Generation Alpha: The New Target Audience for Marketers

This blog provides a foundational understanding of todays generation of kids. I hope you walk away with a deeper understanding as to what makes an alpha’s childhood different and who they are going to grow up to be. Further down the blog I will be sharing implications for marketers and what they need to do to win this generation. This blog is structured as follows:-

• Who is Gen alpha?

• How is childhood changing for generation alpha?

• How can brands and marketers help Gen alpha to deepen their relationship to their community?

• How brands can speak to Alpha's sense of compassion?

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Gen Alpha

Alpha todays are 11 and under and are still being born. On further dimensionalizing we mean Prince George who is in line for throne or some equally adorable but less searched faces. They will be largest generation in history. At this young age they are influencing 9 or 10 household purchases across categories. So this is the generation marketers really need to be pay attention for the future.

Every generation is broadly shaped by forces around them during their childhood and adolescence. But Gen Alpha they are coming of age in uncertain and turbulent times. First we will discuss some large scale macro factors responsible for this. Firstly Gen alpha was thrown in this Covid-19 pandemic at an impressionable age. Another factor has been inflation and affordability crisis in India as well as in other countries. This is hugely impactful for kids and parents as they have to do more with less. Polarisation is another component which makes life distinctly different than other generations and the topics which were considered political are now school room conversation.

Once we move away from these high level factors we realise that daily life of an alpha kid looks different too as they are entering a multicultural majority. They are predicted to be the most diverse generation. A second component is shifting family culture. There are more ways to be a family than before. For example there are multigenerational households, more LGBTQ parents creating families, shifting expectations as dads take a more active role in providing care, and less kids or no siblings.

Another way an alphas world is different is that they are growing with unprecedented access to technology at a young age. From my perspective as a 30 year old who had dial up internet in the early days to now having smartphones usage earlier and earlier now at an average age of 9 years old, which was 12 years old when compared to GenZ. We are beginning to see the faintest glimmers of AI use.

The final factor deals with accelerated puberty. This generation seems to be growing quickly. Onset of puberty hitting at 9 years old. Boys ranges between 9-10 years. And we hear from experts that puberty is lasting longer. So the impact of puberty starting earlier impacts the state of childhood. So this is the backdrop when we set out to answer the following questions.

How is childhood changing for Alpha?

• Alphas parents

They are millennials raising alphas. Very few Gen Z raising kids. Regardless of generation parents are taking this job very seriously. 75% of alphas parents are more intentional as to how they parent than their own parents were. And 94% of alphas parents say they are very aware of how their words and actions will impact their kids future. And this intentionality leads to more pressure than before. Parents today feel they have it harder than ever. 66% of alphas parents are founding it more confusing than ever before. 86% of alphas parents say that parenting is stressful.

89% of alphas parents are raising there kids differently than they were raised. Parents today have more resources and one of it is social media. There are about 25 different styles of parenting being discussed online.

84% of alpha’s parents say they use a combination of 2-3 styles while parenting. So they are crowdsourcing their own tips and tricks of parenting which will be personalised to them and their child.

So what is the effect in change in parenting style? The top 3 changes that parents want to make are:-

1. Parent Child Dynamic - 83% of alphas parents consider their child as one of their best friend. Hence prioritising this friendship and connection has yielded a closer relationship.

2. Behaviour & Disciple

3. Values and religious beliefs.

4. 
   

So what does all these shifts in this target audience of alphas parents means for brands? Specifically how can brands support parents of alpha in their new approach to parenting?

1. The first way to win with alpha or their parents is to acknowledge the challenge they face while parenting.

2. Another approach is to be a resource. Help parents navigate all the tough conversations they need to have with their kids. Parents are telling us they do not have all the answers. One way for a brand to support parents is to provide them with a parental guide/reference or a helping hand.

3. Alphas Community

We are talking about the support system which helps Gen alpha grow. Today the notion of this support system is still a dire need for parents. Healthcare costs are exhoberant, child care takers are working at higher rates than before in two parent household. Therefore gen alpha is growing up with the help of a curated community. It is friends, teachers, family and beyond which intersects in the circle of alpha and their parents life. This curated community exists because parents have an evolving definition of what a family is. Most members of these community are immediate family members such as relatives, grandparents, aunts and uncles followed by teachers, friends of kids and neighbours.

However this newly found focus on friends and parents is not meant to replace family members. In fact grandparents still play a major role in alphas life. 75% of alphas parents still rely on grandparents to install values and morals in their kids.Therefore the connection between alphas and there grandparents is more emotional compared to disciplinarian.

Older generations build friendships but alphas are more thoughtful and selective in their friendships. They have more surface level friendships than their past generations. But the friends they do choose have a deeper commonality and shared interests.

How can brands and marketers help new target audience gen alpha to deepen their relationship to their community?

First is to foster an emotional connection. Play that role in alphas curated collective that parents are seeking.

• Alphas Identity

There are clear distinctions of what makes their journey of identity different than that of generations past. When it comes to identity, alphas are developing two different conversations. They are growing up in an environment where the freedom to explore and play with one’s identity has never been stronger. 80% of the parents suggest that kids today have more freedom in regards to who they are and who they want to be.

For alphas identity has gone from Limited Expectations to Limitless Explorations where authenticity and discovery sits at the core. Parents want to their kids to embrace their uniqueness. Even alphas are leaning into this uniqueness in abundantly confident way to be just who they are.

One of the way that an alpha is able to activate their uniqueness is through the ability to first explore identity online. And when we look at the larger world around alpha this expression of uniqueness and confidence it all rings true when it comes to gender identity and LGBTQ inclusiveness. Brands play a big role here as well, in adding a room to an alpha kid’s identity exploration. And a key differentiating factor here when it comes to identity formation is the role of experience. Parents are working overtime to provide lots of experience based activities for their kids. That’s because they want their kids to create unique memories.

Kids today are more socially aware and more socially conscious. 70% of alphas’s parents agree that kids today are maturing more emotionally.

• Embracing emotional intelligence
  

What we hear about kids is that they are resilience when they face a challenging situation. 69% of alphas parents believe their kids need coping strategies. For some parents it means embracing emotional intelligence as coping strategy because so much which is going on in the world is out of their control. Alpha’s parents also believe it is more important for a child to have strong EQ over strong IQ.

• Less Focus on External Validation

Compared to Gen Z when they were kids, we are seeing that alphas are putting less focus to external validation and feel less strongly about things such as making their parents proud. Instead they are more focus on internal fulfilment metrics ex showing the world who they are and what they care about. And so we see overall there is less emphasis on traditional notion of what it means to be a good kid instead a stronger emphasis on fulfillment and wanting to do greater good.

A part of that is an overall adjustment of the end goal what it looks like for parents. When we ask them what success for their kids even look like, then things like health, stability, having a fulfilling job, emotional confident pop up.

And when we combine this adjusted view of success with the emphasis on eq, we see there is a big focus on future ahead for alphas. alphas and their parents both agree that Gen alpha can solve major world problems and they are making effort to correct things like stereotypes and calling out that behaviour. But as this generation is growing up in the thick of uncertain political times, with 2 out of 3 alphas thinking they can fix the political system. Most alpha’s wish to have a career in healthcare.

How can brands speak to Alpha’s sense of compassion?

The question now becomes how can we as content creators & marketers speak to alphas

We see two big opportunities here. First is to help kids build their emotional intelligence. The beauty of this is that any brand can integrate EQ building strategies into their marketing.

Second is to have marketing strategies revolving around greater good such as reducing the use of single use plastic. Catering to stop climate change, etc.

Alphas Media Consumption

Alphas are spending about 5-6 hours per day glued to screens. They like watching video content followed by playing videos and looking at social media. There are literally 15000 gaming apps available. They are looking for autonomy and experience in their gaming apps. This brings us to the last shift social media is becoming more purposeful and less mindless than the consumption of Gen Z. Alphas also use video content as a mood management tool. 90% of alphas like to re-watch comforting content. They are watching content made for older kids as a form of exploration. Alphas are engaging with the virtual world in a slightly different way. We see millennials gravitate towards games which are more challenge based or story based or skill based. Gen Z in comparison are all about games that apply sense of communication, collaboration and competition. We now see alphas playing games to explore, flex and build their creativity. So games like roblox and minecraft are definitely fan favourites. Infact games based on creativity are the number one types of games alphas want to play. And because of this there is growing desire for alphas to explore the world.

Reach Generation Alpha with Quest Digital

Targeting a new generation of customers is challenging, but you don’t need to do it alone. Quest Digital offers a full suite of tools to make connecting with Generation Alpha (and every other generation) easier, including Analytics and Monitoring, and Competitive Insights. Tap into what performs on Gen Alpha’s favorite platforms with YouTube Insights and TikTok Insights that can be tailored to your audience and customized to tell you precisely what you want to know.