Gen Z raises the bar – they are steadfast in their values and expect more from all facets of their world, making what they expect from brands no different. They look for brands to not only reflect their values in mission, but also seamlessly be a part of places they frequent most – different interfaces across the digital sphere. This generation was uniquely digitally reliant & native even prior to the pandemic, and COVID-19’s impact on our whole society’s digital fluency has only solidified & strengthened Gen Z’s positioning as leaders in this realm. For Gen Z, integrated shopping (& brand marketing) across in-store and digital touchpoints has become table stakes, and their dexterity in the digital landscape has given any brand who can harness this authority, authentically, unprecedented power with this consumer & generations beyond. Furthermore, the spending power of Gen Z is second only to Millennials, closing in on $150B despite these shoppers being 24 and under.

Brands that can be part of Gen Z’s lifestyle command significant value across categories, evident by recent acquisitions of challenger brands that target younger consumers by category-leading strategics (e.g., Youth to the People (L’Oreal)).

This year’s Challenger Brand paper introduces 3 key strategies on how to win with the Gen Z consumer and identifies brands who have successfully adopted these strategies.

Challenger Brands that have successfully employed these tactics to become Gen Z Disruptors:

From Passive to Purposeful Growth

In 2021, these brands have the opportunity to make the increased consumer engagement and spending “stick” – that is, to delight and capture new-found consumer loyalty through this year’s demand plan choices and investments.

Proactive planning to align with large growth drivers is critical because while brands may continue to ride the wave of growth fueled by pandemic-influenced behavioral changes from last year, the shift is already part of the new baseline this year. These changes could also revert faster than anticipated, requiring companies to be out ahead of changes in consumer behavior. Brands must purposefully find the next wave(s) – or risk being left behind.

A scan of the landscape of categories and growth drivers reveals five growth drivers where we believe consumer behavior will evolve this year, and where brands should purposefully connect with consumers to capture new consumption and revenue growth. While other trends that gained traction pre-COVID will continue to emerge, such as convenience and sustainability, we focus here on the drivers that will have outsize impact after COVID-19 and therefore require brands to think differently. We recommend looking at your business through the lens of these drivers to inform this year’s annual planning cycle as outlined in the scorecard for evaluating growth strategy shifts below.

Growth Drivers

Summary

Scorecard for Your Brand

Objective: Purposefully shift to where consumer behavior will trend in your spaces to participate in growth in 2021