Has Gen Z changed the way brands communicate?

Jordan Quinn | PR Account Manager | Seren Global Media

If you’d told a marketing team ten years ago that supermarkets would debate fictional love interests, airlines would comment on viral TikToks, or household brands would spend their afternoons reacting to celebrity gossip, you’d probably have been met with a few raised eyebrows. Marketing was once carefully planned, meticulously approved and largely centred around what the brand wanted to say. Today, some of the most successful content starts with something completely unrelated to the business itself.

Take Prime Video UK’s campaign for Off Campus. Rather than relying solely on trailers, cast announcements and promotional clips, its social channels leaned heavily into BookTok culture, sharing memes, fan edits and the kind of humour readers had already created themselves. The campaign didn’t try to redirect the conversation; it became part of it, blurring the line between official marketing and fan content.

It’s a strategy we’re seeing more and more. When The Summer I Turned Pretty dominated TikTok and Instagram, brands found opportunities to become part of the conversation around the show’s Team Conrad versus Team Jeremiah debate. Duolingo, for example, declared itself #TeamConrad, with its mascot Duo appearing in a wedding dress alongside a photoshopped Jeremiah as the groom, a playful reference to the character being left at the altar. The post worked because it did not feel like traditional advertising; it felt like another contribution to conversation fans were already having.

The same approach has become increasingly common across wider cultural moments. When Oasis announced their reunion, brands found ways to participate in one of the biggest music stories of the year by borrowing the visual language of the announcement itself. The band’s iconic logo and the simple format used to reveal their comeback date quickly became recognisable online, with brands recreating the design for their own posts and adapting it to their own identities. Rather than simply mentioning the reunion, they became part of the wider trend that developed around the announcement.

Brands have also found opportunities in celebrity moments that dominate online conversation. Following Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding, TOMS tapped into the moment with a carousel inspired by the couple’s viral wedding imagery, featuring two shoes styled around their individual aesthetics. The post borrowed the language of Taylor Swift’s fan community, referencing the line “your gym teacher and English teacher just got married”, before continuing the joke with further Taylor Swift lyric inspired captions. Heinz took a different approach, recreating its iconic 57 varieties branding by creating an equation using numbers associated with the couple and their wedding date to arrive at 57, while Pizza Hut transformed the announcement into a playful wedding themed post with the caption “to hut and to hold, in take out or delivery”. These brands were not part of the moment itself; they recognised a conversation already dominating social feeds and found creative ways to participate.

This shift is not limited to major cultural moments. Increasingly, brands are becoming part of everyday online conversations, with the comments section itself becoming a new space for marketing. On TikTok, Instagram Reels, Threads and X, it is now common to see household names responding to creators, celebrities and even members of the public with jokes, observations and playful commentary. A bakery might share a cake decorating video, only for brands like Duolingo, Scrub Daddy, Netflix or Spotify to appear in the comments. They are not there to promote a product or launch a campaign; they are simply participating.

This works because social media users are looking for entertainment and connection, not another advertisement. When a brand understands the tone of a platform, recognises a joke or adds something genuinely funny to a conversation, it can feel less like an advertiser and more like another account in someone’s feed. It also allows brands to be more responsive, creating content that feels shaped by the moment rather than planned months in advance.

However, this approach only works when it feels natural. One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is assuming every viral moment needs a branded response. Audiences are quick to recognise when a company is forcing relevance, particularly when there is no connection between the conversation and the brand itself. The brands that perform well understand that participation is not about being everywhere; it is about knowing where they belong.

That is why personality matters. Duolingo’s playful approach works because audiences already understand and expect its tone, while Ryanair’s sarcastic style has become part of the brand identity it has built online. The same approach would not work for every organisation. A law firm, insurance company or healthcare provider can still communicate in a more human way, but the tone needs to reflect who they are and who they are speaking to.

Consumers are exposed to thousands of marketing messages every day, making it harder for polished advertising alone to stand out. Instead, audiences are increasingly drawn to brands that feel authentic and approachable. However, this doesn’t mean every business should jump on every viral trend or adopt the same playful online persona. Effective marketing is about understanding your audience and choosing a tone that aligns with your brand. A humorous, informal approach may work well for a fashion retailer or food brand, but it would likely feel out of place for a law firm or financial institution, where credibility and professionalism are essential.

Equally, I’m not suggesting businesses should abandon polished print campaigns, billboard advertising or carefully planned content calendars in favour of chasing trends on social media. Those traditional marketing activities still have an important role to play in building brand awareness and trust. The real value lies in finding the right balance. Social media should complement your wider marketing strategy, adding personality and creating opportunities for genuine engagement where it’s appropriate, rather than becoming the entire strategy.

From my own experience working in digital marketing, and as someone who is (by definition) part of Gen Z – although my music taste might suggest otherwise (my Spotify listening age was recently calculated at 70) – I’ve noticed how much audiences’ expectations of brands have shifted, particularly when it comes to how they communicate online. What stands out about the brands that succeed online is not necessarily the amount they spend or how carefully every piece of content is produced. It is often their ability to understand the people they are speaking to and recognise what feels natural for their audience. Social media works best when it becomes an extension of a brand’s existing identity, rather than a place where businesses adopt a completely different personality to chase engagement. The brands that get this right know that not every conversation needs their input and not every trend needs their involvement. Instead, they use their platforms intentionally, finding moments where they can add value, show personality and strengthen the connection they already have with their audience.

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