Be the best brand you can be: Be careful not to be careless
So, the good news is: young shoppers generally love brands. The question is: which brands do they like and why? What triggers Gen Z?
Five topics and trends are currently top of mind for Gen Z: healthy ingredients, product quality and safety, natural ingredients, inflation and time-saving solutions.
Gen Z has the biggest appetite for product innovation: 68% of Gen Z like to try out new products. Young shoppers also show high interest and knowledge about trends – for example, 51% already heard of ashwagandha versus only 18% of boomers.
Not to say that older shoppers do not buy into trends. They just buy into it differently. Circling back to health trends, in this case in Germany, we see that older health-prone shoppers do buy alcohol-free and classical superfood like pulses and red beets relatively more. On the other hand, young health-active shoppers heavily drive the protein, gluten free and activated charcoal trends.
Young health-actives Value share index
Protein trend
Gluten free
Activated charcoal
Source: YouGov Shopper panel Germany, MAT Q2 ‘24 (average = 100)
It is interesting how perceptions and focus differ: across Europe, Gen Z recognizes innovation in categories related to lifestyle and wellbeing, whereas older shoppers recognize the home care category as being the most innovative.
The most innovative categories as perceived by young shoppers
1. Personal care
2. Fitness and sports nutrition
3. Confectionery
4. Salty snacks
5. Fruits and vegetables
Source: YouGov Behavior Change Fall ‘24, EU-20
All in all, the health trend continues to peak. Zooming in on Germany, once more, where economic growth might be stalling, the desire for a balanced living thrives. General FMCG growth rates reached nearly 4%, yet product groups related to healthy living vastly outperform those rates.
Trend development, value, MAT-11 ’24 vs YA
FMCG barcoded
Alcohol free
Sugar-free
Sports / energy drinks
Protein
Diet / protein shakes
Source: YouGov Shopper panel, Germany
Health is the one area where brands have seized the opportunity to grow and fight off Private Label. Whereas total brand growth amounted to 3.3%, within the trend space health, they were able to grow by a very respectable 9.3%. This is much more than in other areas like convenience, premium, and especially sustainability, where brand growth is lagging behind.