Gen Z, the most internet-dependent generation in history, are intrinsically combining the digital and physical worlds, presenting new opportunities and challenges for today’s brands.

Billy McFarland, founder of Fyre Festival in Netflix’s Fyre, The Greatest Party That Never Happened, infamously said: “The more footage, the better”.

This mentality from the founder of the doomed festival perfectly aligns with a ground-breaking international study released by The Center for Generational Kinetics, which revealed Gen Z are changing the way businesses build digital experiences.

Gen Z, the generation born between 1996-2010, has never known a world without the internet, which explains how they manage to seamlessly blend the digital and physical worlds. 

In fact, the study revealed Gen Z cannot go more than four hours without the internet.

Gen Z represents up to $143 billion in buying power globally.

They are changing the rules of marketing, abandoning traditional media and spending hours on the internet and social media.

WP Engine Australia/New Zealand country manager Mark Randall said: “Gen Z is well on its way to becoming the largest generation of consumers by the year 2020.

“This will have profound implications for marketers and brands who, to effectively engage Gen Z, must embrace new technologies, experiment with new forms of communication, and internalise the nuances in how Gen Z seamlessly blends the analogue and digital worlds”.

For Gen Z, building a personal brand online is intrinsic, with 70 per cent worrying their online actions will affect job offers.

This idea of building a ‘personal brand’ aligns with the fact Gen Z are committed to authenticity when considering which brands to use and buy from.

Gen Z are more likely to buy from brands who apply socially conscious marketing with 75 per cent trusting a company more if the images they use are not photoshopped and 85 per cent trusting a company more if they use real customers in their ads 

The Center for Generational Kinetics president Jason Dorsey said: “Gen Zers are empowered, connected, practical, empathetic self-starters who want to stand out and make a difference in the world.

“They merge the human and digital experiences – it is all one combined reality for them.

“They are fuelled by technology engagement and value uniqueness, authenticity, creativity, shareability and purpose. And they look for that from the world around them.”