Gen Z is the first digital native generation. Born around 2000 or later, they intuitively know how to swipe a phone and download an app — and unlike previous generations, all stages of their lives have been captured on social media. They are more than just media trendsetters: Gen Z has annual purchasing power of $44 billion per year, and 73% of this cohort say they would make a purchase based on a social media communication. Marketers ignore Gen Z’s use of social media at their peril.

Millennials tend to get all of the media’s attention, but in between that generation’s attempts to spend all their money on avocados and kill mayonnaise, Generation Z has been quietly coming into its own. Mediassociates invests heavily in researching media trends among Gen Z (born 1995 to 2015), and we’ve restructured our media offerings in the past several years around digital, mobile, social, and geo-data to speak specifically to these audiences.

Why is understanding Gen Z important? This generation now accounts for 24% of the world’s population, and in the United States, Gen Z controls about $148 billion in annual spending power. It’s not just the future. Gen Z has arrived and is vital for today’s marketing results.

Mediassociates recently attended Google Marketing Live 2019. While there we got a preview of some of the products that Google will be rolling out this year. Here are some of the highlights:

BE RESPONSIBLE Privacy is a hot topic and Google addressed the issue throughout the event. While personalization matters, privacy is the priority, was a common refrain from the main stage and break-out sessions. There is an ongoing tension between delivering relevant, personalized ads and honoring an individual’s privacy requirements and advertisers are concerned how long-term funnel measurement will be impacted by the recent and future privacy changes (GDPR, ITP, CCPA in California).

Google Search may not get the press love that Facebook does – every time Facebook tweaks its user interface, the media goes wild – but a recent improvement by everyone’s favorite search engine should get marketers’ attention.

Google Search can now pinpoint where a user is within the sales funnel and tailor results to match his or her place in the customer journey.

At its annual F8 conference yesterday Facebook announced a major update to its desktop and mobile apps that, according to Mark Zuckerberg, includes the biggest changes in five years. Here’s our hot take: