PPB March 2019

Hayden Keiffer, 22 Communications Specialist, Creative Studio Promotions, Grand Rapids, Michigan How important are a company’s values when choosing where to work or who to buy from? It truly matters to me. In business today, you have two types of companies: the ones who value relationships more than dollar signs; and the ones who value dollar signs more than employees, clients and strategic partnerships. The reason “values” influence the decisions I make in choosing where to work is that I want to feel that I can back the company’s decisions they make in business along with the ones they make “relationally.” When my company has values that align with mine, it allows me to believe in their mission. Choosing who to buy from is a little bit different for me. I would say that most of the time, I don’t pay attention to a company’s values when deciding whether or not I should purchase their goods. This is not to say that I am a believer in companies that are corrupt but when I purchase something I am looking at the product and asking, “What can this product do for me?” or “How can this service benefit me?” We see news stories of brands throwing themselves into a black hole—United Airlines dragging a passenger off of the plane, Nike hiring Colin Kaepernick as a spokesperson, or even Facebook struggling to keep information private. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in public relations and strategic communication, I know that when these crises hit, it is monumental in how the company responds—especially to the Gen Z age group. The way the company responds shows exactly what their brand truly is, and the values that surround them. Their response and actions will affect the perspective that people have of the brand, and in turn influence their buying decision. How do you prefer to communicate with your clients? How do you prefer your vendors communicate with you? Personally, I prefer to either speak with someone face-to-face, or over the phone. Email is great for some situations and for keeping a paper trail, but I prefer to talk to someone where I can hear what they are saying and the “emotions” behind their words. After these conversations, I like to follow up with an email regarding what we covered. [With vendors] I prefer email because of the “paper trail.” I would say nine times out of 10, if you are discussing something with a vendor over the phone, there will be details that will simply be forgotten if not written down. What gives you the most satisfaction in your work? Making sure that clients are happy with the service and goods we provide. I value relationships more than anything in business and my personal life. Yes, it is nice closing a deal, but building relationships will take you a lot farther in business than a dollar ever will. As you create the mobile online content for this generation remember that your content must include reviews and testimonials, photos, videos, blogs and vlogs (video blogs). To become a more visual and video savvy marketer you may want to take a course or self-educate using Google and YouTube. You should consider hiring someone who’s good at it and passionate about communicating to this generation. Your marketing to Gen Z clients should focus on benefits and the results that your products and services provide using success stories. Learn to present yourself as a category or niche specialist—the expert—who can connect the dots for them. Explain how they can implement processes that will make them successful marketers using promotional products. Create a customer experience worth talking about. If you do, they will talk about you and remain loyal to you. If you don’t, they’ll look for a partner who does create a share-worthy experience. There are a lot of things to love about this new generation. They’re bright, they’re responsible (fewest smokers, drinkers and drug users of any generation), they’re educated, and they want to make the world a better place. Help them do it. Paul A. Kiewiet, MAS+, CIP, CPP, a former distributor, is the executive director of the Michigan Promotional Products Association and an industry coach and consultant. He has been studying the effects of generational change on the promotional products industry since 2008 and has presented numerous programs on generational marketing. He has also coached professionals in every generation and works to create better understanding and collaboration among them. Kiewiet was inducted into the PPAI Hall of Fame in 2015 and is a former PPAI chair of the board. FEATURE | Gen Z 74 | MARCH 2019 |