Are we expecting too much from Gen A?

In the first edition of a regular column for CR, Patrick Burgoyne reflects on Generation Alpha, and the hopes, dreams and expectations that future-gazers and brands are already placing on their shoulders

image courtesy istock/csa-archive

Move over Generation Z, there’s a new initial for us to ponder – Generation Alpha. Yes, we’ve run out of alphabet. It’s time to start the dodgy demographic definitions once more from the top.

Who is Generation Alpha? Anyone born between 2010 and 2025, apparently. According to the people who decide these things, they deserve their own letter because the iPad was launched that year, making Gen Alphas the first generation to be born into a fully-digital world (or at least those with sufficient wealth were). What these screen-obsessed, vitamin-B deficient tykes might demand from those providing their products and services, their living and working environments and the stuff of their future lives has already become the concern of future-gazers.