Economic chaos and crashes, the rise of crypto and meme stocks — Gen Z (roughly, those younger than 25) has grown up in a radically different economic context than those who came before them.

This generation is arguably more financially literate and savvy than its predecessors. In Germany, where our briefing company MorningCrunch is based, the rate of citizens who own stocks grew by 18.5% between 2022 and 2023. It is now at an all-time high, largely driven by young investors.

Gen-Z’s news dilemma

As digital natives, Gen Z has had access to a wealth of financial information online, from blogs to YouTube channels and social media platforms that offer quick, digestible financial tips. However, this wealth of information has its downsides. While Gen Z is financially savvy, they’re also navigating a sea of misinformation and flawed advice. 

Traditional media, however, often fails to reach Gen Z with its financial reporting. Both journalistic formats and distribution channels are geared toward older readers — and Gen Z feels the disconnect. 

We, too, found ourselves in this dilemma. As trained economists and journalists, we found no financial news outlet in the German-speaking market that was informative yet entertaining.

Engaging young readers 

MorningCrunch was born out of the need for a fresh approach to financial news — one that’s tailored to Gen Z’s way of consuming information. That is why our daily newsletters present finance and business news in a new style.   

We break down complex financial topics into bulleted segments, catering to our time-poor audience. Bulleted news is established in the U.S.; Axios even coined the term “smart bullets.” In Germany, not so much.  

Beyond the format, we also changed how we tell our stories. Our texts draw on pop culture references from TikTok trends to TV classics. Our section on private equity deals, for example, is called bfd (referencing Joe Biden). The section that analyses companies’ quarterly earnings reports is called 2+2=4 (referencing Big Shaq). And yes, we always conclude the newsletter with a meme. 

The most important thing: It’s working.

In less than a year, MorningCrunch has already attracted 50,000 subscribers who read our briefings (yes, “crunches”) every day. The open rates are consistently 52% to 55%, which is unusually high by newsletter standards. Rather than news fatigue, open rates increase over time as users build daily habits and integrate the briefings into their routines and commutes. 

Advertisers are excited to reach this financially savvy generation in an environment that feels native to the audience and brand-safe to advertisers. This has helped us build a sustainable business model.

Next up: Scaling fast

We are now determined to scale this business model both vertically and horizontally.

Vertically refers to growing the existing subscriber lists: “Markets Crunch” (reporting on public markets), “Deals Crunch” (private markets), “AI Crunch” (well, AI). Horizontally means that we will add newsletter verticals to our portfolio as we grow the brand, focusing on utility-driven content niches often overlooked by big-name, general-interest publishers, such as automotive, pharma/biotech and real estate.

Ultimately, we believe that MorningCrunch will be able to cater to 1 million readers in the German-speaking market with its verticalised newsletters.

While our primary audience is Gen Z, we believe targeting a specific audience should not exclude others. We are committed to making our content as inclusive as possible, regardless of the reader’s financial background or age.

That’s why we heavily provide link-outs to explainers when we use pop culture references or discuss complex financial concepts. These additional resources ensure everyone can follow along and benefit from our content regardless of their starting point.

In doing so, MorningCrunch is not just about serving Gen Z; it’s about creating a space where anyone interested in finance and business can learn, grow, and stay informed while enjoying the read.

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