For many years, brand marketers have operated under a dangerous assumption: that Generation Z, being "digital natives," can only be reached through intensive digital engagement. We have built entire strategies around this belief, pouring budgets into social media algorithms, chasing TikTok trends, and treating these consumers as if they exist solely within our digital ecosystems. But this assumption turns out to be wrong. Recent data from a BSI survey reveals a different reality. 70% of young people aged 16-21 in Britain state, they feel worse about themselves after using social media, and nearly half would prefer to live in a world without internet altogether. This is not teenage angst. This is market correction happening in real time.
The great digital fatigue
Generation Z is deliberately choosing analog experiences over digital ones. Vinyl records, community sports, handicrafts, reading clubs – all these are showing growth among young consumers who understand that digital connection often costs genuine human connection.
This is not nostalgia. This is active resistance to always-on culture from the generation that knows its psychological costs best. Yet brands continue treating them as if they live inside apps, adding to the very noise these consumers work to escape.
Stop chasing trends
The most obvious symptom of our misunderstanding shows up in content strategy. Brand TikTok accounts have become parodies of themselves: desperate, hollow attempts at wit that contribute nothing to brand positioning while adding to the overwhelming digital chatter that young consumers actively resist.
When your brand's primary strategy involves chasing viral moments, you are not building equity. You are participating in the attention economy that your target audience is already trying to leave behind.
The brands succeeding with Gen-Z today understand this distinction completely. They recognize that meaningful engagement requires substance, not just speed. They create content that serves genuine purposes beyond capturing momentary attention.
Build communities for the vibe, not the messaging
Build communities around shared passions but anchor them in physical spaces rather than digital ones. Create genuine environments where shared interests and tribal belonging take precedence over your brand messaging. Consider investing in or supporting the increasingly sparse third places where people can naturally gather.
Position your brand as an enabler, not the centerpiece. Adidas Running succeeds globally by drilling down into hyper-local engagement. Their success is built on the relationships between runners, rather than by the polished brand experience. Local chapters develop their own dynamics and connections, with Adidas serving as infrastructure rather than focal point.
This approach scales down effectively for smaller brands too. Another Cotton Lab, a German fashion startup, built their brand around a completely different vision: The Sunday Running club as a running event, that prioritizes the coffee afterward over pace and performance. They created a vibe that people wanted to join.
Structure your community strategy around what people genuinely want to be part of, not what serves your brand messaging. When authentic community forms around shared values and experiences, the brand becomes valuable by facilitating something people genuinely want to be part of.
Build communities for the vibe, not the messaging
Build communities around shared passions but anchor them in physical spaces rather than digital ones. Create genuine environments where shared interests and tribal belonging take precedence over your brand messaging. Consider investing in or supporting the increasingly sparse third places where people can naturally gather.
Position your brand as an enabler, not the centerpiece. Adidas Running succeeds globally by drilling down into hyper-local engagement. Their success is built on the relationships between runners, rather than by the polished brand experience. Local chapters develop their own dynamics and connections, with Adidas serving as infrastructure rather than focal point.
This approach scales down effectively for smaller brands too. Another Cotton Lab, a German fashion startup, built their brand around a completely different vision: The Sunday Running club as a running event, that prioritizes the coffee afterward over pace and performance. They created a vibe that people wanted to join.
Structure your community strategy around what people genuinely want to be part of, not what serves your brand messaging. When authentic community forms around shared values and experiences, the brand becomes valuable by facilitating something people genuinely want to be part of.
Create tangible content, that people want to keep
Embrace "slow media": carefully curated, deliberate content that prioritizes depth over speed. While streaming platforms plateau and traditional media declines, invest in formats that young consumers can engage with on their own terms: podcasts experiencing their third wave of growth, or print media resurging as special editions, zines, and collectible formats designed to be savored rather than consumed.
Create contemplative media experiences that respect attention rather than demanding it. Young consumers actively choose quality over quantity, seeking content they can control rather than content that controls them.
Partner with existing slow media or create your own collectible formats. Converse's collaboration with Hypebeast produced special edition zines that function as cultural artifacts rather than disposable marketing materials. These work because they offer genuine value independent of their promotional purpose.
Structure your content strategy around creating something people want to keep, not something they scroll past. When your media becomes worthy of collection or repeated engagement, you have shifted from interruption to invitation.
The path forward
The opportunity for marketers lies not in better digital targeting or more sophisticated social media strategies. It lies in recognizing that the generation we have labeled as "digital natives" is actively seeking alternatives to digital-first experiences.
This does not mean abandoning digital channels entirely but rather understanding their proper role in a broader ecosystem of brand experiences. Digital platforms become tools for extending and amplifying real-world connections rather than replacing them.
The brands that understand this shift will build deeper, more sustainable relationships with Gen-Z consumers. Those that continue optimizing for digital engagement metrics will find themselves speaking to an increasingly empty room, wondering why their perfectly targeted campaigns generate such hollow responses.
This text was first published in Ad Age.
