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OW - Gen Z

A-Gen-Z Series: Brands

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A-Gen-Z Series: Brands


THE SWIPE-AND-BUY SQUAD

The social media generation is moving beyond traditional marketing. But it’s
loyal to brands that can get it right


0%

of Gen Zers are willing to pay extra for brands that support the causes they
care about

0%

of Gen Zers use TikTok, but two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies aren’t there

0/3

say they trust what they see online

0%

revert to their “go-to” brand for a new product or service


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Not tying themselves down. While less loyal than other generations, Gen Zers
favor brands that are sustainable, inclusive, authentic, and truly engaged. They
also value affordability, convenience, and personability.

Does this come in viva magenta? Gen Zers don’t like to be labeled. They enjoy
the accessibility of the infinite shelf at their fingertips, allowing them to
personalize shopping to a previously unforeseen degree.

Let’s get ‘phygital’. Combining the best elements of in-store and online
shopping, phygital stores allow customers to connect with brands beyond the
transaction. The winners of the phygital revolution provide Gen Zers with an
experience that is memorable, personal, seamless, and elevates their connection
with the brand.

Just BeReal. Gen Zers want authentic, genuine engagement from the brands they
buy from and the influencers they follow. This generation has lived enough of
their lives online to know that perfection is not real, and they crave
relatable, unfiltered content.

A return to campfire crews and atomized online communities. After a lifetime of
continuous consumption and a never-ending barrage of online experiences, Gen
Zers want private, niche spaces to connect with like-minded others and brands
they care about.

“If a company is exploiting their workers or has issues within their supply
chain. Like, we are willing to find alternatives because just quite frankly
there is more options that we have. So for companies it either means adjusting
your morals, adjusting your business plan, and working with Gen Z, or you get
lost in the competition.”




KEEPING UP WITH GEN Z

Create communication that speaks their language. Three-fifths of Gen Zers say
they’re more likely to trust the quality of a company’s products and services if
they use social media. Almost half say the content that convinces them to make
purchases is the kind of short videos found on Snap, TikTok, and Instagram
Reels. Yet two thirds of Fortune 100 companies are not on TikTok, where almost
half of their Gen Z customers can be found.

Practice authenticity. Gen Z’s craving for authenticity has become a North Star
for brands strategizing for tomorrow. But brands need to use the right approach
on social media platforms because Gen Zers will reject corporate posturing and
performative engagement. Consider creating communications that show the
imperfection and chaos of everyday life.

Build a tribe. Social media engagement masks Generation Z’s loneliness. Whether
it was Zoom school, the decline of organized religion, or the never-ending
barrage of high flying influencers on their feeds, they seek more authentic
connections. So, don’t ask Gen Zers to buy from you; ask them to join you and
then sustain a dialogue that gives them a voice and sense of belonging.

Embrace phygital spaces. While they invariably start researching products
online, Gen Zers wants to see and touch the goods at a physical store — even
more than millennials. Winning brands will create a seamless physical and
digital experience. Although Generation Z values brick-and-mortar locations,
brands that add digital kiosks or pop-up stores during holidays or special
events can create a comprehensive, inclusive experience that feeds the
personalized connections Gen Zers crave.

“Usually I’ll screenshot it if it’s an ad, or I’ll save it because sometimes,
like, you can’t go back to it. But usually, it’s someone I follow. And they’re
like, ‘I like this hair straightener’ or something. So then I’ll look at the
comments and I’ll see a ratio of people that say ‘yeah, I love it’ and people
that say ‘it’s bad.’ And then I’ll go to Google, search it up, the price and
everything, and then read the reviews on Google as well. And then I’ll sit on it
for a couple days, because I don’t like to waste money. And then I’ll buy it.”

— 19, receptionist, she/her, New York

A-Gen-Z Case Study


DUOLINGO FLIPS CONVERSATION BY TURNING MASCOT INTO TIKTOK STAR

Duolingo’s experience suggests brands can connect to Gen Z if they’re willing to
be innovative and take some risks. After TikTok users created memes making fun
of the Duolingo app for being pushy if they didn’t complete language lessons,
Duolingo shifted from promoting the app itself to using the brand’s owl mascot
to lean into the memes depicting it as passive-aggressive. While subsequent
videos became increasingly unrelated to language learning, playing into the joke
allowed Duolingo to remain interesting to Gen Z viewers, who began to heavily
engage with the account.

After Duolingo’s September 2021 TikTok video about the owl “terrorizing” went
viral (acknowledging these older memes), the brand’s presence on the platform
grew 40 times larger in less than five months, according to social media
analytics website SocialBlade. Based on the company’s earnings reports, this
strategy helped increase paid subscriber numbers from 2.2 million to 3.7 million
between September 2021 and September 2022, reflecting a growth rate of 68% — 39%
greater than this same period the year prior. As a result of Duolingo’s
unexpected success and newfound popularity, its global social media manager and
TikTok campaign architect Zaria Parvez — a 24-year-old member of Gen Z herself —
was named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list.

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