Jason R. Dorsey - Zconomy

I dedicate this book to my grandfather Murry Ulin, who taught me about life, history, a good story, and bridging generations. I am grateful for him and am inspired by his memory every day.

Jason

I dedicate this book to our daughter, Rya. She brings me more joy than I ever thought was possible. Her strength, warmth, and zest for life make me want to be a better human. I love you more than all the stars in the sky.

Denise

Each new generation brings changes to humanity. Lets embrace the change and be part of the story.

Denise Villa, PhD

Jack remembers exactly when he saw the pineapple cake ad.

It appeared in his Instagram feed as he was scrolling. The video was of a young woman showing how to bake a cake that looked exactly like a pineapple. Jack clicked on the ad and watched the video on YouTube. He said it was so cool that he immediately binge-watched more videos of the cake maker on his phone.

After watching more than fifty videos, Jack tried to bake his first cake. He failed. Then he tried his second cake. He failed. Then his third cake. He failed. And he kept trying over and over and over. And kept failing and failing and failing.

Finally, after two months of trying to bake a cake that looked right, he made one that he thought was good enough to post on Instagram. As he recalls with a huge smile, It was the first photo I ever posted on Instagram that got over one hundred likes! His friends commented, OMG! and Howd u learn that?

Jack loved the artistic side of baking and trying new ways to decorate the cakes. He began baking two cakes every weekend and then posting them in photos and videos over the next week. One by one people would follow him on Instagram and leave comments. Hello from Brazil! and Great cakeBarcelona! The cake decorator, whose two hundred videos he had now watched to learn how to bake, followed him and started featuring his cakes.

When asked why he chose baking cakes over other hobbies or activities, Jack says, I tried sports, but I wasnt any good at it and, worse, you fail in front of an entire audience filled with people. Baking cakes you just fail in your kitchen. I kept failing and failing but just kept going.

His favorite baking experience so far: I got to bake a cake for my teachers wedding and bake the cake for a gender reveal. It was cool because, if you think about it, cakes are a part of all these great life eventsweddings, birthdays, and more. And now I get to be a part of those events. I was the only one who knew the babys gender, so I made the outside of the cake pink and blue, and the inside was all blue.

Jack has now watched about one thousand videos on YouTube on how to bake and decorate cakes.

His advice to older generations: I would tell adults that didnt grow up with YouTube that they think in order to do something you have to take classes. My grandfather told me to take baking classes to get good at baking, but they have to realize that the way our generation learns is so different.

Now in math class you just go on YouTube to learn the math lesson. And older generations think social media is a bad thing, and, yes, there is a downside, but they have to realize it can also be a good thing. The way we learn is changing, and YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram are the new ways that were learning how to do new things and finding what we like to do.

Jack says, I could be making cakes, but it would be nothing if I didnt post it on social media because, what would I do, bring photos to school? Instead, I just post the photos or videos and get feedback instantly from people all over the world. On Instagram it shows me that many of my followers are from Europe. People in Europe know my cakes.

Eighteen months after he baked his first cake, companies reached out to Jack via his social media accounts to see if he would like to promote their products. He plans to go to college and then work toward getting a show on the Food Network. He says right now he has had to slow down a bit and only make one cake per weekend, because, as he says, Now that Im older I dont have the same amount of time I did when I was a kid.

Jack is fifteen. He started baking cakes when he was twelve, because of a YouTube video advertisement. He has more than eleven thousand Instagram followers on @JackedUpCakes.

Jack is in Generation Z.

And Gen Z is about to reshape the future of business, forever.

Jack is one of the thousands of members of Gen Z who have helped us shape this book and will help you to understand their generation in a new and different way.

He and members of his generation from around the world will show you how they are changing everything from how to recruit employees and help them thrive within your company to unexpected strategies for marketing, selling, and driving new consumer experiences that Gen Z loves.

Our team of PhD researchers and generational consultants interviewed members of Gen Z in person and via video around the world, tagged along as they shopped in stores alone and in groups (usually while group Snapchatting in both scenarios), and watched Gen Z as they watched their favorite YouTubers show them how to do everything from putting on makeup to playing Fortnite to studying on Study with Me.

Our research, consulting, and keynote-speaking firm, The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK), has led more than sixty-five quantitative and qualitative research studies across the United States and around the world. These studies have been fielded across North America as well as Western Europe, India, the Philippines, and Australia. Our quantitative research studies generally represent at least one thousand individual participants and often many more. While the data in this book is largely from our US studies, we have chosen to focus on insights that we see are also most applicable around the world, based on our work speaking and consulting from Singapore and Chile to India and Paris, and for numerous global organizations each year.

All of our interactions with Gen Z have led to a key conclusion: the ways in which leaders typically recruited, managed, and marketed to older generations will not work with Gen Z.

But dont panic. Gen Z wants to work. They are looking for brands to love. They want and expect to add value as employees and share products and services that they are passionate about. Its just that Gen Zs expectations around how they connect with brands and potential employers look nothing like those of previous generations. The communication strategies and platforms have changed. Their hopes in what an employer can offer them have changed. They are open to what you have to say, as long as you are open to hearing them, too.

Many leaders know they need to adapt to Gen Z, but they feel paralyzed. They dont know how or what to change, or where to even start. This book gives you the tools to do just that, starting wherever you are right now.

At CGK, companies around the world hire us to answer their Gen Z questions, such as:

• Who is Gen Z?
• What works to market and sell to them nowand get them to tell their friends?
• What do we need to do to recruit, retain, and engage them as employees?
• How will Gen Z change the future of our business?

Our team is constantly leading studies to understand Gen Z and uncover what leaders must know and do to prepare for this new, exciting generation. Weve led studies on four continents, in multiple languages, and looked at everything from how Gen Z views brands, marketing, and customer loyalty to job seeking, recruiting, motivation, and retirementall the way to how they view the world around them and other generations. Weve led deep dives to uncover new truths about Gen Z and shopping, banking, spending, saving, driving, investing, communicating, managing, trusting, influencing, and so much more.