Expertise
Market to Gen Z without being Gen Z
Reaching Gen Z is not about following the latest trends. It’s about building trust, creating meaningful experiences and giving young consumers a reason to genuinely connect with a brand. This story is excerpted from our 2026 Brand Slam episode with our (add)ventures interns, EP 63: Passing the Gen Z brand test.
Earn attention before selling anything
Gen Z has endless content competing for its attention, which means branded content cannot rely on the product alone to keep people interested. Content that entertains, teaches or tells an interesting story can create a much stronger connection than a traditional sales message.
Brands like Red Bull demonstrate how a product can become part of content rather than its entire purpose. Its videos focus on extreme sports, impressive performances and experiences that viewers may genuinely want to watch. The brand remains visible, but it does not need to interrupt the entertainment to constantly sell the product. This approach allows marketing to feel less like an advertisement and more like something that naturally belongs in someone’s feed.
For Gen Z, attention has to be earned. Brands are competing not only with other advertisements, but also with content creators, entertainment and everything else available online. Creating something worth watching first can make the brand message more memorable in the process.
Big followings don’t always mean big influence
Influencer marketing can be powerful with Gen Z, but influence is not automatically created by having a large audience. What matters more is whether the recommendation feels believable. Gen Z is used to seeing sponsored content and can often tell when a product endorsement feels overly scripted or disconnected from the person promoting it. That means a smaller creator with a strong relationship with their audience can sometimes be more persuasive than a celebrity with millions of followers.
Brands should focus less on reach alone and more on credibility, relevance and fit. The most effective partnerships often feel like a natural extension of the creator’s usual content rather than a commercial inserted into their feed. Gen Z may look to creators, reviews and everyday consumers for guidance, while remaining aware of how paid partnerships can influence recommendations. Transparency and genuine enthusiasm can make the difference between content that builds trust and content that gets scrolled past.
Experiences matter as much as products
Gen Z may have grown up online, but that does not mean all meaningful brand interactions need to happen through a screen. Experiences such as pop-ups and events where customers can try something, meet other people or gain exclusive access can create a stronger emotional connection. Social media can then extend that experience by giving consumers something to share and revisit afterward. These moments can transform a product and a brand into a community.
For marketers, this means thinking about the entire relationship surrounding a product. A strong brand is not only something people buy. It can also become something they want to experience and feel connected to.
Don’t just post. Participate.
Social media gives brands a unique chance to connect with audiences from across the world. It gives brands an opportunity to communicate directly with consumers. For Gen Z, that interaction can be just as important as the content itself. Actions such as responding to comments, answering questions and addressing complaints can make a brand feel more approachable, while showing consumers that someone is actually listening and not just chasing likes or shares.
This is especially important when something goes wrong. When a customer comments on a post about a bad experience, other customers will pay attention to whether and how the brand responds. A thoughtful response can demonstrate accountability and turn a frustrating interaction into an opportunity to strengthen trust. The same idea applies to polls, questions and other interactive content that invites audiences to participate rather than simply receive a message.
Ultimately, authenticity on social media is not only about having the right tone or aesthetic. It is also about behavior. Brands that listen, respond and acknowledge their audiences can create a stronger sense of connection and community. Instead of treating followers like numbers on an analytics dashboard, marketers can treat social media as an ongoing conversation with real people.
Don’t try to be Gen Z
Too often, brands try to be Gen Z in an attempt to relate to the generation. But that can be one of the fastest ways for brands to lose their attention. Jumping on every meme, using popular slang or copying the tone of younger creators may seem like an easy way to appear relevant, but it can quickly feel forced.
Marketing to Gen Z isn’t about keeping up with every trend or using every new slang word. It’s about creating a brand worth paying attention to, one that provides real value, communicates like a human and gives people a reason to participate.
Instead of trying to be Gen Z, brands should try to engage with the Gen Z audience by looking for ways to participate in trends while maintaining a clear identity. Trends can provide new ways to express an existing personality rather than temporarily replacing it. Gen Z does not necessarily need brands to behave like them. They want brands to understand them without losing what makes the brand itself recognizable.
Trader Joe’s is a strong example. Its seasonal products and playful personality evolve with current popular culture, but the overall brand experience remains unmistakably Trader Joe’s.The brands that connect with Gen Z won’t be the ones that act the most like Gen Z. They’ll be the ones that know who they are, and then give Gen Z a reason to care.
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