New age of rebellion
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GENERATION
UNDERSTANDING A NEW GENERATION

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GENERATION EDGE
This month we explore Gen Edge’s rebellious attitude. This is a generation that fully
intends to speak out and shake things up.
But it’s not rebellion as we know it - Gen Edge has redefined it…
Welcome to the latest edition of The Generation Edge Series, our new monthly magazine
exploring the identity, values and lifestyle of the post-millennial generation.
REBELREBELLION
A NEW AGE OF

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GENERATION EDGE
LIFESTAGE FACTORS
Generation Edge are far more rebellious than the generation before them; the Millennials.
Millennials grew up at a time when the world was good and the system seemed to be geared up to work for them. They had no need to rebel.
Gen Edge, on the other hand, has rebellion and the desire for reform at its very heart.
WHAT’S CHANGED?
THE ECONOMIC CONTEXT
Gen Edge have watched Millennials leaving University with big debts and poor job
prospects and they’re asking themselves ‘is it worth it?’
THE POLITICAL CONTEXT
Gen Edge feel completely disconnected from mainstream politics - yet care
deeply about the issues that affect the world they live in
FROM CONFORMIST TO REFORMIST
They have also seen how Millennials’ conformist notions of life success have proved
unrealistic - making them the most stressed generation yet - and they’ve asked, ‘is
there a different way ahead?’
THE PARENTING CONTEXT
Gen Edge have Generation X parents who actively encourage
them to think differently, to challenge the status quo
A DECREASE IN TRUST
Gen Edge have grown up watching banks getting bailed out only to pay themselves
huge bonuses; they’ve seen big corporations paying no tax; they’ve seen their parents
working harder while their incomes decrease.
THE EDUCATION CONTEXT
Gen Edge have grown up in a world of infinite access to information. The education
system increasingly emphasizes the need to develop critical reasoning skills and
construct strong arguments
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V O T E

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GENERATION EDGE
LIFESTAGE FACTORS
BUT ISN’T REBELLION just typical
TEENAGE REBELLION?
The older members of this Generation are still teens - and in many ways they exhibit
typical teenage characteristics:
‣ Insecurities of being a teen (acne, body issues, confidence issues, peer pressure, bullying)
‣ Complexities of being a teen (navigating the pressure of school, peers, the adult world)
‣ Excitement of being a teen (value of friendships, first boyfriend/girlfriend, first job, first
heart break)

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THE SOUNDGENERATION EDGE
GENERATION
BUT
ARE DIFFERENT HOW?
LESS TALK, MORE ACTION
TAKE NO SHIT
BELIEVE THERE’S A BETTER
WAY OF GETTING AHEAD
HARD WORKING
A STEEP DECLINE IN HEDONISM

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GENERATION EDGE
Gen Edge Rebel
Tavi Gevinson (born April 21, 1996) is an American writer, magazine
editor, actress and singer. Gevinson came to public attention at the
age of twelve because of her fashion blog Style Rookie. By the age
of fifteen, she had shifted her focus to pop culture and feminist
discussion. Gevinson is the founder and editor-in-chief of the online
Rookie Magazine, aimed primarily at teenage girls. In both 2011 and
2012, she appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media list.
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
For Gen Edge, rebellion is a desire to change and improve the world around them.
They have watched Millennials talking the talk, but changing very little. And they are deeply unimpressed.
Gen Edge is letting their actions do the talking.
One of the biggest differences between Millennials and Gen Edge is that Millennials trusted
institutions. The world was good and it was these institutions that kept it that way.
Gen Edge have witnessed something quite different.
In their formative years they watched the banks get bailed only to pay themselves huge bonuses.
They’ve seen big corporations paying no tax. They have watched their parents work harder and
harder for less and less. They have learned that the beef they were eating was actually horse.
The result of this is a generation who don’t trust institutions, in fact they openly challenge them.
Gen Edge may not be engaging with traditional politics (another institution which they distrust),
but at a local level they are getting involved - from a young age. An example of this is
a 16 year-old Nick Rubin’s Greenhouse plugin.
LESS TALK MORE action

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
TAKE NO shit
Encouraged by their Gen X parents, and an education system that values the ability to
construct strong arguments…
Gen Edge are equipped to eloquently challenge institutions, practices and legislation they don’t
believe in. And their mastery of social media enables them to make big noise about it…
‣ In the UK, a 16 year-old Jenni Herd’s letter to The Times complaining about their portrayal of
teenagers became a viral hit on Twitter.
‣ In Canada, a 12 year-old Victoria Grant’s eloquent YouTube critique of the country’s banking
system also went viral. “The banks and the government have colluded to financially enslave
the people of Canada.”
‣ In the US, a 14 year-old Rachel Parent became a viral sensation after standing up to an
onslaught from Fox News anchor Kevin O’Leary in her opposition to GM foods. “I just want to
see GM labeling so we can make informed decisions about what we eat.”
“We’ve been hearing about the negative instances in the news, for
instance most recently the Michael Brown case, and we always talk about
these issues with our parents," she said. "They always try to reinforce that
we should focus on solutions. It's important to talk about the issues, but
they try to make us focus on finding solutions. That made us think why
don't we create an app to help us solve this problem.”
- Ima Christian, Five-O App Developer, 16 years-old, Georgia

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
TAKE NO shit
‣ Also in the US, a 14 year-old Julia Bluhm forced Seventeen magazine to stop using
airbrushed models after over 84,000 people signed her online petition, and she and her
fellow activists hand-delivered the petitions to the executive editor of the magazine.
‣ In the UK, a 15-year-old Hull City supporter, Louis Cooper took the police to court for
restricting away-travel to football games. “I went to China with Hull City and was free to do
what I wanted, yet here I can’t go to a game how I want.”
‣ In the US, three Georgia teens were inspired by the Michael Brown killing to create an app
which allows people to document police brutality.

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
BELIEVE THERE’S A better way
OF GETTING AHEAD
Millennials had a pretty conformist idea of what they were supposed to do…
Go to University, try out some different paths, then climb the career ladder, earn a good salary,
buy a property. It hasn’t always worked out quite like that – which has helped to make Millennials
the most stressed generation ever. In recent years, the career prospects of University graduates
have looked particularly bleak.
Gen Edge have decided that there has to be a better way. Millennials had some lofty ideas about
their future careers, and a well-documented sense of entitlement. Gen Edge are far more
pragmatic and believe that good things come to those who work.
Their Gen X parents have taught them to aspire to do something they are good at, rather than
just to aim for the top. It’s a more practical form of career advice than that dispensed
by Millennials’ Boomer parents.

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
With information at their fingertips, Gen Edge are mapping out very specific career
paths from a young age – working out precisely what they’ll need to do in order to get
there.
This might involve going to University but it might not, and that’s equally valid. University is
no longer the aspirational path to be followed.
Gen Edge are highly entrepreneurial. A recent study in the US found that 61% of high
school students would rather be an entrepreneur instead of an employee when they
graduate college.
In the UK, a recent Populus survey for RBS found that more than a quarter of 16-25 year
olds want to start their own business and of these, nearly half are in the process of doing so.
BELIEVE THERE’S A better way
OF GETTING AHEAD

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
HARD working
Given the career prospects of recent graduates, it would be easy to believe that Gen
Edge were resigned to a life of low-paid work and zero-hours contracts. Far from it.
Instead of breaking them, the events they’ve witnessed and the challenges they’ve
watched their parents endure have given rise to a highly determined generation. They are
rolling up their sleeves and they don’t expect any pity.
Whatever path they choose, they know that they’ll have to work hard to achieve their
goals. They see themselves as the hardest-working teenagers for generations.
A recent NHS report in the UK shows that the proportion of under-20s who say they have
taken drugs in the past month has halved over the last decade. Only two drugs are on the
up, and both are legal: Ritalin and Modafinil, stimulants that can power students through
major study sessions and entrepreneurial endeavors.
In a 2013 MTV survey of 14-17 year-olds, 71% agreed with
the statement “If I want to do something, no one is going to
stop me” compared to only 51% in 2010
“A lot of people seem to think that all teenagers are super-misguided and
not at all ambitious. Such a high proportion of the people my age I know
are super-driven, super-focused and super-creative.”
- Lorde - July 2014

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
A STEEP DECLINE IN hedonism
Studies on both sides of the Atlantic show that teenage drinking and drug taking
have declined at a remarkable rate in recent years.
In the UK, NHS statistics show that in 2011, 17% of 11-16 year olds had taken drugs,
compared to 29% in 2001.
The proportion who said they’d ever consumed alcohol fell from 61% to 45% over the
same period.
Similar decreases have been seen in the US. A recent report by The Centers for Disease
Control on the state of Americans' health showed huge declines in drinking, smoking and
using drugs.
Gen Edge now look a lot more conservative than older generations: a recent Spectator
article in the UK noted that forty-somethings are spending 40% more on alcohol than
they were ten years ago, while teenagers are drinking less than ever.
A recent NHS study showed that only 9% of school pupils believe it’s acceptable for them
to smoke cannabis. Among the general population, it is 32%.
“No-one is suggesting that young people don't misbehave, but teenagers no
longer seem to define themselves by wild disobedience. If anything, we are
in the middle of a period of increasingly good behavior.”
- Mark Easton, BBC News
STATISTICS ARE PROVING THAT THEY ARE DOING
THINGS DIFFERENTLY THAN PREVIOUS GENERATIONS
Juvenile Delinquency
2001: 90,000
2011: 45,000
Down by 50%
Never Smoked Tobacco
1998: 66%
2014: 75%
Up by 9%

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THE SOUNDGENERATION EDGE
WHISTLEBLOWER ROLE MODELS ENCOURAGE MAKING A STAND
A BROKEN SYSTEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED
TECHNOLOGY GIVES THEM A PLATFORM
SO, WHY IS THIS
DIFFERENT?
GENERATION
The Gen Edge version of rebellion is not a destructive
or nihilistic force - it is drive towards reform. They
feel they have a responsibility to change things.
Culture and technology have changed things too.
Behavior which previous generations thought was
transgressive is now normal…

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
WHISTLEBLOWER ROLE MODELS
THAT ENCOURAGE taking a stand
Generation X (born between 1965-1981) are the parents of Gen Edge.
They are a generation defined by their pervading sense of cynicism and rebellion…
‣ A generation shaped by a mix of disappointment and fragmentation
‣ A generation who always questioned institutions and defied authority
‣ As parents they are actively preparing their kids for life in a world that is
seemingly on the edge of collapse

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
Gen Edge have a strong relationship with their Gen X parents.
They have grown up in households where their parents refuse to coddle them. They do not want
their kids to grow up dependent on them; it’s a very different relationship than Millennials have
with their Boomer parents.
Gen X parents encourage their children to have a rebellious spirit. In fact, this is a right of
passage in their minds…even a point of pride!
However, it’s not just their parents that are encouraging them to take a stand. Teachers are
making a stand, challenging kids to question standard education. High profile whistleblowers
(Snowden, Kamkar, Manning) are defying governments. Activist investors use capital to force
changes upon corporations. Minor league whistleblowers use social media to start debates.
This in turn creates a generation of teens that are encouraged, almost expected to challenge the
failures they perceive around them.
WHISTLEBLOWER ROLE MODELS
THAT ENCOURAGE taking a stand

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GENERATION EDGE
GENERATIONAL FACTORS
A BROKEN SYSTEM THAT
NEEDS TO BE fixed
Gen Edge are coming of age during a time where institutions are being criticized and
there is public acknowledgement that the system is broken.
Gen Edge understand that change is needed. They are conscious that things just won’t ‘sort
themselves out’. Millennials were told they could achieve anything…while Gen Edge are told
they need to figure it out. This is exactly what they are doing.
Their rebellion is a result of growing up in a world that is threatening their futures. Rather than
leaving it to ‘the adults’ to figure it out, they are making a place for themselves in the
discussion. They are taking a stand in what they believe in and trying to implement change that
they recognize to be important…

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GENERATION EDGE
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
TECHNOLOGY GIVES THEM a platform
Gen Edge are digital natives. They have never known a world without the internet,
and they are growing up in a world where it’s natural to always be on.
They not only see local and national news, but global news as well in the form of videos,
pictures, live tweeting (etc.) from those on the ground and in real time. This information is all
at their fingertips, uncensored.
Gen Edge are getting exposed to real footage of shootings, killings, riots and police brutality.
These are images that are filmed and shared across the internet. These images allow for the
viewers to draw their own conclusions, with often no contest that injustice has been done.
Gen Edge can then follow minute by minute updates on Twitter or follow Michael Brown’s
Mom on Instagram. They now have access to the news at a much deeper and more personal
level. Gen Edge don’t need traditional media to construct a narrative for them.

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GENERATION EDGE
With rebellious role models that encourage challenging the norm
and the understanding that the system is broken, technology and the
access to information becomes a powerful tool.
TOOL
GENERATION
HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE INFORMED
CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND THEM
THAT THEY ARE USUALLY NOT HAPPY WITH.
This creates a disruptive voice that IS
using global platforms to discuss these
issues and spark a real debate - helping
to create the new age of rebellion.
A POWERFUL

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THE SOUNDGENERATION EDGE
WHAT DOES THIS ALL
FOR BRANDS?
Approaches that may have worked for marketing
to positive, conformist Millennials won’t
necessarily work for angry, reformist Gen Edge.
Particularly when a lot of this marketing comes
from the organizations they have in their sights.
So what can you do?
YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM. SO JOIN THEM.
NO MORE REBEL UNIFORM
PLATFORMS AS THEIR VOICE
TARGETING A NEW AXIS OF REBELLION
MEAN

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GENERATION EDGE
BRAND IMPLICATIONS
YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM SO join them…
Brands that harness the spirit of reform are likely to flourish.
It’s important to understand what rebellion embodies for our Gen Edge. A voice that looks for
action behind the ideas. A voice that doesn’t bother bull-shitting. A voice that is non-conformist
and goes against the grain. And most importantly, a voice that values hard work.
Remember, Gen Edge stir things up for a reason, and not just to get a reaction, and they respect
brands that do the same. A brand that is inherently a category challenger and disrupter
potentially has a lot to gain with Gen Edge.
Think Virgin, Giff Gaff, Tesla. These are brands which have acted on their dissatisfaction with their
category and tried to do something different.

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GENERATION EDGE
BRAND IMPLICATIONS
NO MORE REBEL uniform
It is a challenge to visually capture the aesthetic of the Gen Edge Rebel…and if
you try to, you will have missed the point.
Gone are the days where there is a typical uniform that will help identify and drive the
rebels of this generation. It’s important for brands not to pigeonhole the image of
what this new era of rebel looks like.
It’s more about capturing the spirit and the voice of rebellion versus the look -
because for this generation rebellion is a behavior rather than an image.

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GENERATION EDGE
BRAND IMPLICATIONS
PLATFORMS AS THEIR voice
Just because they’re teens doesn’t mean you can ignore them. Gen Edge are
immersed in the digital world.
Brands need to be aware of how savvy Gen Edge are when it comes to utilizing this space.
They have access to everything which therefore can make brands quite vulnerable…
especially, if they have something to hide.
Before Gen Edge have an opportunity to challenge your brand it’s important to lay your
cards on the table and be honest and open with your consumers. Improving Corporate
Social Responsibility allows you to be more proactive and transparent as a brand. Don’t
allow them to catch you off guard. Create a good reputation, rather than find yourself having
to defend a bad one.
You can’t expect to control the debate everywhere, but you can recognize where and when
it’s necessary to respond. Do it constructively rather than trying to dismiss it, and you’ll find
that reasonable debate is possible and even welcome.

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GENERATION EDGE
BRAND IMPLICATIONS
TARGETING THE NEW AXIS OF rebellion
With Gen Edge unlikely to move out of their parental homes any time soon, they will
form an increasingly close alliance with their equally rebellious Gen X parents.
Shaping one another’s tastes, fueling one another’s passions, ultimately creating a new
partnership of rebellion.
Brands will increasingly need to consider this new rebellious consumer dynamic.
Marketers are used to targeting an axis of Boomer/Millennial positivity. It’s time to start
preparing for a sea change. The X/Edge Axis will want to see new propositions, products,
brands and communications that align with their rebellious world view.

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GENERATION EDGE
LEARN MORE at
WWW.GENERATIONEDGE.COM
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IMAGE REFERENCES
SLIDE SITE
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26THE SOUND
THE SOUND

INFORMATION REFERENCES
27THE SOUND
THE SOUND
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6
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7/8
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9/10
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12
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