Gen Z has reshaped how brands need to show up. It’s not that Gen Z isn’t interested in brands; it’s that they aren’t interested in traditional ads. What they really care about is authenticity, transparency, and brands that offer genuine storytelling and user-generated content (Int J Multi Res, 2024).
So, the question to marketers becomes: How do you shift from traditional advertising to meaningful, relationship-driven engagement that resonates with Gen Z’s values?
Understanding Gen Z
They want a conversation, not a traditional campaign. Gen Z wants to be part of the dialogue. They want to communicate with a brand, not simply be talked at. This preference requires marketers to move beyond promotional content and instead create authentic, two-way communication that feels honest and human.
They lean toward visual platforms
Because TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are their preferred social platforms, it’s no surprise Gen Z gravitates toward strong visual content over text-heavy posts. According to The 2025 Sprout Social Index:
- 89% of Gen Z are on Instagram
- 84% are on YouTube
- 82% are on TikTok
In terms of how they use these platforms, TikTok leads for product discovery, making it a critical space for brand storytelling, reviews, and educational content that doesn’t feel like an ad.
They prioritize purpose and peer recommendations
Gen Z will buy from brands that create real social impact. They also trust peer recommendations and real user testimonials more than traditional brand-driven messaging (Medium, 2024). Authentic experiences shared by real users carry more weight than overly produced ads.
They use social media as a search engine
Gen Z uses TikTok and Instagram as primary search engines when researching restaurants, products, and experiences (Fortune, 2024). For marketers, this means brand storytelling is directly tied to discoverability. The more authentic, engaging, and consistent your messaging, the easier it is for Gen Z to find you, trust you, and refer you to others.
Their preferences evolve
Gen Z’s taste shifts fast, and marketers need to be ready to adapt quickly. What resonates in one quarter may not resonate in the next, so being flexible, responsive, and willing to experiment is essential to maintaining relevance.
How Marketers Can Create Authentic, Engaging Campaigns
- Lead with video content
Incorporate short-form, long-form, and interactive videos across platforms. Videos that feel natural, conversational, and aligned with real user experiences work best.
- Build authentic campaigns
Brand voice and point of view are important to Gen Z. They see through brands that chase trends that don’t align with the brand’s usual content. For this reason, marketers should focus on creating honest, authentic, purpose-driven content that reflects a brand’s voice and story (Between Pixels, 2025). This means telling a consistent story across every channel.
- Personalize the experience
Gen Z wants to feel heard. They expect brands to demonstrate that their feedback matters through products, content, and experience. Urban Outfitters is doing a good job of this—tapping into customers yearning for community, providing events, and using data from a survey of more than 10,000 Gen Z shoppers, in which 54% indicated plans to use shopping lists this holiday season. The result: Urban Outfitters created branded list templates on Canva to show they’ve been heard. (Marketing Dive, 2025)
This also includes personalized communication, with nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z consumers engaging with brand emails. Indicating marketers are more likely to engage consumers with relevant, tailored communication.
- Emphasize purpose and impact
Gen Z connects with brands that take a stand, have a voice, and help others. Highlight how your brand contributes to culture, community, or causes. For this generation, values aren’t a “nice to have”; they’re part of how they choose what to buy, support, and recommend.
The Takeaway
Gen Z isn’t tuned out to traditional ads; they’re just tuned in to something different. They want connection, purpose, honesty, and community. They want brands that respect their opinions, care about the world, and invite them into the story.
As marketers head into Q4, it’s important to shift messaging to meet Gen Z’s preferences, build community, create engaging content, and develop value-driven campaigns that build loyalty in ways traditional advertising can’t achieve with this customer group.
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