Marketing companies have been competing for the minds of millennials fiercely over the last few years – and for good reason.

Millennials represent about a quarter of the entire US population, and have over $200 billion in annual buying power. Though they have less discretionary income than Baby Boomers and older generations, they have a lot of influence – and are hard to reach with traditional marketing methods.

But are millennials still the hottest consumers out there? Or should we be focusing our efforts on a new generation of consumers? Here’s the scoop.

Millennials Are Still The Most Important Consumer Generation – For Now

Millennials are defined as individuals who were between 18-34 in 2015 by the Pew Research Center. They are just now entering the prime of their lives as consumers.

As millennials age, their income continues to grow as a generation. Most millennials are now out of college and working in professional careers, and millennials are the most educated generation to date.

This means that the buying power of millennials is only going to grow in future years, as they begin to start families and earn more discretionary income.

However, millennials will not stay at the top of the heap forever. As time goes on, Generation Z continues to grow – and a new generation of consumer is born.

Gen Z – The Largest Consumer Generation In History

Generation Z is defined as the “post-millennial” generation. While most definitions vary, it’s agreed that most Gen Z individuals were born around the year 2000 or later. This generation already makes up 25% of the population, and is forecasted to continue to grow.

As Gen Z becomes older, and younger people begin to enter the consumer market, they are likely to become the most highly sought-after consumer generation, just as millennials were before them.

Focus On Millennials In Marketing Efforts – But Don’t Forget About Gen Z!

How should brands market their products? Luckily, millennials and Gen Z both share a few common attributes. Consumers from both generations are tech-savvy and have quite a bit of influence on the market – and both Gen Z and millennial consumers do not respond well to traditional advertising methods.

While millennials should be the focus on most marketing efforts, Gen Z should not be overlooked. Brands should be using social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter to reach a younger audience, and should always be on the lookout for hot trends that could appeal to Gen Z consumers.

Conclusion

As time goes on, millennials will become less important as a consumer audience, and the importance of Gen Z will grow. So focus on millennials for now, but don’t forget about the younger generation.

But how much technology can you fit into a 0.8-millimeter-thick credit card?

Well, a lot. Not only can Plastc store credit cards, it can also show loyalty and gift cards. How does it work? It is simple. It works with an app that enables you to quickly swap out cards, add new ones, and track your spending. Plastc itself stores up 20 cards but the app can hold an unlimited number. On Plastc, you can switch up card details through the e-ink touchscreen panel. And it is quite secured with PIN, photo ID, proximity alerts, and ‘Return Me’ mode and If stolen or lost, you can remotely wipe your data.  The card is rechargeable and last 30 days once fully charged but it locks in your default credit card if uncharged so you can still use it until you charge up again. So, if you are looking for a simple and elegant way to store your many credit & debit cards, loyalty and gift cards, access cards and more in a single, minimalist card, and say goodbye to your bulky wallet, Plastc could be the way to go. The card would be available in summer 2015. You can get more info on their website.

What Sparks our Fire: a credit card that gets a lot smarter.

Are you ready for the future of payments with Plastc? What are your thoughts on digital wallets

So, how does it work? Simply connect a credit card, or debit card and a checking account, and enter some characteristics about yourself. Acorns will automatically recommend a stock portfolio based on information like your age, time horizon, investment goals and the amount of risk you’re comfortable taking. Then each purchase you make with the registered card is rounded up to the nearest dollar, and the difference is invested in low-cost ETFs. For instance, if you spend $10.49 on lunch, that remaining 51 cents is invested. And if you’re worried about the safety of your personal information, don’t be, because Acorns has been awarded TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal for the collection and use of personal information. According to its maker, “what makes Acorns different from any service out there is that it offers a personalized investment portfolio with no account minimums, no commissions, and fractional investing all at your fingertips”.

What Sparks Our Fire: An app that intuitively makes it easy to save and invest.

What do you think of Acorns? Would you use it?

ShopSavvy is a mobile app that scans products and finds both online and local stores who carry it. Once you scan the bar code, either at home or in-store, ShopSavvy makes a price comparison on the fly, displays user reviews, and searches for discounts. The app has updated SKUs so you’re sure to find the item in all stores listed. The brilliant app was developed by Rylan Barnes, who won “Google’s Android Developer Challenge”.

ShopSavvy can be downloaded on iOs, Android and Windows phones. There is also a website available for simple searches.

What Sparks Our fire: An app that will save us time and money.

Are you ready to give ShopSavvy a try and live a more frugal lifestyle?

Mootch – a platform for on-demand peer-to-peer and business-to-consumer renting of everyday goods with delivery and pick-up – has finally invented a way to make renting simple and safe. So, for example, if you have electronics, appliances or designer items that you seldomly use, you can make extra cash by renting them out to others. And the same goes for when you’re in need of an expensive device, mode of transportation or appliance that you may only be using for a couple of days, but don’t want to buy. Someone in your area probably has one you could rent.

Like many other mobile apps in the sharing economy, you can make money by safely and securely renting out your own stuff as well as cut expenses by renting when you need to do so.

What Sparks Our Fire: A mobile app to rent pretty much anything to and from people around you

What items would you rent through Mootch?

Okay, so maybe this only applies to those attending Lollapalooza this summer. It isn’t officially time to rid ourselves of those green bills just yet. But, that does seem like a reality we are getting even closer to.

It was just announced that attendees of the three day music festival will be given wristbands to replace their wallets. Festival attendees will log their credit card information into a system and receive a bracelet using near-field connectivity technology allowing them to touch their wrist to the screen, enter a pin number and make a payment at all vendors. The wristband also function as the entry ticket for attendees so there is no way around not having one.

This is a great move forward for mobile payment systems. Not only does it make it easier for concert goers not to have to worry about carrying cash and credit cards around with them, but it’s a great sign for the future uses of devices like smartwatches. We could be approaching a time where something like a wristband will completely replace the credit card and leave cash even further behind in the dust.

What Sparks our Fire: Seeing an organization take advantage of new technologies and paving the way for innovative payment gateways at music festivals.

Where do you see the future of payments going?

It seems like a pretty easy decision. But when you break it down, it’s actually a bit more challenging. Who wouldn’t pick a trip to Paris in a heartbeat? When you look at what you would have to pass up for that, it makes the decision a little more difficult.

The above infographic from ValuePenguin demonstrates how much money can be saved by brewing coffee at home instead of purchasing a cup everyday on the way to work. It is pretty amazing when you look at the numbers laid out to see how much more a cup of coffee from Starbucks can be compared to using a Keurig or a drip coffee machine. But, as I look at my large iced coffee I picked before coming into the office, I still doubt I will be able to completely drop this luxury from my life. Even if that means 20 years from now that money could go towards tickets to the Super Bowl.

What Sparks our Fire: A look at how much we are truly spending on our coffee addiction.

Will you switch to brewing your coffee at home?

Splitting a cab just got so much easier.

The app Venmo has grown rapidly in popularity over the past few years and is making waves in how we handle money between friends. For years we have been spotting our friends, and trusting they’ll pay us back. Now you don’t have to go through awkwardly reminding them they owe you $8 for the cab you split in the summer of ’13, and can simply charge them. The app allows you to connect to a bank, debit card, or credit card to then collect and charge your Facebook friends and email contacts.

As someone who prefers to pay for most things by card, I rarely carry cash on me. I’ve been using Venmo ever more frequently to help not only keep track of what I owe my friends, but to easily pay them back.

Not to mention, the comments provide much needed comic relief on a rainy day like today.

What Sparks Our Fire: A quick and easy way to spot our friends and get paid back.

Would you use Venmo to pay and charge your friends?