This article is based on insights from a panel discussion we hosted in partnership with Scottish Financial Enterprise at the Edinburgh Futures Institute in October. Thanks to Jill Lepre from AC Wealth and Allan Lindsay from Young Scot for joining us to speak on the day.
Why do so many marketers fall into the trap of treating ‘Gen Z’ as one homogenous, teenage, smartphone-addicted group? Financial services is not alone in this shortsightedness, but it’s a major blocker to the sector’s efforts to market to an increasingly crucial audience.
Gen Z includes anyone born between 1997-2009 (that’s at least the widely accepted definition), making them between 16 and 28 years old in 2025. So, although lots are still at school or uni and do fit that stereotype, things have moved on quite a bit since the moniker was popularised back in the 2010s.
Not only are lots of UK Gen Zs already in the workplace, plenty are in mid-level or even senior roles, and many already own property (not nearly as many as would like to, of course – I’ll come back to that) or have investments. To put it another way, lots of them are ‘proper adults’ today.
So the cohort clearly covers a wide age range, and we need to appreciate that nuance when targeting them. But ‘Zoomers’ do have two key things in common as a collective:
- The obvious one – they’ve largely grown up with the internet and social media. Look at the eldest Gen Zs: broadband arrived in the UK in 2000, when they were toddlers, and when Snapchat launched in 2011, they were just 14.
- In 2020, Gen Zs were between the ages of 11 and 23, which means they experienced the pandemic during some of their most formative years – at school, at uni, and in their early careers.
Those circumstances have undeniably shaped their perspectives.
Behaviours and attitudes
According to Deloitte, 52% of UK Gen Zs say social media is their preferred news source. You might look at a stat like that and think social must be prioritised above all else – and, of course, it’s an increasingly important channel for every generation, not just the younger ones. But Deloitte’s research also shows that, although 40% of Gen Zs have joined a new social app in the last year, just shy of a third (29%) have left or deleted one within the same timeframe.
And while some are turning away from socials completely, those who remain are very particular about which platforms they’re on, and who they’re engaging with on those platforms – brands and organisations being a central target of that selective engagement.
We also know ESG considerations continue to be vital, with 58% of Gen Z respondents to a recent YouGov survey saying they’d stopped buying from a company entirely because of perceived unethical practices.
Above all, what’s shaping their attitudes is a simple reality: the world has changed unrecognisably since Zoomers’ parents were their age. Many are facing the likelihood that they will likely never own a home, and while ethical investing isn’t a new concept, consumers have never been so literate in matters of business ethics as they are today. That raises a big question: do financial services offerings need a fundamental rethink to catch up with where the world is now?
Know your audience
The starting point of any good marketing strategy is with audience insight: if we’re not showing consumers how we can address their pain points, why exactly are we speaking to them?
And for legacy financial services brands, where marketing to Gen Zs is uncharted territory, success probably won’t come from tried and tested approaches. Don’t be afraid to adopt a challenger mindset – after all, to this audience, it’s the established brands that need to prove their relevance.
Beyond Gen Z, Generation Alpha – born between 2010 and 2024 – aren’t far off leaving school and entering the workforce. The first generation born entirely in the 21st century, who knows what challenges they’ll bring? If there’s anything we can learn from working with Gen Z, it’s to listen to their wants and needs, to keep listening, and to meet them where they’re at.
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