Why Brands Need to Be Thinking About Gen Z Now

If Millennials rewired how brands speak, Gen Z is rewriting the language entirely. This generation—born roughly between 1997 and 2012—isn’t just another demographic cohort; they’re a cultural force reshaping the marketplace from the inside out.

Gen Z doesn’t “consume” culture—they create it. Their influence stretches far beyond their wallets (which are already formidable, with over $360 billion in direct spending power in the U.S.) into the social and moral codes brands are expected to uphold. They are curators, critics, and co-authors of the brand narrative. They care less about what a brand says and more about what it does, how it shows up, and whether it stands for something real.

For marketers, that means two urgent shifts: authenticity over aspiration, and participation over persuasion. Gen Z expects brands to meet them in dialogue, not monologue—to co-create, to share control, and to make transparency a design principle, not a press release.

And while they may be young, they’re already shaping the expectations of Millennials, Gen Alpha, and even Gen X parents who take cues from them. In other words: if your brand strategy isn’t Gen Z-ready, it’s already out of date.