You've heard of Generation Z. You may have heard of Generation Alpha. Now meet Generation Zalpha.
Much as the name implies, the Zalpha generation can best be described as a combo generation — not to be confused with the similarly named zillennials, a micro-generation born from 1990 to 2000, right between millennials and Gen Zers.
Confused yet? Then you're probably not a Zalpha. Members of the generation are young, they're internet-savvy, and marketers are clamoring for their cash and expertise.
What is Generation Zalpha?
"Zalpha" describes anyone born after 1996. That means it contains all of Gen Z, whose members are born from 1996 to 2012, and Gen Alpha, which spans the birth years 2013 to 2025.
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That younger cohort, Gen Alpha, is the first generation to be born entirely in the 21st century — hence the name "Alpha," the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Axios noted.
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While it's impossible to pinpoint who coined "Zalpha," the term was popularized by Kristin Patrick, the chief marketing officer of Claire's, who created the shorthand to describe the teen jewelry and accessories retailer's core clientele, The New York Times reports.
Why are marketers trying to win over Zalphas?
Zalphas, particularly members of Gen Alpha, are mostly the children of millennials and grew up entirely online.
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Because they're still so young — the oldest Gen Alphas are turning 10 this year — marketers have to walk a fine line between appealing to kids, tweens, and teens without alienating their parents, Jacee Scoular, the senior director of brand marketing and communications for Hollister and its sister brands, Gilly Hicks and Social Tourist, recently told AdAge.
"Our email file and loyalty program are mostly parents so we would never use Gen Z slang in a subject line," Scoular said. "But on our social, we're a much different brand. We have a youthful voice, memes that crush it, content that is super raw and unfiltered, designed by a 21-year-old on her phone that's destroying engagement rates."
The company isn't alone in hiring Zalphas — or, rather, Gen Zers — to handle social-media marketing. The language-learning app Duolingo has an award-winning, 24-year-old social-media manager; while Nerf hired a 22-year-old "chief TikTok officer," Fast Company reported.
The internet-native Zalpha generation is a prime target for brands for another reason: its potential spending power. A Bain & Company report from January predicted Zalphas' spending would grow three times faster than other generations' by 2030.
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The report also said the generation would make up a third of luxury consumers by the end of the decade, citing what it described as a "precocious attitude toward luxury."
Wait, but how do Generations Z and Alpha differ?
Patrick recently told AdAge that Gen Alpha was like Gen Z "on steroids."
"They are idealistic about the world. They cheer for diversity and demand it. They question their gender ... They're highly creative. They're entrepreneurial," she said, adding that Gen Alpha was born in a world "where Alexa always existed."
While Gen Z is often described as having grown up online, Gen Alpha was born online. Ashley Fell, a social researcher at the Australian agency McCrindle, told Axios that kids born into Gen Alpha were part of an "unintentional global experiment" where screens were given to them at the same time as pacifiers.
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Experts therefore predict Gen Alpha will be more impatient than previous generations, because they'll expect their needs to be met instantly.
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