RAPT BizTrendsTV: Student Village's Ronen Aires - Gen Z's disruption of the world

Ronen Aires, a thought leader in entrepreneurship who works with youth culture and cofounder and CEO of Student Village that helps large brands understand the youth, says this generation's main driver is authenticity.

This authenticity, enabled by two overarching macro drivers of change: globalisation and automation, provides opportunities for Africa’s massive youth population, many of whom are unemployed.

They are doing this by making themselves the brand, creating a following that leads to them becoming a trusted channel. Trust is a currency within this market.

This generation, Aires explains, has grown up with so much fake that they have trust issues. "They will only use a product because they believe and trust it, and they look to trusted channels for this."

These trusted channels and influence are monetised by individuals even within a small sphere of social connections by tapping into global supply chains to deliver their brand identity on demand, right from that factory in China.

This is the same factory that recently posted memes in retaliation for Trump's tariffs, showing what products cost when the brand premium has been stripped off.

A person of influence can step into that space, and from their couch claim some of that market share from formerly very big brands that are losing the ability to tap into the world of young people.

This has turned the world upside down, with the influence shifting from the top down to grassroots up.

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It has also created chaos in the workplace.

“While they might work for you, it is to pay their debit orders while they get their side hustle going. But as soon as that side hustle gets enough lift and momentum, they will leave you.

“It is as if the workplace has become a transit station until they get their other thing going," explains Aires.

They are investing in themselves and their identity as a hedge against a very uncertain world. It is also a way for them to control something, so it becomes something they can count on and translate into real value.

For traditional brands and businesses to play in this space, they need to stay relevant.

As with work, young people do not necessarily want to be friends with brands, it is a relationship of convenience.

They ask: Can you provide me with value? Can you provide me with a good experience? Are you relevant to me, and do you elevate my brand?

It has become more transactional as opposed to we're going to do life together.

There is no real loyalty. This generation is fluid and fickle. It’s tricky to expect loyalty from them.

The power is with the individual

"With a plethora of nano and micro influencers who wield real power in this decentralised network, it is about being super relevant in their smaller communities and having a real relationship," says Aires.

"The individual doesn't need the brand to give them identity, but rather the brand needs to support the identity the individual is curating.

"The power is with the individual. There's almost a humility that's required with brands to play in the space."

Adaptability

While a brand wants its campaign to be consistent, that campaign will work in one location but land flat in another.

Brands are going to have to give up some of the whole multiregional, celebrity influencers, billboard-type campaign and blend with the local nuances and allow young people to express their creativity.

"They're taking your brand on a journey, not the other way around," he says.

Relinquishing that control

This is a diametric shift from what branding was not so long ago, which is about having control and consistency, to flexibility and relinquishing that control.

This is different from the millennial of allowing the customer to design the sneaker.

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The African Gen Z

Gen Z are not homogeneous. In SA, you have the haves, small pockets of Gen Z who are almost wealthy, relative to the rest of the country and then a long tail all the way down from there.

It is about shifting priorities, so as a brand, you need to know that a young person is sourcing their money from multiple places.

There can be many income streams, and they can be quite small. They can come from family, government, side hustles, and part-time jobs—they're sourcing from everywhere.

With basics becoming so expensive, they are the new luxe. Food and transport take up half of their monthly budget.

But they are saving, but the question is, are they saving to spend or saving for a rainy day?

And while this is a generation that wants it all – phone, shoes etc., but may not have the means, they make a plan.

"This is very South African. This is the resourceful sort of attitude that we brought our families up with in South Africa for generations," explains Aires.

Because every individual is required to run themselves like a business, investing in their personal appearance is not a frivolous act at all.

What does this mean for brands

Brands cannot just get a few students to represent their brands as they have done before. Gen Z have their own matrix to decide if a brand represents them.

They are interviewing the brand as much as the brand is interviewing them.

“We get a lot of nos from Gen Zs saying that the brand does not suit their personality.”

That is a massive shift, and the power balance is being decentralised.

“I think that in 10 years, this generation won't want to own anything. Probably, they will want money, a lot of which would be in crypto, and they will be ruining their own business.

“We are birthing a generation filled with hustlers, so there will be a large percentage of entrepreneurs that will come out of this, and these entrepreneurs will disrupt the corporate space, so we will see new businesses solving today's problems, from social and financial, commercial, etc, across industries.”

He also says Gen Z will do things more equitably.

“We are seeing a redress in how we work, how things are earned, and who gets what.

“But what they want deep down inside is to do well. They want their community to do well, and they want the world to be a better place because they've never grown up in a nice world.”

RAPT BizTrendsTV

BizTrendsTV is a collaboration between Bizcommunity, Rapt Creative and The Real-Networks consortium, and the first-of-its-kind trend show focusing on global topics impacting future socio-economic trends from a uniquely Afrocentric perspective.

Hosted by a leading voice in the African business trend ecosphere - fast-talking, fast-thinking Bronwyn Williams - futurist, economist, future finance specialist and business trends analyst - in conversion on trending topics such as AI, influencer farming, billionaire bunkers, distraction democracy, Gen Bees, hyper-capitalism, trade wars, exclusionary geopolitical policies, hot wars and more with leading PanAfrican futurists.

A new episode is available on the last Tuesday of every month at 9 am on Bizcommunity’s official website and via The Real Network digital platforms.