According to the latest IBGE census, the Brazilian population between 15 and 29 years old exceeds 21.1 million. This age group includes Generation Z, made up of people born between 1997 and 2010. It therefore corresponds to more than 10% of the country’s 203 million inhabitants. They are teenagers and young people, as a rule, starting or already starting to consume. They are students, university students, recent graduates, or those looking for career placement and other experiences.
Not surprisingly, the market is betting on this audience. The Central Bank’s Banking Economy Report shows that in a decade the number of bank accounts opened by young people between 15 and 24 years old grew by 50%. Digital banks, which emerged during this period, took advantage of this expansion, after all, Generation Z is made up of digital natives, therefore, accustomed to information and communication technologies.
In an article that evaluates the behavior of Generation Z, the Sebrae classifies this audience as “more financially aware”. Also, very concerned about sustainable consumption.
“It is a generation that understands and knows that it needs to deal with climate problems. This makes them more demanding consumers. They don’t just want a product, but an experience and they want to feel that the price paid was fair and worth it”, informs the text.
The institution also highlights the engagement of Generation Z in digital social networks. So much so that this audience does not need conventional search engines (such as Google) to carry out their searches on their own networks, TikTok and Instagram are the most used for this. “Around 40% of Generation Z opt for TikTok or Instagram when searching for a product or establishment”, states the material.
In this sense, companies that make use of technology, but mainly connected with the desires of Generation Z, tend to better relate to this audience. This is when they themselves, these companies, were not created by members of that generation.
This is the case, for example, of Cheers, a universitec, a platform that connects university students, founded in Curitiba, and which today serves athletics and other student entities from higher education institutions across the country. Created in 2018, it has already surpassed the mark of 1 million university students impacted.
The startup was created to provide technological solutions to help student entities organize and manage the events they promote for their audiences. Ticket sales, control of finances and, mainly, connection with university students are among the features provided. Events, such as parties and technical activities, sports competitions and even the preparation and training of athletes and teams are managed by the platform and application.
The company has the goal of tripling the number of university students impacted from 1 million to 3 million. Feasible? For Cheers CEO Gabriel Russo, absolutely possible. In addition to being concerned with getting to know and connecting Generation Z, offering what this audience is most looking for (experiences, responsible consumption, among other attributes), the platform is betting on expanding the number of university students in the country. According to the most recent Higher Education Census in Brazil (2023 base year 2022), there are more than 22.7 million undergraduate places available in almost 2,600 institutions.
For this potential audience, Cheers has been concerned with developing solutions that help university students’ daily lives. Provide information about courses, institutions and the routine of university life; promote connections between students and restaurants, bars and clubs; and facilitating access to services and leisure for students who settle in a new city to study are among the features that universitech seeks to offer its audience.
“We want to be part of university students throughout their journey, in this unique phase of life. Most of today’s university students are digital natives, literate and accustomed to digital culture, but concerned about the planet they live on and who want products and services that mean experience”, concludes the CEO of Cheers.
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