Celebrating a year of The Screenshot

A year ago this week, the shiny new Screenshot newsletter dropped in our readers’ inboxes, and now a year later, we’ve managed to deliver our 52nd weekly shot! Amidst a pandemic in flux and the world changing at a pace we’ve never seen before, The Screenshot remained a constant for many. Coming every Tuesday at 12 pm with the latest 411 on what it’s like to be a Gen Zer in the third decade of the 21st century.

While Gen Z is telling you what’s hot tomorrow, the Screenshot has been your notification today. We’ve seen what Gen Z listens to today will be popular tomorrow – we told you Olivia Rodrigo was on her way to making Billboard history before she secured her first No.1. 

Not only that, we pinged you about #FreeBritney before all the stars started speaking up about it, and had a whole issue dedicated to how Buy Now Pay Later was popular amongst Gen Z where only last week Square acquired a BNPL start-up to invest in the future. 

While other newsletters are doing the important job of informing you of the now, the voices that the Screenshot brings together are thought leaders of tomorrow. As the Director of the Screenshot, it’s been a pleasing experience to bring these bright, diverse and thoughtful voices to you – I’ve learnt a lot from their individual voices!

So, to celebrate our young Gen Z thought leaders, we’re sharing our top five hits – think Screenshot Wrapped – over the last year:

What does Gen Z think about the sustainable fashion movement? by Olivia Frary, Marketing Strategist

There’s no doubt that the environment is top of mind for Gen Z. With the warnings of climate devastation now unfolding in front of our eyes, Gen Z realizes the time to act is now or never. 

Fashion is a top polluting industry, yet paired with our love for trends and fast fashion stalwarts like ASOS and H&M, it doesn’t seem to add up. But look beneath the surface to the socio-economic issues associated with being exclusively sustainable, it seems the picture is more complicated than first thought. Gen Z is climate aware and active, but they also recognize the contradictions in the world we live in. What do they think of sustainable fashion? Here’s the nuanced answer from our Gen Z community.

Traveling in a Covid world: the Gen Z perspective by Leah Butz, Content Contributor

Despite bold proclamations that travel will never be the same again after the pandemic, Gen Z still has their travel priorities intact. That’s not to say they haven’t shifted focus since the start of the pandemic. In this article full of exclusive insights from our Gen Z community, we explored where Gen Z are wanting to go most, how they judge an enjoyable holiday and which platform they use for holiday inspiration. With 60% of the US population being vaccinated as of today, now’s the time to get clued up on how post-pandemic travel will look. 

The Ramadan Experience according to Gen Z by Jawwad Mustafa, Director of the Screenshot

In Western marketing, religious festivals other than Christmas and Easter are usually noted by brands with a cute little “Happy [enter festival name here]” graphic without much cause given to what the festival represents for many of its celebrants. Not much has been written about them from a marketing perspective either.

We wrote a piece about what Ramadan means to many Muslims across the globe and how brands can make sure their efforts during the month – and other such religious holidays – feels authentic and relatable for Gen Z. The piece resonated with Deena Shakir, a partner at Lux Capital! 

How brands should (authentically) engage with Pride by Gabe Garcia, Director of People and Inclusion

During Pride month in June, it seems you can’t escape the colors of the rainbow. From rainbow-clad logos to disposable merch, we’ve entered an era of peak pink capitalism. Gen Z is totally over this.

Don’t get it twisted – Gen Z is pleased to see widespread acceptance of Pride, however, when it’s used to whitewash environmental or social concerns, it’s not ok. Or even when Pride is celebrated with only one segment of the LGBTQ+ community in mind. So, how can you celebrate Pride as intended? Support their everyday concerns in a tangible way – look at these suggestions as a starting point.

Gen Z is forcing the Olympics to evolve by Claire Fennell, Senior Partner

After months of speculation of whether they would go ahead, the Olympics finally went ahead. But after all that, we asked whether Gen Z was still interested in the whole spectacle. And it seems our readers were interested to know as we received twice our usual clicks on this article.

Now that it’s over, we can take stock of what future Olympic celebrations should look like to engage this future generation of consumers. And with the LA 2024 Olympics not long away, there’s no better time for brands to start thinking about how they can work on their messaging to capture Gen Z’s attention. 

The Screenshot’s purpose is to deliver you the Gen Z trends that are defining our generation, keep you one step ahead and inspire you to think about the future. Here’s us saying hello to another year of all this goodness!