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New Communications, New StandardsIncreased communication often comes with greater risks, from an out-of-touch message to simply overwhelming customers with the wrong types of communication. What was previously a mostly one-sided broadcast from brands’ advertisers and marketing specialists to teenage consumers and their parents, via malls and magazines, has turned into an ecosystem reliant on constant, often emotionally engaged, dialogue across multiple digital mediums and platforms. In this new reality, today’s teens have greater authority and independence over Source: Instagram, #VogueChallenge HashtagContext their purchasing decisions and expect greater accountability from brands than previous generations of teens. In this regard, Gen-Z has inherited and expanded on several traits founded by their Millennial predecessors, namely the influence of social media and brand values over purchasing decisions. Roughly 40 percent of American teens state that social media primarily influences their spending habits, according to McKinsey, and nine out of 10 Gen-Z consumers believe brands should detail their beliefs on environmental and social issues, according to BoF and McKinsey’s State of Fashion Report 2019. Those expectations often involve a highly personalised approach to communication and messaging that brands may have previously avoided. Young consumers now expect companies to act “almost as they would look at individuals to be contributors to a better world,” Enshalla Anderson, chief strategy officer of FutureBrand North America, told BoF in June of 2020.A global recession, pandemic and waves of anti-racism protests have accelerated this trend. Indeed, if generations are characterised by their crises, the current socio-political climate has produced multiple models and trajectories in a matter of months. In the US, the relative economic prosperity and low unemployment of previous years can no longer be guaranteed, leaving an uncertain future for the youngest of consumers, many of whom witnessed the generation before them suffer from the 2008 recession.Now, half of the oldest members of Gen-Z, those aged between 18 to 23, have reported that they or someone in their household have lost their job or taken a pay cut because of the pandemic, according to a March survey by Pew Research Center. Over half are worried about how long the economic tolls will last and a third worry about their future job prospects, according to consultancy DoSomething Strategic’s April survey. Similarly, Piper Sandler’s (formerly Jaffray’s) Fall 2020 survey saw 48 percent of teens state they believe the economy is getting worse and, when asked for causes they cared about, the coronavirus ranked second after the environment. One important implication for fashion companies is that Gen-Zers are not only concerned with a brand’s values but also with the value proposition that their products provide. The fact that these are often competing desires — take fast fashion’s low prices being at odds with their sustainability credibility for example — further complicates the picture for brands and retailers catering to price-sensitive young people during an economic downturn. Meanwhile, growing disaffection among Gen-Z has in turn driven the growing trend of corporate activism in recent years, sublimating disillusionment with political and social institutions into advocating for larger change within brands and organisations.“Gen-Z is looking to brands that listen and learn from their consumers, to brands that are leading with real purpose, and that act on their values,” said Rebecca Robins, global chief learning and culture officer at brand consultancy Interbrand. “In the gaping voids exposed by the fracturing of trust in institutions, brands, perhaps, have never had more responsibility and opportunity.”