An announcement from Ypulse General Manager, Jake Katz:
We believe Ypulse and its readers should commit ourselves to achieving the goal of naming the next generation on June 26th.
In our role as part researchers, part futurists, we at Ypulse have been starting to think more about the next generation. Like Millennials, they will produce a moment when culture pivots, and our understanding of the youth experience will once again be redefined. Not today, not tomorrow, but by 2025 they will be spending, driving, eating out, opening savings accounts, and adding a presence to pop culture like never before imagined.
There’s no question we’re still deeply immersed in understanding how Millennials have changed, and will continue to change not just youth culture but all culture. They’re aging up, and starting to navigate major life milestones in their own way. Given their delayed launch into adulthood, we haven’t even seen them touch the surface of industries like home buying, finance, alcohol and spirits. Not to mention that given younger Millennials’ more native relationship with technology, we’ve yet to see how understanding them will truly differ from our understanding of older Millennials. The Millennial generation still stretches all the way down to those currently nine years old.
But post-Millennials are already showing signs of differentiation, growing up in households with a new flavor of (Gen X) parents, entering into a world where social media is not new, it’s hyper local, and coming of age in a unique time of extreme caution. They’re more diverse, and more media-savvy. They have never known a world where they couldn’t communicate directly with brands. They are unique, and brands and marketers will need to learn how to navigate their unique needs and worldview. While we have been keeping an eye on the names that have been used so far to discuss them– from Gen Z to Plurals and more – none seem quite right. Like Millennials, the next generation will not be derivative of the generation before them. So we cannot name them or study them that way. They’re deserving of a name that is unique to their experience, and declaring that name requires a collective understanding of what we know about them to fuel a discussion around a name that will reflect these insights.
We can feel that it’s time. Join us on June 26th at the Scholastic Auditorium in Soho for a day of inspiration and insights into the next generation, culminating in an onstage of naming of the next generation with Cheryl Swanson of Toniq, generational expert Neil Howe, VP of Research at Nickelodeon Jane Gould, and more post-Millennial thought leaders.
Here’s two things you can do to get involved right now:
