Doritos, Entrepreneurship, and Ratti Oh My! Gen Z Chats on #Clubhouse Are Shaping the Future
Late last night, Jake Bjorseth, Sam Lister, Ziad Ahmed, Zawwar Khan, Sarah Grosz, and some of the other brightest minds in Gen Z marketing came together to lead an energizing discussion about The Future of Marketing on #Clubhouse. We talked about everything from snacks and the new meanings of entrepreneurship.
Have you heard of Amazon’s latest competitors that are sweeping the market? Stay tuned for the best snippets from the convo.
Yes, we’re foodies. Don’t judge.
Y’all, either Gen Z’s always hungry or maybe we just always have food on our mind (always hungry, yes)? YouTube channels like Strictly Dumpling and Binging with Babish haven’t helped. Zawwar Kahn, founder of Sol Planted and leader of product innovation at PepsiCo, blasted off the lively conversation describing the fascinating process of creating new Doritos flavors using experiential eaters to taste flavor profiles… Creatively, PepsiCo hires top-line chefs who’ve been exhausted by the monotony of working in high-profile restaurants and as private chefs in Beverly Hills and offers them an exciting environment where they create small plates to excite the palettes of increasingly creative and experiential Gen Z consumers. Recreating a trip to Thailand through the aromatic flavors of a spicy siracha chip, these chefs bring Gen Z’s travel fantasies to life in a bag. Snack companies are certainly appealing to the international exposure and experienced palettes Gen Z is bringing to the table.
Grocery + Snacking Models
Sarah Grosz, head of influencer marketing at MuteSix, strategically brought up the shifting of grocery shopping models during COVID and Gen Z’s quick adoption – you see, to Gen Z, Amazon’s outdated search functions have become somewhat of a black hole, and beyond the growth surge of Instacart and Walmart grocery valet, other small companies are arising to change up the game. Fast AF, GoPop, and Ratti are some firms changing the game for Gen Z's in both the US and Latin America, running errands for us and delivering pretty much anything in specific cities. The panel predicts these models will come to dominate the marketplace, especially given their nimble approach that Amazon is (not surprisingly) struggling to adapt to. Competitors are beginning to arrive in niche areas too – likely a result of quarantine boredom. $40 bottles of olive oil are now a trend and even cereal brands have tapped into Gen Z’s #hypeculture. Case in point? Magic Spoon, a high protein, low carb cereal which blew up on Gen Z's social media in 2020.
Activism… It’s in our DNA
We shifted gears in the conversation drastically to face the challenges of activism and altruism that are at the very core of who our generation is. Ziad Ahmed, the founder of JUV Consulting, passionately proclaimed what has become the Gen Z manifesto: We emphatically know we are fixing the problems our predecessors left for us.
And 2020 revealed extraordinarily clearly who stood on which side of the activism paradigm. Ziad pointed out that many companies stated that “Black Lives Matter”, but this was not followed up with actions. Few of these “progressive” firms added black leaders to their boards or created infrastructure that supported minority hires. Many companies saw an opportunity to capitalize on social currency rather than correct moral problems. Ziad said, “I’m interested in making the arguments that standing for justice is right no matter what the world says, rather than simply for social media prowess.”
On the positive side, what brands have made a difference throughout the Black Lives Matter movement and the challenges presented by COVID? Alexis Ohanian stepped down from Reddit saying that it was high time someone of color stepped into the role. That took guts. UpKey, a career start-up, created a virtual internship for students who lost their internship. They received over 1000 applications. Even though they ended up not being able to pay due to the high volume, many students were able to gain the experience they never would have otherwise, and UpKey was raised to the top 20 start-ups on LinkedIn. Microsoft created a chatbox to answer questions about the virus and Adobe gave away free student memberships. Uhaul provided free storage to college students over the pandemic. There are many positive examples of companies that rose to the challenge and stepped up to the plate to help.
Gen Z At Work?
Jake Bjorseth, founder at TRNDSTTRS Media, and I began the discussion about Gen Z at work. We came to the conclusion that the question not being asked enough is this: How do we help fellow Gen Z’s gain a voice in the workplace? How do we pave the way for our younger siblings and friends who haven’t yet entered it? How do we shape the conversations about our generation to break down stereotypes and build generational empathy?
Back to Sarah Grosz. Sarah’s an “intrapreneur” and is responsible for hiring young people. She posited one of the key ways recruiters can help this problem is to look not just at education but character. Extremely insightful. What would happen if we truly shifted back to an apprenticeship model as a country instead of sticking with the antiquated education system that teaches us how to be “good workers” and teaches us little of how to think for ourselves. Travis, a millennial who practically could be a Z's, jumped in with a passionate dialogue about what Gen Z's have to offer. “What world should millennials leave for Gen Z?” he offered. “We can’t leave them a shithole as we have been.” Something he stresses to his Gen Z students is not to get college and education tied into the same sentence.
You see, Gen Z believes that 4-year college has skewed our perspective of how we perceive the workplace. Rather than seeing the real world, it’s tempting to become entitled because of the way we’re taught and think “we deserve __________” when truly, we don’t “deserve” anything in life. Community colleges are becoming a better option for teaching real-world skills and dampening entitlement. The apprenticeship is returning. Watch out universities. Apprenticeship is coming to eat you for lunch. Companies are offering certificate programs. The traditional college model is not setting up Gen Z for success and we aren’t looking for formal education. Who knows? Maybe people will once again collaborate and teach each-other skills like they’re doing on TikTok?
Is Entrepreneurship the Only Way?
A frequent complaint from Z's is the perfect, glamorized portrayal of entrepreneurship we are taught to believe from social media. Guys, entrepreneurship is hard. Ask an entrepreneur. Everyone wants to be called “an entrepreneur” but the term has changed immensely – it’s associated with a particular lifestyle – as if the only way to drive a luxury car and live in a beautiful home is to be an entrepreneur. This idea is incredibly far from the truth. There are SO many valid and helpful careers that don’t involve entrepreneurship. Intrapreneurship is equally valid and any Gen Z's can bring this to the workplace to add immense value and grow in their career.
The brightest Gen Z minds will gather again on #Clubhouse for an invigorating conversation in just a few weeks. Stay tuned for the conversation and join us – you can shape this dialogue as well, and we want other generations involved!
Listen in and we’ll help you shape your business to truly gain Gen Z as a competitive advantage and follow me for tips on #RadicalEmpathy every week.