NEW YORK—New York City-based Berns Communications Group (BCG) is a specialty PR firm focused on all-things retail, fashion, and technology—plus how the three intertwine in the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces. What it thinks the key to keeping brands relevant is? Leveraging Generation Z, the cohort born between 1997 and 2012 and currently aged 10-25 years.
The PR firm walks the talk, and debuted The Z Suite in June of this year. Co-chaired by BCG account supervisors Carly Berns and Felicia Kane, The Z Suite is an exclusive and diverse network of Gen Z movers and shakers. The 27 inaugural members of The Z Suite include students at Northeastern, UPenn, Michigan State, and New York University, just to name a few, and they’re now key to BCG’s larger web of seasoned executives—members of the Retail Influencer Network—as it pertains to understanding the behaviors, perspectives, and spending habits of such a large sector of today’s consumers.
BCG sought to show C-suite executives that they too can better understand Gen Z, and therefore increase their bottom line, with its inaugural Retail Influencer CEO Forum. The invite-only event took place on Sept. 12, was produced by Romela Productions, and welcomed 154 business-minded guests to the Crosby Street Hotel. The Z Suite co-chair Carly Berns told BizBash that “the goal was to help the retail industry better understand how Gen Z thinks, shops, and navigates the world.” 
BCG launched The Z Suite (16 of 27 members pictured) in June 2022. It's an exclusive and diverse network of Gen Z movers and shakers looking to help C-suite execs understanding the behaviors, perspectives, and spending habits of their generation.Julie Stapen
To do so, programming touched on the things that are vital to arguably all B2C business models, from discussions on understanding industry trends to advocating for inclusivity and sustainability, plus utilizing the metaverse and building deeper relationships with consumers.
Joanna Coles—the former chief content officer for Heart Magazines and the current CEO and chairwoman of Northern Star Acquisition Companies II-IV—spent the day as the “mistress of ceremonies,” leading fireside chats, panel discussions, and ask-me-anything-style sessions.
Berns said topics were “designed to help attendees learn more about what makes Gen Z tick,” and noted the standout speaker lineup featuring “advocate and gold-medal gymnast Aly Raisman, digital creator Ellie Zeilier, as well as brand leaders from Aerie, alice + olivia, American Eagle, Bubble, Coach, Forever 21, Supergoop!, True Religion, and more,” who all took the stage alongside Gen Z business founders Berns referred to as “ZEOs.”
Joanna Coles (right) led fireside chats, panel discussions, and ask-me-anything-style sessions throughout the day. Featured speakers included advocate and gold-medal gymnast Aly Raisman (left), digital creator Ellie Zeilier, as well as brand leaders from Aerie, alice + olivia, American Eagle, Bubble, Coach, Forever 21, and many more.Ilya S. Savenok / Stringer
The Z Suite used their time up at the mic to talk about what matters to their generation, which included frequent mentions of mental health. Chief content officer at YPulse MaryLeigh Bliss emphasized that brands need to be aware that Gen Z is the most anxious generation. “Mental health has become a major part of the definition of wellness,” she said during her fireside chat, encouraging brand execs to get past the taboo previous generations placed on the topic. Her solution? “It doesn’t have to be completely dark,” she said, adding that conversations on mental health can be an “element of self care.”
And it wouldn’t be a forum on understanding Gen Z if technology weren’t at the forefront. Later panels addressed the omni-presence of tech—specifically the metaverse—in Gen Z’s lives. American Eagle CMO Craig Brommers spoke on his wish for there one day to be “phigital” offerings at American Eagle (AE) where, upon buying a clothing item in store, customers will also receive a digital piece of clothing that their avatars can wear in the metaverse.
In fact, Brommers pointed out that AE puts a lot of effort on entering the metaverse because the brand sees it as a “real commercial opportunity.” (AE's space in Roblox, which launched back in March, has already seen 42 million users.) The CMO also shared that a Gen Z member of the marketing team has "showed so much interest in the metaverse that he was promoted to director of metaverse marketing."
Sessions throughout the event touched on the topics that matter most to Gen Z, such as mental health, technology and the metaverse, sustainability, inclusivity, and more.Julie Stapen
A tip for professionals worried about making the jump into a digital world? Neha Singh, the CEO and founder of Obsess—an experiential e-commerce platform enabling brands to create 3D spaces on their website and in the metaverse—advised to "just launch and start collecting data.” She assured that debuting a metaverse space “is not the end game,” and it’s only upon launching that tech professionals like herself can start collecting the data to prove that the brand benefits from being where the Gen Zers are—in the metaverse.
Berns said that "since this event was the first of its kind," the greatest challenge of the forum was "demonstrating the value of having Gen Zers in the room participating in these discussions firsthand.”
But the greatest success: “giving Gen Zers the chance to dispel a number of commonly held myths on how Gen Z thinks, shops, and uses technology,” Berns said, adding that those misconceptions “have held brands back from really connecting with this group of consumers.”
Ultimately, the key takeaway, according to Berns, is: Gen Z “values authenticity, openness, and diversity—and they have more information at their fingertips than any previous generation—so brands need to communicate honestly and openly about what they stand for and why."
