Born into a world where advanced tech is prevalent, Gen Z are the true natives of the digital age; with a perception of the world fundamentally intertwined with their identity; they never lived in an ‘offline’ world. From instant and widespread accessibility to information to a revolutionized sense of human connectivity and multimedia consumption, the world as we know it resides at Gen Z’s fingertips.
This reality became more apparent than ever during the pandemic; 2020 was a year of many revelations, the biggest of which being the emphasis on the stark significance of the digital space. Amid the pandemic, millions of individuals resorted to the online sphere to work, study, buy groceries and household necessities, conduct meetings, and, largely, remain in touch.
Globally and for years, organisations have been aware of the need and importance of adopting a more digital approach and implementing advanced online strategies in order to catch up with the fast-advancing digital climate, but, while change is hard to implement, the pandemic managed to incentivize organizations to implement their digital strategies out of necessity, quickly and efficiently. After gaining a perspective on just how effective and convenient a more digital approach is, there is simply no turning back for us after this revolutionary year.
The companies that will prevail in this new climate are those who have revolutionized exercises that were ordinarily executed in the physical world to be done digitally in a transformative manner. For many clients, these modern advanced encounters, whether it’s shopping online, ordering home supplies and pickups, have all frequently proven to be more pleasant and helpful than their offline counterparts.
For Gen Z, this is nothing out of the ordinary; the physical and digital worlds aren’t mutually exclusive or distinct, with both realities blending seamlessly for them. They experience almost everything in the physical world with a digital lens, and, be it online or offline, the most basic fact is that you can consistently benefit from them interchangeably to make both realities more efficient.
Gen Z are at the forefront of a massive shift in consumer behavior, and with their digital eloquence and familiarity, they’re the ones determining the standard paradigm of consumption within the general digital experience. Being instinctively digital-savvy, they paved the way for the rest of the world to go completely digital. An industry that disregards that reality does so at the risk of jeopardizing its future.
The pandemic played a role in significantly altering the way we do everything, from shopping to communicating both socially and professionally. Gen Z were always at ease in this newly expanding paradigm, and businesses across all sectors understood that in order to be ahead, they must cater to the digital needs of that dynamic generation.
Mohamed Fikri is Account Manager at Cicero & Bernay Public Relations, an independent PR agency headquartered in Dubai offering new-age public relations consultancy to the UAE and across the MENA region. | www.cbpr.me