I wouldn't market to Gen-Z in 2025 without knowing these stats and insights
Are you aware of what Gen-Z wants from marketers? Or what they don't want. They told me marketers are falling behind, that changes this year. 🧃
January is about preparing marketers for brand building in 2025. This week is about Gen-Z, next one will be out about state of marketing.
Maybe I will do another version of this report.
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The obvious:
Gen-Z is abandoning Google for TikTok. Are they?
TikTok confirms they will shut down the platform on January 19th if the ban is upheld.
Even if TikTok doesn’t get banned. The search function of Tok has a porn/Only Fans problem.
Instagram search was never good.
Maybe Gen-Z is not searching at all. Only scrolling and ChatGPT.
Dupe culture and use of BNPL
To save money and fight against credit card debt, more than 50% of Gen Z have purchased ‘dupes’ when online shopping.
Adobe shares during Holiday season, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) usage hit an all-time high, contributing $18.2 billion in online spend, up 9.6% YoY and representing $1.6 billion more than the last season.
Dupe culture explained: Many Gen-Zers aren’t buying dupes for product, it’s the brand and social media value.
Gen-Z’s political affiliation gender divide
The loneliness epidemic
India, America and Philippines - It’s global.
The Typical Gen-Z Marketing you will hear in every other report.
People are the new brand - Scott Galloway.
America has fallen out of love with brands and in love with people. This is evident in every corner of American life — from politics and business to technology and media. People are the new brands.
Absurdity and Reactive marketing playbooks created by Marc Jacobs and Jacquemus are the future.
I love both brands but this advice requires big money and the creative teams that are locked in.
Visual Storytelling
The faces are Gen-Z, trends are Gen Alpha.
Many trends in terms of consumption and creation are now driven by Gen Alpha’s interest. But those trends are still termed as Gen-Z.
In partnership with Supermetrics
Custom Data Import: Get data from any sources to get a holistic view of your marketing performance
We’ve all been there: the whirlwind of seasonal campaigns leaves you with a mountain of disconnected data and not enough time to make sense of it all. Think in-store sales reports sitting in your POS, loyalty program data stuck in your CRM, and online ad metrics scattered across dashboards. The result?
Attribution headaches: Was that sales spike driven by Facebook ads or your holiday email campaign?
Missed opportunities: Without a unified view, real-time optimization is almost impossible.
Budget black holes: How do you know where your dollars worked hardest?
One retailer I spoke to struggled to connect offline and online data during their Christmas campaign. In-store purchases couldn’t be linked back to their digital ads, leaving them in the dark about what truly drove sales.
The fix? A more integrated approach to their reporting. By consolidating their offline and online data streams, they gained clarity on their customer journey, optimized their campaign mid-season, and more.
And yes, tools that let you blend structured data from different sources can help here. Something like Custom Data Import might be worth exploring for those tackling similar challenges—it’s all about bridging gaps, not just filing reports.
1. 90% of Visual searches lead you to stereotypes, not actual consumer behaviours
If you are simply searching keywords and random hashtags to find whatever Gen-Z are buying. You will end up seeing the same content format and products.
’s disclaimer for What Gen Z Got for Christmas in 2024 sums up what we are discussing:A necessary aside before we get into it: The TikTok algorithm tends to prioritize a certain kind of person (pretty, thin, white) no matter how much you scroll, so this is by no means representative of Gen Z, broadly.
That's one of the stereotypes you will find in TikTok or Instagram searches. If you are searching for sneakers or any fast-fashion men's brands, you will find a pattern. It's extremely likely that you will see either a 17-18 year old recommending the same old sneakers or a theme page from that teenager ranking different sneakers. Everyone is always in a living room with a similar aesthetic.
You are not looking for active creators and audiences. Find the lurkers and the spaces they inhabit.
Most of the real conversations have moved to Discord. There's even a trend on social media that if you want to know what your boyfriend is really like, check his Discord. Brands/marketers need to find those Discord servers to understand where men's fashion and general views stand.
If someone is not on Discord, TikTok reposts, comments under fashion magazine pages, and Bluesky posts are better than surface-level market research. Reddit is also part of the discussion, but you need to filter out the spam and hidden promos to find anything worth your time. Most subreddits also have a Discord server - you know what to do.
Brands don't need to start Discord servers as much as they need to engage in existing ones. And no, please don't do it with your official profiles. This brings me to the next point!
2. Get the f**k out of comments section. If you see one brand already commented on a viral post, you can leave.
Only comment if the creator is talking about your brand. Yes, brand comments get a ton of engagement, but most people are getting sick of brands invading their content. 2025 will be Gen Z going fully against this trend.
If it's not making anyone laugh, it's an ad for the brand.
Acknowledge that your brand is different from you. Most of the brands commenting and interacting with each other are, 90% of the time, either managed by the same agency or the social media managers know each other.
The consumer/viewer doesn't share the same perspective as you.
By the way, this strategy only works if the brand is early and saying the right thing. Hundreds of brands commenting "drop the album" on Charli XCX's posts had no effect on the audience. Your comment was more visible because of the verified tag, and random people liked it as they usually do. End of story.
Why haven't any brands started using brand comments as a product launch strategy? Instead of making meaningless comments, incorporate comments into your annual product launch strategy. Start dropping hints of future discounts, tell a story, or partner with creators to do comment reactions.
Comments Scavenger Hunt: Most brands should do what CeraVe did with their Super Bowl campaign, with only one change: replace your ad campaign with comments. During BFCM or your annual sale, start posting cryptic and story-driven comments and hire an influencer to make people aware of what you are doing.
Don't make comments for engagement; make them for consumer benefit and sales.
3. Everything on internet is cooked but you can also cook if you want to.
For my non-Gen Z audience, this means everything is going through its worst or brainrot state. But brands and creators can always make the best out of the worst.
A very recent example is how Channel4 and Domino’s reacted to Meta removing their fact-checking program.
The best memes on social media no longer make you laugh. They make you reflect or sad about the reality we are living. In my view, Memes from 2000s and 90s are way too positive. They are best to be used for sales and promotional work.
Brands need to create new memes and use recent templates to reflect the current reality and Internet culture. You need to learn from cultural/marketing meme pages like The Political Compass, Socks House Meeting, Silence Brands and SPCYBOIS.
You need to TikTok-ify your meme marketing strategy. Use more recent and create too real memes.
Everything is political. There's no escape. If you go viral and comments get weird, angry, or intolerable:
Remember most people aren't angry at you; they want drama. Relax and reply to ragebait with niche, calm responses. 90% of the time, 0/10 ragebait works to scare the trolls.
Before you go to someone on your team and they judge your whole decision to post something, ask your followers in the comments to help you make the final call on whether to keep the post up or fight back. Sometimes all you need is a non-marketing perspective.
If the post isn't losing you followers and is viral, give it three days. Or at minimum one night. Your decision and mindset change as you give yourself time.
If you want to be political and bold, please do it. You can learn from brands like Ben and Jerry’s, Kenneth Cole, Mullvad VPN and Ganni. All of these brands have a history of navigating politics and cancel culture.
With 1 in 4 marketers saying U.S. Election has changed their marketing strategy. It is important to learn from the best and bold brands of the past.
Politics aside, remember Gen-Z is rent-burdened, BNPL debt increases, always stressed about their moral beliefs (r/Gen-Z) and unemployment.
Life no longer gives you lemons to make lemonade. Instead, you are given fungi and must work hard to make either soy sauce or alcohol from it.
5. Marketing can’t solve all of your problems. Be Patient.
Tinder and Hinge have dropped some of my favourite marketing campaigns in recent years. Tinder and Mischief US always deliver a story-driven ad spot meanwhile Hinge’s brand platform ‘The app designed to be deleted’ is perfect.
You have two brands with great marketing that are struggling because of external factors. This will be a common theme for 2025. Marketing will get better, but brand growth won't.
The reason behind this is simple: Many brands owe Gen Z real-life moments and personal space. They need to fix what they broke without seeking an immediate reward. 2024 was filled with brands doing IRL events, but there wasn't enough separation between the brand and the purpose.
Our online spaces are not ecosystems, though tech firms love that word. They’re plantations; highly concentrated and controlled environments … that madden the creatures trapped within.
If Tinder, Bumble and Hinge want to fix the anti-social generation. They have to do more natural and integrated programs with Cafes, Clubs and other third places. This is how brand events looked in 2024:
Also, Different Brands need to share their purpose and win together. Tinder should do a campaign with Heineken to promote the 0.0 alcohol-free beer and break the clubbing norms.
6. I’m employed, can someone explain what happened?
This comment can be interpreted in different ways. The most common interpretation is people saying they're too busy to know/learn what's new in pop culture or what's being discussed in that video.
The rare interpretation of this comment is that people want to unconsciously consume content - or basically everything.
This comment and others like "put the fries in the bag bruh," "Deswegen 💙," or people commenting "Context" without reading captions or watching videos - these are huge red flags for brands.
You can't fix the critical thinking/unconscious consumption crisis, but you can try to simplify your content. Or try to make it more niche to only reach people who hold a certain level of context.
2025 is going to be the year of "I'm employed, can someone explain?" and Gen Z won't be the only ones participating in this trend.
7. 2025 will be about internet culture preservation
While I believe this trend started in 2023 with the rise of corporate attacks on Internet Archive, 2024 with Brat changed everything. A huge chunk of Gen Z sold a percentage of internet history and aesthetics to boost Charli XCX's brand and her affiliates like H&M, Google, Acne Studios, and more.
What do I mean by this? Charli represented a huge chunk of Tumblr aesthetics, fashion, and internet culture. With Brat and her multiple brand collaborations, she basically gave brands access to that part of the internet.
I love Charli XCX, but the last time this big of a cultural sale took place was when Drake gave the keys to much of hip-hop culture to music labels. This big of a cultural sale is unlikely to happen again this year, so 2025 is likely to follow similar trends to 2024.
Post-U.S. Election Democratic discourse, Kendrick vs. Drake beef, and AI slop - these three elements established how 2025 will look: more cultural preservation and limited access to sacred online spaces. The only element fighting against this change was Brat.
8. Gen-Z loves print/text media but the industry is in chaos
Last year, the advice for brands was to not rule out text/conversational content. While many brands can win big in 2025 by having the same strategy and starting a Substack or community forum.
To the 10% who want to do more: Print media is on the rise, while spaces like #BookTok, literary influencers, and fiction reading trends among men are a mess.
First, You should read
reporting on the resurgence of Text media to understand the current landscape.Second, The author’s perspective died years ago. It was taken over by the audience. Fast forward to 2025, #Booktok is suffering from Influencer’s perspective. The influencers in that space often fail to give audience time to form original takes.
Crucially, BookTok heavily promotes overconsumption, viewers compulsively scrambling to own every single popular book, inspired by the brimming bookshelves content creators exhibit proudly. Further waste is promoted through influencers covering their many many often unread books in more aesthetically pleasing covers, again feeding the perfomative nature of the “reader”. - Is BookTok ruining literature? by Eva Marsden
Third, Literary influencers are in a weird relationship with Media (Traditional and Alt right). Seemingly, they are only invited to win and lose debates.
They aren’t driving the print media trend to say the least. It’s fashion (Miu Miu summer reads), cafe culture and letterboxd to books pipeline. Yes, the last one exists.
9. We are different
A huge problem with Gen-Z and their use of social media is that they want to overpathologize every behavior as an internet phenomenon or culture.
Recently, a bunch of creators turned a very typical dance step into the 'Sofia Richie Dance' trend. I know that's not exactly relevant to what we are discussing, but it's part of the bigger problem.
You can't make a behavioral example out of every video you see on the internet, or try to turn a single self-reflective video into a therapy trend.
I don't blame Gen-Z for the most part; media does the most damage. Business Insider, Newsweek, NY Times, and many more need to stop writing articles on every TikTok trend related to therapy, finance, and relationships.
In 2024, fashion magazines gave up on covering "XYZ-core" trends. 2025 should be the year teen and news magazines give up on covering topics like Pomegranate Theory, Rejection Therapy, ZY-scrolling, and more.
Stop trying to individualize or rebrand problems. Touch grass and seek help from IRL friends.
10. Gen-Z and Millennials have the most anti-AI stance in terms of consumption
Gen Alpha, X and Baby Boomers: Your parents and kids are most likely to be currently consuming AI generate content/slop. While some of AI content consumption is concerning, we can’t fully neglect AI slop/consumption trend. And many people and kids don’t mind it. They seem to be ok with their brainrot.
Yes, Gen Z and Millennials are using AI assistants and tools at their jobs on a large scale. When it comes to gaining AI skills to further their careers, mid-career millennials are leading the charge; 54% agreed, followed by 53% of Gen X workers. In contrast, 45% of baby boomers and just 39% of Gen Z workers agreed.
But that usage doesn’t mean they are open to consuming content generated and edited by AI. A recent report shares the number of marketers willing to use AI-generated content if brand suitability could be verified dropped from 66% to 50%. (report)
The marketing outrage against AI ad campaigns from both younger generations on LinkedIn is huge. Will this behaviour of Gen-Z and Millennials against AI content change? Maybe.
As a marketer, The best use of AI I’ve found is to do storyboards, test different formats and speech structure. Use it during creative process and experimentation stages.
What won’t change in 2025 but peaked in 2025
These insights were shared in 2024 edition and are still part of Gen-Z culture:
Highlight Usage & Behaviour like Spotify Wrapped.
Collaborative Marketing
As I shared in
’s Ins and Outs 2025 post. In certain niches like Fashion and CPG, consumers are getting tired of brand-on-brand collaborations. 2024 had Nike partnering with Powerpuff girls, Kith x BMW, Burt’s Bees partnering with Hidden valley ranch and Wendy’s x Spongebob, GAP x Palace, etc.2025 has already kicked off with big collabs: LV x Takashi Murakami x Zendaya and On x Loewe. Fashion brand collabs are getting too much.
Gen-Z Cult vs Culture nature; Nostalgia & Pop
Brand nostalgia played a big role in Nike coming back from a downturn with WuTang Clan sneaker launch, GAP making their musical marketing comeback. Guinness referencing their old ad campaigns to upsell new canned product.
Nostalgia won’t go anywhere in 2025. It is likely to reach a similar level and dominate ad campaigns.
Gen-Z isn’t limited to Short-form Content Consumption.
Long-form ad films and content was a big part of 2024 and will continue to dominate this year.
The downfall of Mr.Beast and rise of video essays tells us Gen-Z loves yappers and understands why long-form content exists.
Gen-Z & Millennials Reports (2025 updated)
In 2024, 21 percent of 12th graders reported vaping nicotine in the past 12 months, down from 35 percent in 2020 and near the 2017 rate of 19 percent. The percentage of 12th graders reporting alcohol use in the past 12 months dropped to 42 percent in 2024, compared to 75 percent in 1997. (GenZ study)
Gen-Z believes 10 minutes late is no big deal. Around 40% of millennials said they are forgiving of colleagues running 10 minutes behind schedule, this dropped to just 26% for Generation X and 20% for baby boomers. (read)
Gen Z led the charge of Americans planning to incorporate GLP-1 medications into their 2025 weight loss regimens, at a whopping 37 percent.
38% of Gen Z currently feel like they are experiencing a midlife crisis. (read)
88% of Americans engage in niche communities and 45% of Gen Z, millennial, and Gen X Americans feel more connected to these communities than to mainstream culture.
Nearly half flock to brands that cater to specific interests over those with broad, mass-market appeal, with Gen Z being the most likely (53%) to prioritize niche brands. (AX)
Only 1 in 10 Gen Z (9%) and Millennials (12%) say their purchases on social media are planned ahead of time. Gen Z (44%) and Millennials (38%) said they would not spend more than $50 on items purchased via social media. (read)
4 in 10 Gen Z shoppers believe the majority (75%) of their purchases will be second-hand by 2027. (amazon)
In 2023, 60% of new global Amex accounts were Gen Z or millennials (despite collectively only comprising some 42% of the U.S. population), and they made up 75% of new Gold and Platinum accounts. (FC)
Only 56% of managers aged 18-24 rate AI as “very important” in customer engagement strategies, compared to 72% of those aged 35-44 or 55+. (read)
Pew Research Center publishes new data into Teen social media usage. (read)
Roughly six-in-ten teens say they use TikTok and Instagram, and 55% say the same for Snapchat. Only 6% of teens report using Threads. 6 in 10 teens visit TikTok daily. This includes 16% who report being on it almost constantly.
What it takes to be ‘Financially successful” by generation: An average American think $270,000 a year. Meanwhile Gen Z thinks they have to earn almost $600,000 a year. (read)
Tinder’s top 2024 dating trends reveal top communication style for users was "better in person," followed by being a "big-time texter," then "phone caller," then "bad texter." "Video chatter" ranked at the bottom. (read)
Gen Z male voters demonstrated a clear shift toward the Republican party with 49% voting for Trump, compared to 48% young female voters for Harris. (University research)
While 64% of fans over the age of 55 indicated they would not change their behaviour even if their club lagged on sustainability and social responsibility, the numbers plummet among younger fans. Just 12% of Gen Z supporters and 15% of Millennials expressed similar indifference.
Gen Z skincare enthusiasts spent £65 each on personal care products over a three-month period, which is £18 more than the national average. In US, Gen-Z skincare enthusiasts spent $84 on health and beauty products over the past three months, $26 more than the national average.
UK media coverage on young people is twice as likely to be negative (28%) than positive (14%). They found negative framing about under 25s in media coverage through the past year, labelling them as lazy, weak, selfish and dangerous. (read)
As of October 2024, the segment of liberal-identifying Gen Z adults dropped from 41% to 27%, and the segment of self-described conservatives grew from 16% to 23%. (MC)
In a new UCLA survey, 39.2% of U.S. teens selected playing video games as their favorite activity over watching TV or movies (33.3%) or scrolling on social media (27.5%). (read)
Microsoft’s Gen Z Research shows 70% Zers trust a brand that depicts diversity in advertising campaigns more + shares new prompts for better Ad Copy using Prompt engineering. (AOB)
Gen Z consumers’ most frequent purchases tend to be the following…
According to NIQ’s ‘Spend Z’ report, Gen Z will become largest + wealthiest generation in history. The report predicts by 2034, Gen Z will add more than $9 trillion dollars in spending globally more than any other generation. (NIK)
34% of surveyed Gen-Z and millennials tolerate seeing ads while streaming video via smartphones compared to 19% of older consumers who said the same. But only 22% of younger consumers and 12% of older consumers trusting social media advertising. (Forrester)
(45%) of Gen-Z find social media as the most effective advertising channel to inform themselves about new non-alcoholic beverage options. (full report)
Despite 83% of people saying they have a third place, 74% find something missing in their third place, and 65% can’t find the right fit. So, there’s clearly a gap that needs to be filled, and we think there’s a business and societal opportunity here for brands. (CRC)
1 in 4 Gen Z Shoppers use Card-linked offers for specific products. (DEL)
51% of Gen Z and Millennials want more transparency about a non-profit’s finances, but they are indulged in acts of generosity online using social media channels. (MSN)
47% Gen-Zers believe they get better career advice from ChatGPT than their managers. (EBN)
1 in 4 Gen-Zers say Tax could drive them to therapy. (FT)
83% Millennials believe in Astrology, compared to 62% of Gen-Zers. (report)
58.6% of Gen Z renters nationwide are rent burdened, though 60.2% of Millennials experienced rent burden at the same age. (Zillow)
37% of Gen Z and 39% of millennials going on shopping sprees to cope with recent stress, according to the poll by Intuit Credit Karma. (TG)
FEELD’s research reveals Gen Z was the most likely to report that they have fantasized about monogamy (81%) and to say that they fantasize about this often (44%). (read)
Gen Zers and millennials reported significantly more confidence in workplace communication than their Gen X counterparts, at 76% and 77% versus 62%, respectively. (SIA)
Harris Poll & Tubi survey shares that 53% of Gen Z and Millennials believe they’re overspending on streaming and 71% say they are canceling due to tiered memberships that force them to pay more to access certain content.
Gen-Z sports viewership on social media isn’t strong but it varies from league to league, shows new report. (KC)
40% of Gen Z and 36% of Millennials surveyed report that they are learning about finance from social media platforms, whereas less than 25% of this cohort are being educated by their financial institution. (FIS)
50% of U.S. cinema audiences are 18-34 year olds, and that demographic seems to love horror movies. (MB)
Gen-Z, termed as the generation with strongest marriages, 40% unmarried zoomers are currently involved in serious relationships. (NW)
In a recent Cosmopolitan UK sex survey, 69% of readers said that you don’t have casual sex, and yet many of them shared they do have regular sex with people you know. (more)
New Data from Financial Times shows big differences between millennials. They have too much inequality in wealth and finances, like Boomers but more. (GB)
44% of Gen-Z has skipped a meal to pay monthly bills, shows new survey. (Assurance)
The research found pet parents across generations felt the same. No participants from Generation Z, aged between 18 and 27, selected that they would trust their neighbor with their pets. (NW)
92% of Gen Z prioritises a credit score of 750 or higher over the social media fame. (FS)
54% of Gen Z men advocate for a more traditional division of labor, where men are the primary breadwinners and women assume domestic responsibilities. In stark contrast, only 28% of women support such roles. (Study)
Gen-Z and their use of emojis highlighted by a new study; An overwhelming majority always or often used emojis (87.4%), a slight majority always or often engaged with emoji brand messages (50.6%), a vast majority spent more than 3 hours per day (67.8%), and a vast majority’s digital spending was ZAR 251–ZAR 1,000 per month. (read)
75% of frontline workers report feeling burnt out, the number rises to 83% of Gen Zers. While 59% of frontline workers say they’d quit because of “negative interactions with their managers, co-workers, or customers,” that number shoots up to 71% of Gen Zers.
Gen Z and Millennials are twice as likely to say they will travel for Easter, and Gen Z is almost three times as likely to order food for takeout or delivery. (report)
33% of millennials said their decisions about where to live are highly influenced by national politics, while just 25% of Gen Z, 21% of Gen X and 16 percent of baby boomers said the same. (Newsweek)
Gen Z is willing to spend the most on average (£24.48) on beauty and skincare products compared to millennials (£23.70), Gen X (£19.76) and baby boomers (£16.25). (read)
A survey states more than 50% of Gen-Zers believe its possible to get a well paying job with only a high school diploma or GED. (report)
New Research shows that Gen-Z’s loud budgetting habits are helping them save over $600 per month. (MF)
Out of All US Generation, Gen-Z is willing to pay the most for apps, websites and online services, accounting to about $229.14 per month. (read)
Americans spend an average of $119.76 monthly on streaming video services, more than Gas (Oil) monthly spend. (RD)
The typical 25-year-old Gen Zer has an annual household income of over $40,000, more than 50% above baby-boomers at the same age. (The Economist)
59% of EU Gen-Zers prefer to shop for groceries In-store rather than online. Does this mean Grocery apps in EU are under threat? (ESM)
67% of Gen Z said traveling by air makes them nervous, highest compared to other generation. (Cause Boeing)
71 per cent of New Zealand Gen Z respondents said their friends shaped where they wanted to go and 68 per cent of millennials agreed. (report)
Before U.S. Gen-Z turns 30, they would have spent $18,000 more on rent than millennials. (study)
A new Gallup survey revealed Gen-Z is less happy than other generations. (FB)
Surprise: McKinsey shares Gen-Z spends more on grouches than any other categories. (report)
37% of Gen Z men in the U.S. lack a primary care provider, compared to 27% of millennials, 17% of Gen X and 7% of baby boomers, The Washington Post reports.
