DUBAI: They look cute with their big eyes and cheeky smiles. They make us laugh with their innocent observations. But today’s toddlers and primary schoolchildren may be the most disruptive force the modern business world will face.
That’s the view of Rogier Croes, chief digital officer of media agency MEC Global, who gave a talk entitled Generation Z Will Change Your Business Forever to the Arabnet Digital Forum at Madinat Jumeirah on Monday.
Asked after his presentation how businesses should adapt to the coming majority of the digital generation, Croes said, “It depends very much what business you are in. A lot of stuff has already happened that we can learn from. We had Nokia’s example, which had the whole market, was very comfortable, and the whole thing fell over. I think that can happen still to the biggest brands.”
Firms, even market leaders, could not afford to be complacent, he said. Firms that do not adapt could fall.
“For me, the biggest challenge would probably be in the boardroom. I see still the global CEOs and the big brands I speak with ... It’s very difficult to change when you’re successful. But you have to change and adapt.
“I try to ask people to invite kids, ask them questions. I give them logos and it’s interesting to see what they recognise. I did this recently and was amazed that Shell was one they recognise. They said when they were in the car, on the highway, they saw the sign.
“There’s a lot of stuff I don’t understand — the vlogger stuff, for example. My little boy asked me two days ago, ‘Daddy, what’s a blogger?’ They always use vlogs. They watch other people play Minecraft instead of playing it themselves.”
But Croes was convinced that children’s use of tablets was educational, and he singled out Minecraft as an educational game. “Companies like Facebook, Google, they love that. They see that kids can build three-dimensionally. Their brain activity, the way they’re using their brains is very different now than in the past. There’s less limitation I would say.”
During his presentation, Croes showed videos of toddlers attempting to use tablet gestures on magazines, and pointed out their first question in a new place was usually what the WiFi password was.
He spoke of the influence of vloggers — video diarists — some of whom have followers in the millions, and pointed out that children now use tablets instead of books, which allows them to follow their own interests.
While businesses already struggle to attract millennials into the workforce, he said Generation Z would regard education and employment in an entirely new way.
