The Theory of Everything: Grab A Z And Hang On!

After attending two industry conferences during the month of May – the Worldwide Radio Summit in Los Angeles and Music Biz in Nashville – here's what I've learned: the next emerging generation to be analyzed, scrutinized, reckoned with, and otherwise diagnosed to death as both potential radio listeners and future co-workers is… Generation Z. The exact trigger date on this group is somewhat of a gray area, but anyone born in the mid-to-late 90s is considered a Z.

Spoiler alert: they already outnumber Millennials, and (cue dramatic movie music) they're coming ... for ... all of us (cue bloodcurdling scream)!

Millennials? Been there (yawn), done that. After nearly a decade of study, endless online think-pieces, and multiple CRS panels about this generation, hey – we get it. They're narcissistic, entitled, confident, high achievers, multi-taskers, and certainly smarter than Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. Smarter, in fact, than everybody. Just ask some of them. They're deeply and permanently ingrained in the workplace now – currently the largest generation in the American workforce, according to Pew Research Center – kicking ass and steadily rising to positions of authority and leadership. Many of you reading this may even report to a Millennial. That's because the upper end of this group is about 38 now, as the most widely considered birth date window for Millennials is 1980-1996.

So, now that we've mastered Millennials, it's on to the next big thing! Say hello to Gen Zs who, along with many other interesting attributes, have been associated with multiple tags, among them: post-Millennials, iGen, Plurals, Founders, and Deltas. Most recently, and perhaps sadly, following the horrific shootings at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and in Sante Fe, TX, survivors refer to themselves as the mass shooting generation.

Yet another identifier sometimes used for Zs is digital natives, and that's certainly true. These kids have grown up with the internet, computers, emerging technology, and the smartphone. They have little to no personal memory of the 9/11 attacks but have lived with a constant awareness of global terrorism, the random shooting epidemic, and U.S. involvement in some kind of war, somewhere far away.

According to information presented by digital media company Sweety High, at a session titled "The Year of Gen Z: Insights From The Front Line With Today's Youth Consumer" during the May 14-17 Music Biz conference, Gen Zs are future-focused, realists, and willing to work for success. They're already participating in change, evidenced by the "March For Our Lives" activism we saw generated by the students from Stoneman Douglas High. Gen Zs use multiple platforms and devices to get the information and entertainment they desire. And, they desire a lot of it.

Already 61 million strong and constituting 26% of the U.S. population, by 2020 – less than two years away – Gen Zs will grow to become 40% of America's population. They're already generating an estimated $600 billion (yes, with a "B") in annual spending, and you know that will grow exponentially, too. Music discovery is driven by YouTube (75%), streaming services (70%), and social media (61%), but terrestrial radio also has a viable seat at the table (57%). Spotify dominates overall music listening at 61%, but terrestrial radio is second at 54%. Gen Zs love variety in their music – they're genre agnostic – and while Pop leads the list of favorites at 78%, Country music is a respectable 39% and growing rapidly. The team at Sweety High pointed out that five years ago, Country lagged far behind at just 7%. Because of their wide use of media, there is no one-size-fits all strategy for reaching Gen Zs. They demand consistent value and ease of use, and it was recommended that marketing toward this generation be driven by content-centric relationships.

"Radio Is Audio"

The above composite of Gen Z is consistent with information I saw at the Worldwide Radio Summit in Los Angeles two weeks earlier (May 3rd) during a panel which looked at radio's opportunities to better appeal to both Gen Z and Millennials. Moderated by Futuri President/CEO Daniel Anstandig, the panel included video clips from students at the University of Florida who are Gen Zers. Futuri has a research and development program with the university, which operates TV and radio outlets. In addition to feedback on the new media products Futuri supplies, students are sharing information about their own media behavior and tastes.

"What we saw in the University of Florida study is an appreciation for a much broader spectrum of music; style may have fewer borders than ever," explained Anstandig. "They see no difference between Pandora, Spotify, Amazon, etc., or any local radio station. To them, radio is audio."

On the one hand, Anstandig says it was alarming to see how little passion this generation has for radio and radio stations, but added, "They are, however, passionate about customization, personalization, and technology to access entertainment; they consume more media than the previous two generations [Millennials and Gen X]."

Okay, customization; personalization. Awesome. But, is radio really equipped for that, other than a strong commitment to being "live and local?"

"What I can see happening is that programming an hour of music will evolve into programming an hour of our branding experience across multiple devices," believes Anstandig. Curation at radio – the music log – is just one part of the brand, he continues. "What else is happening on a minute-by-minute basis in your app, or on your site, or if you're programming a dashboard experience, will be a bigger and bigger part of this. There's a whole new generation of personalized media and personalized audio that we are only scratching the surface of in radio. We're in a shift between thinking in a one-dimension, linear programming mindset versus a full, multi-dimensional audience."

What Anstandig and his team are learning through their affiliation with the University of Florida research and the students they work with is the importance of that aforementioned, personalized media experience, one in which is literally right in the palm of their hand. "To them, if it's not on mobile, it doesn't exist in their world. We are getting clear signals from this audience; they are bold, outspoken, and there is more opportunity than problem."

Another interesting takeaway from the WWRS panel for Anstandig: "What struck me about this audience [which] makes me think there's a great opportunity here is there's very little concern across this generation about privacy or being research friendly or not research friendly. They just assume everything they do is being measured, tracked, and analyzed. They kind of anticipate when it comes to media, we have the wherewithal to observe them, then the responsibility to give it to them in a better experience."

Generational or Demographic?

As I'm trying to absorb this information about an entirely fresh coalition of potential radio listeners, whose expectations of us will be different and higher than ever before, it makes me wonder if radio – and, specifically Country radio – will need to re-tool its mindset about targeting. Right now, it's demographic – 6-plus, 12-plus, 18-34, 25-54, etc. But, should we start to think generationally instead, programming to lifestyle habits and interests of Gen Z, Millennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers? The latter doesn't fit neatly into the former. The 18-34 cell is made up of both Gen Z and Millennials, whose wants, needs, and media behaviors – while somewhat similar – don't seem easily common threaded. And, it's more dramatic for the 25-54 cell, which includes the upper end Millennials, Gen Xers, and the very youngest Boomers. Remember when everybody started studying Millennials and their interactions with Boomers? One of the big challenges was helping them to understand (read: tolerate) each other in the workplace… and in general. They're wired completely different. So, how in the hell can a format like Country radio – which still seems committed (read: insistent) to garnering a consensus among three generations spanning 30 years – still realistically appeal to all the people, all the time?

The answer, in my opinion is: long-term, it can't… and, slowly but surely, it isn't. Following the recent May PPM results, I asked Nielsen Audio about where Country radio ranks compared to other formats. Among persons 6-plus, Country sits at #3, behind News/Talk and AC. Country has held its #3 slot in this demo for the past four years. Great. Though the gap is wide, Country has consistently ranked #2 behind Top 40 with 18-34s for years now. A look at persons 25-54, however, shows Country falling from #2 in 2015 to #3 in 2017, and now it is tied with News/Talk at #3 so far in 2018, thanks to the current volatile political climate and a President who – when it comes to content – is the gift that keeps giving. That drop for Country radio isn't a rapid descent, but to me, it's an amber light we should really pay attention to. Also worth noting, AC radio has overtaken Top 40 at the #1 spot in this (25-54) demo.

After I posted this stat on my Facebook page, with my premise that 25-54 may not be a realistically sustainable money demo target for Country radio in the long term, some radio friends responded. Hall Communications Country WCTK/Providence, RI PD Bob Walker observed, "It's not our call. Agencies still buy 25-54, primarily. We're the tail, not the dog." And, though he's not wrong, that seems entirely eff'd up to me. SiriusXM Dir./Country Programming JR Schumann chimed in, saying, "Ad agencies define programming? That's a scary idea."

Beyond scary to me. In fact, terrifying.

Schumann added, "The idea that a medium can appeal to a 25-year old and a 54-year old equally is a huge part of the problem this medium faces. I just don't believe it's possible anymore. With how fragmented an audience's media options are, trying to be a 30-year demographic 'catch all' just doesn't work anymore."

For radio formats that rely on younger listeners – Country is among them – who we target and how we connect with them will continue to be paramount. I think we have our work cut out for us. While radio does have a seat at the table among Gen Zs, according to the team at Sweety High in its Music Biz presentation, there's no emotional connection to it, something that has been commercial radio's secret sauce for almost a century.

During Anstandig's WWRS session, one of his panelists – iHeartmedia Networks and iHeartRadio President Darren Davis – illustrated this point by saying that while he loves a perfectly toasted slice of bread in the morning, he doesn't have any particular feelings toward the toaster; what's important is the end result. Davis pointed out that young radio consumers are the same, and that our challenge is to establish some kind of meaningful, (read: need) relationship between radio and both Millennial and Gen Z users.

Perhaps that will require much of what Anstandig suggested earlier: "Programming an hour of our branding experience across multiple devices" to accommodate an increasingly multi-dimensional audience. The first part of that process – or reinventing how we target potential and regular radio users – is learning all we can about emerging generations – like Gen Z – who are beginning to dominate the work force, the consumer base, and ultimately, planet earth. Their culture, belief systems, behavior patterns, and everything about them will soon be the norm, not the emerging.

I hope this look at Gen Z has been helpful in forming some thought starters, or even strategy, for how radio can continue to be a relevant, necessary, and – hopefully – emotional connection for present and future listeners. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions in the feedback section below or via my email here.