PEOPLE

Furthermore, understanding varying consumer needs is a vital part of any fashion company, in order to be able to effectively market garments towards its intended audience. In understanding the “people” aspect of marketing, it is integral to comprehend the differences between each generation.

Gen Z as consumers are very unique in their approach to purchases, with an emphasised need for morality and social responsibility, which has caused companies to be more cautious of their actions, and how these effect their own society and the wider world. This generation has become tech dependent, given that they have grown up in a technologically involving world, in which technology is a vital part of their lives. As well as this, gen Z have an increased desire for unique pieces, which identifies the generation’s increased need to express individuality, as opposed to purchasing items which are “on trend”. (Francis & Hoefel, 2018)

Given that Gen Z are becoming such a large demographic and provide fashion companies with opportunities to both evolve their brand and earn profit in the process, attracting this generation is incredibly important. Acknowledging that Gen Z are technology natives, many people of this generation use social media to find new brands and garments which interest them. In comparison to millennials, Gen Z browse more often on social media for fashion inspiration, and have an overwhelming majority of Tiktok users (which many claim they use this often to find inspiration). Due to this statistic, Tiktok is adapting its app in order to make it a more appealing place for businesses to market themselves, therefore using Tiktok would likely attract Gen Z to a new or expanding brand. (Drapers Bespoke, 2023)

In understanding the importance of social responsibility to Gen Z, we can acknowledge the importance of diversity within fashion. With an expanding industry it is important to cater to everyone and especially with Gen Z’s emphasis on individuality, it is to be assumed that many people would want to see fashion become more inclusive and diverse. In particular, the makeup brand “Fenty Beauty” launched their first product with the aim of promoting diversity and ensuring that their product would be accessible to everyone, which not only gives the brand a good reputation, but also allows everyone to purchase their product, as opposed to the limited amount of people who would be able to buy the product given that they had only created a limited shade range. (The State of Fashion Beauty, 2023)

With Gen Z becoming such prominent consumers, companies must adapt in order to understand and cater to the people skills needed in promoting to this generation. Given that technology is constantly adapting and the use of social media and AI are rapidly increasing, within a company it is important to find people with these skills in order to transition into a new era of fashion marketing. Understanding the changes within the industry is vital and therefore new people are crucial at a company who have little understanding of the current state of technology usage amongst young people. (Zilkha, 2023)