FEATURE
GENERATION Z
Gen Z want to be sold experiences
not just physical products
Franco Florenzi use Instagram competitions to engage Gen Z with their brand
Sharing their values
Kendall explains that Forevermark
has found that ‘Gen Z’ consumers
want to buy from companies
that share their values, and they
place a large emphasis on ethical
and environmental issues when
deciding which brands to shop
with. “On the environmental side
we measure our carbon footprint,
we are reducing and neutralising
[it] by buying global carbon credit.
As an industry we need to do more
and more of that. We need to drive
this to becoming normal practice.
We have to keep up with the
changing environment and world.
“There is no doubt about it
that social responsible companies
are going to become virtually an
expectation. That is why at De
Beers there is a whole research
programme going on that in around
five years time our scientists will
have found a way to store carbon
dioxide in the kimberlite that we
mine so that ultimately a diamond
mine can be carbon neutral.”
Influencers over celebrities
Traditionally jewellery campaigns
often feature celebrities heavily.
Cristiano Ronaldo as the face of Tag
Heuer, Karlie Kloss with Swarovski
or Mila Kunis’ deal in 2014 to
feature in multiple campaigns for
Gemfields are prominent recent
examples. However, celebrity-
filled campaigns will not have the
same effect on ‘Generation Z’ as
40 JEWELLERY FOCUS
it currently does with the older
generations. “They want to see
real people compared to celebrities
and typically that will come across
through social media influencers”,
says Read.
“The biggest influencers are
Instagrammers and YouTubers
- this is something we have seen
slightly already with younger
Millennials but that was brands
using influencers with millions
of followers. Now to reach ‘Gen
Z’ it will be more effective to use
influencers with smaller but more
concentrated niche followers.”
Kendall seconds this notion,
explaining that Forevermark has
earmarked the approach for its
future practices. “A lot of these
celebrities developed from social
media platforms and they spread
like wildfire,” he says. “There are
people I have never heard of who
have 5 million followers, which
is incredible. Of course if they
decide they don’t like a jewellery
brand they have a huge influence
which could be detrimental to
the brand.”
He continues: “It is very likely it
is something we are going to move
into shortly, I am not sure if many
people in the industry are doing it
yet. I think local celebrity faces are
going to become more popular.”
Nwosu and those at Franco
Florenzi are among the few brands
that have already moved into
using local influencers, although
he stresses it is not just important
to find an influencer that has a
lot of followers but to find one
that naturally fits the brand.
‘‘
Traditionally
jewellery
campaigns
often feature
celebrities
heavily.
Cristiano
Ronaldo as
the face of Tag
Heuer, Karlie
Kloss with
Swarovski or
Mila Kunis’
deal in 2014
to feature
in multiple
campaigns
for Gemfields
are prominent
recent
examples
‘‘
This was how we tried to target
our audiences and what pages we
wanted to use.”
“Depending on the influencer
and what audience we are trying
to target we need to find an
influencer who fits and resonates
with them but still feels natural.
As much as it is easier to find an
influencer who is just popular it
is more important that we find
someone who will represent our
brand well and feel authentic. If
they don’t genuinely enjoy your
brand and fit your brand vision
then your are missing the mark,”
Nwosu muses.
What’s next?
Read suggests the pace of
technological change presages big
shifts in the characteristics of the
youngest of ‘Generation Z’ and
in the notion of generations as
a whole. “Everybody is already
trying to label what the next
generation is going to be called -
most often the guess is ‘Generation
Alpha’, however I believe that
‘Generation Z’ will be the last so-
called generation.”
While the most intuitive
members of the jewellery industry
are already making strides to
adapt to the next generation of
consumers, the real difficulty
will lie in staying up to date with
their rapidly changing trends
and viewpoints. “As we move
forward we are more likely to see
‘micro generations’, as time goes
the difference between the older
half of a generation is going to
be vastly different to the younger
half. Brands are going to have to
keep adapting to these changes if
they want to survive.”
April 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk