YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
You started Bells Marketing Consultant LLC when you were in high school. Why did you change the name to That GenZ Agency Inc.?
There was a little controversy around the name Bells Marketing. There was another company in Springfield that was called Bells Marketing. That wasn’t the complete reason why we changed the company name. For me, it was just more of a morality situation. We started to get a lot of companies and organizations ask us questions about Gen Z specifically. We also got questions about how do we attract your generation? How do we understand your generation? It didn’t really click for me, I would say, until the end of 2021, beginning of 2022. But then we kept getting those type of questions and inquiries, so I’m like, maybe we need to relate our organization around Gen Z marketing. I talked with the team, spoke with some advisers. That’s when That GenZ Agency was born.
What are your firm’s services?
We’re really like a fractional chief marketing officer for organizations, with the emphasis of social media marketing and influencer marketing campaigns. We help organizations from a B2C or D2C standpoint [with] Gen Z and overall younger demographic as a consumer. Think of, let’s say, Bass Pro Shops wanting to become very popular with this Gen Z audience. We’re going to come in as their marketing experts, innovate their marketing strategies and their appeal to younger demographics and overall make their brand very user-centric. From an influencer marketing standpoint, we hire influencers with a pretty popular following and engagement. From a consulting standpoint, we assist companies, as well, with hiring and retaining Gen Z employees within their organizations.
What are most companies missing when it comes to marketing to Gen Z?
I think they’re trying too hard. I think that they’re so caught up with trying to adapt to trends far too late, when now in the current marketing landscape trends are only really surviving not even a full two months now. I think that, from a messaging standpoint, companies are focused on selling to the consumers so much, to where the consumer from a Gen Zer’s perspective, no one wants to be affiliated with that company. I also made a post on LinkedIn a few days ago regarding Walmart’s DEI initiatives and a bunch of other companies, as well. I think that companies are going to miss the mark with that, too. Simply because, Gen Z is a very diverse generation in world history from a religious standpoint, from a biracial standpoint, from a sexual orientation standpoint. I do believe that these larger corporations are going to pay the price of that because they are not wanting to be pro DEI where they’re having the wrong idea about it. I am seeing a lot of the Gen Z community get turned off by that type of approach with these corporations.
New Jersey-based research group Intelligent found a widespread belief that recent Gen Z college graduates are struggling with many aspects of professional life, making them less desirable to hire. Are there misconceptions with the younger generation?
I think what people don’t understand is you’re only seeing a very small percentage of Gen Z getting involved in the workforce. Let’s remember, Gen Z started in 1996 and ended in 2012. The youngest Gen Zer right now is not even a full 13 years old. I think there’s a lot of stipulation, just a lot of drama around my generation for no reason when, one, you really haven’t given my generation a chance and, two, Gen Z went through a pandemic like everyone else. Our brains are wired to be active on algorithms all the time. I think some older generations are not able to comprehend that. From a hiring standpoint, I think that companies just don’t know how to properly engage with us. Gen Z is not one to go to work. They want a hybrid schedule. They don’t want to be in an office 9 to 5. They need flexibility to move around. They need mentorship and guidance. They don’t necessarily want micromanagement.
What are the best ways to advertise in the modern day?
I’m not really one to coach our clients that they should be spending on advertising. I’m a firm believer in organic social media. I would rather see my clients not have to spend $5, $6, $7,000 on social media ads. From my perspective, companies should be advertising themselves on social media for free and they should be utilizing social media as a tool to connect with the younger generation. They need to speak to people on social media through content creation like they’re speaking to one person one-onone instead of a large group like they’re at a speaking event. Everyone is creating content based off of what their company feels they should be posting. Social media listening is going to become the biggest thing in 2025. If you’re not actively looking at what people are saying about your brand in comment threads, through shares, through reposts, that is the biggest mistake that I can tell you. Larger brands are wanting to pick the consumer’s brain to see what content would the consumer actually want the organization to create. Utilize social media as best you possibly can, make sure that the content actually resonates with the audience and you’re not speaking at them, you’re speaking with them.
A new and improved Reed Academy is being constructed on the middle school’s original site to preserve a neighborhood connection that goes back a century.