.

Gen-Z’s love to try the products to see how it feels on their skin and to compare it to others. They also get drawn to the display which stands out to them. But this is difficult because not all Gen-Z’s get drawn to the same thing.

The best thing to do is to stand out from the stands around you but if they start to copy you maybe just calm things down and be a bit simple for a while, if everyone around you is being big and bold and you’re being plain and simple you will stand out from them.

Another thing that Gen-Z’s love is assistants, but not just any assistant. They need to be experts and really know the products back to front and be able to answer any questions people may have.

Gen-Z’s are always on trend with the latest fashion styles as they have access to them online all the time. When a celebrity comes out with a new fashion trend, either a new hair style or new clothes.

This is because as soon as one person sees it, it gets shared all over the internet by everyone. If beauty brands could get this with their products their sales would go up dramatically.

By Joe Bannister