Gen Z ignores brand messaging by default. Here’s how to win their…

The following is an excerpt from Mitch Duckler’s book The Future-Ready Brand.

Bombarded with inputs from the crib on out, Gen Z has only known an overabundance of information. Inundated with slick brand messaging and polished visuals that clearly went through rounds of agency approvals, Gen Z learned early on to erect strong filters to block out the deluge. Brands that hope to break through these filters have to work doubly hard to prove their good intentions with the kinds of authentic and transparent actions that have, traditionally, made marketers uneasy.

Gen Z prefers messaging that looks like they created it themselves, especially in social media. If it looks homespun, user-generated, or unpolished, Gen Z sees it as more authentic and credible. Old-time sales tactics and manipulation attempts have little purchase now and need to give way to language that’s relatable. Better to go with a gritty DIY look that’s brimming with personality and speaks the language of Gen Z—as if made by a social media creator.

Gen Z is actually attracted to the mistakes that marketers once tried to hide. They get that mistakes happen—to err is human—and the most “honest” thing any brand can do is “own up” to their mistakes rather than try to brush them under the rug. That honesty is rewarded. Sure, it can be hard. Harder still knowing that consumers have the power of social media in their hands at all times, and with just one blunder, the company could go viral in the wrong way—leading to a massive exiting of customers. The best way to deal with this, ironically, is to own it. If the brand makes a mistake—such as using language no longer deemed inclusive—the best remedy is to address the issue head-on. Take immediate public responsibility for the mistake, and explain how it is being corrected. This is how Gen Z is impressed and how their loyalty is won.

Meet Gen Z where they hang out

Network fragmentation, long ago, exploded the channels marketers used to find consumers, and today, marketers are finding Gen Z audiences most readily in niche online communities. Stefano Curti, Chief Brands Officer of Coty, shared his company no longer cuts a handful of thirty-second spots but instead two thousand messages for different consumer groups—each message individualized and personalized. And those messages are pinpoint-targeted into closed online communities, such as Discord and Fizz, that encourage more authentic dialogue and closer connections among people with shared interests.

It has been said that Gen Z is “extremely online.” YouTube is the favorite platform, with 88 percent using it regularly, followed by Instagram with 76 percent penetration, TikTok with 68 percent, Snapchat with 67 percent, Facebook with 49 percent, Twitter with 47 percent, Discord with 35 percent, Reddit with 30 percent, Twitch with 24 percent, and BeReal with 15 percent.

When asked how they’re spending all this time online, Gen Z will respond along the lines of “This is my community.” Herbalife is a company that understands this phenomenon. Gary Kuchta, the company’s CMO, says of Gen Z, “They don’t define community the same way as previous generations. Their communities may be completely virtual—entirely enabled through social media and consist of people they’ve never physically met.”

Fastest growing among these community platforms currently is TikTok, with a near rabid following among Gen Z. This is owing to the platform’s algorithms that cultivate millions of subcultures mirroring every imaginable interest, activity, or trend. When a user’s actions on the app signal a set of preferences, the algorithm serves up the best of that content. This makes TikTok an estimated thirty-seven million users’ strong umbrella in the United States with countless micro-community campfires that Gen Z gather around.

The only “channel” that outranks TikTok for producing brand endorsements is old-fashioned word of mouth.

All of this social media happens on some kind of device, and 75 percent of Gen Z say they use mobile the most. Importantly, 55 percent use their mobile most often to make online purchases versus 38 percent who use a computer. So marketers need to fully optimize for mobile—not just using a mobile-optimized website theme but also creating vertical video content with mobile devices in mind, enabling a community of brand activists to thrive in the mobile setting, and streamlining the marketing funnel through to the checkout process and beyond into social support.

Connections and experiences

Gen Z is excellent at sifting through online content, and they prefer short-form to match their shortened attention spans. Marketers must grab their attention immediately. And this is best accomplished through entertaining short-form video.

It’s all about trust with Gen Z, and so, they can appreciate ads that are true to a brand’s core values as long as they share those values. However, the most visually captivating ads will spark the greatest interest. Conversely, clickbait ads, long-form ads, and disruptive ads will be tuned out in a blink.

Better to use user-generated content (UGC), including the content of influencers, as well as website comments and online reviews, which Gen Z consider more authentic. Better still to tell stories. Young people have always loved stories more, and Gen Z is no exception.

Go deep on gaming

Entering into game-playing venues is a powerful strategy for attaining engagement, awareness, and conversion objectives. It’s all about the interaction—the involving of the brand in the consumer’s regular daily activities. For instance, the gaming site Fortnite hosted a concert series by hip-hop artist Travis Scott inside the game, and 27 million players showed up. By comparison in the 2022–2023 television season, NBC’s Sunday Night Football averaged 18 million viewers; the top-rated Yellowstone averaged 10 million viewers; and ABC’s American Idol, once strong with younger viewers, garnered only 6.8 million viewers.

Gaming is not only top-of-mind but top-of-wallet. In 2022, consumers spent a total of $294 billion on digital media with more than half, $156 billion, going to video games. A distant third, fourth, and fifth in spending were video-on-demand, e-publishing, and digital music, respectively. Gaming has captured the country’s attention, led by Gen Z who are said to be 90 percent gaming enthusiasts.

Pop-ups break the mold correctly

Gen Z doesn’t view shopping as “a sport” in the way previous generations did. Many don’t even know what a great experience shopping can be, feeling merchandise, trying things out, and so on. They just order stuff on apps knowing they can return it easily. But when presented with great retail strategies, and the ability to use their five senses in retail theater, they form all new opinions.

This explains the attraction of pop-ups from marketers targeting Gen Z. Pop-ups are a tactical mixing of commerce and cause—critical to Gen Z. It’s a competitive differentiator, in fact. To make the biggest splash, these pop-ups are going to venues where the target audience is congregating—concerts, sporting events, town squares. And brands are being creative and taking risks in order to stand out, explode onto the scene, and change the perceptions of existing customers while winning new ones.