Gen Z doesn't hate your brand, they hate being talked down to

By Molly Isaac

Have you ever seen a brand trying so hard to be relatable that it actually does the opposite?

As a marketing writer, I consume an unimaginable amount of content every day. And as someone who is also Gen Z, I can immediately tell which brands understand the culture they’re speaking to and which are forcing it.

Often, the brands most desperate to connect with Gen Z do the most damage to their credibility.

That’s why this conversation matters. Gen Z doesn’t hate brands. We hate feeling like brands are talking down to us.

If you’re trying to connect with a generation that grew up online, here are three things worth remembering.

Treat your audience like peers, not a target demographic

Treat your audience as people who enjoy a joke, not a demographic waiting to be sold to.

It’s the marketing equivalent of a really bad dad joke. If the slang feels unnatural, suddenly the whole thing feels awkward rather than engaging. It creates distance instead of connection.

Posts that make Gen Z roll their eyes:

‘Hey bestie!’ from a brand you’ve never interacted with
‘It’s giving…’ followed by something that makes no sense
Using a TikTok sound that was viral six months ago

Gen Z can tell straightaway when it feels like an imitation. Like someone repeating a joke they didn’t quite understand the first time.

But some companies get it right. Take beauty brand Tower 28. It released a three-episode sketch comedy series called The Blush Lives of Sensitive Girls, earning nearly 2000 shares. The content leaned into the dramas of dating in your twenties and exaggerated the chaos of beauty routines. The humour felt meta and sarcastic in the way Gen Z content often is, prioritising entertainment over promotion.

It’s what respecting your audience’s intelligence looks like in execution.

Transparency opens the conversation

Another defining shift in Gen Z internet culture is the expectation of transparency.

The internet has moved a long way from the perfectly curated influencer era. Today, some of the most engaging brand content comes from documenting the messy reality of building something.

From sobbing in tracksuits on your bedroom floor to ‘days in the lives’ that leave nothing to the imagination, Gen Z is used to finding everything online.

The brands connecting with Gen Z are the ones willing to show the process behind what they’re doing.

Brainstorming ideas. Making mistakes. Talking honestly about what’s working and what isn’t.

UK electrolyte brand SULT built much of its early audience this way. Followers could watch everything unfold through docuseries-style content, from naming the brand to moments of doubt. The founders openly admitted things like “no one tells you how hard branding is”, and even asked followers to vote on colours for the product packaging.

As a result, the audience felt part of the journey and more invested in the product.

For Gen Z, who are used to sharing and watching life evolve online, vulnerable moments like this shift the relationship between brand and audience. Transparency creates space for people to respond, contribute and follow along as things take shape.

Long-form storytelling still holds attention

There’s a common myth that Gen Z only wants short-form content.

Yes, we scroll quickly. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in something deeper when it appears.

Being chronically online means Gen Z are always looking for new experiences and ways to consume. Sometimes the smartest move a brand can make is stepping outside the formats we expect.

Dating app Hinge did exactly that when it commissioned five writers to retell the real love stories of five Hinge couples. Each story alternated between the perspectives of both partners and was released weekly on Substack. While Substack may not seem like the obvious place to reach Gen Z, this 2025 campaign helped drive a 14 percent rise in Gen Z brand consideration.

Instead of competing for attention in the middle of someone’s social feed, the campaign met readers in a space where long-form storytelling already belongs. For Gen Z, quick to filter out noise and move through content, this type of marketing stands out.

When storytelling feels genuine, people lean in instead of scrolling past. It creates space for an emotional response from the reader, the kind that makes someone want to learn more about the brand behind it.

The bigger lesson

The brands connecting with Gen Z aren’t asking ‘How do we speak their language?’

They’re spending time in the spaces their audience already occupies. Reading the comments. Paying attention to the humour. Understanding why certain trends resonate while others disappear overnight.

They learn the culture before they try to participate in it.

Because the brands that succeed with Gen Z aren’t the loudest in the feed.

They’re the ones joining the conversation like they were always part of it.

Molly Isaac is a marketing writer for Starr Studio