Why Brands Are Getting So Weird Online
Brands are adopting increasingly unconventional and playful online strategies to capture Gen Z's attention and spending power. Rather than traditional advertising, successful brands participate authentically in internet culture, position themselves as identity tools, and engage in genuine conversation with audiences—a shift exemplified by companies like Duolingo and Good Girl Snacks.
Summary
The transcript explores why brands have fundamentally shifted their online personas and marketing approaches. Gen Z, aged 14-29, represents unprecedented economic opportunity: they currently spend 16% more than millennials did at the same age (adjusted for inflation), and are projected to spend $12 trillion by 2026 and over $22 trillion by 2036. Beyond their direct spending power, Gen Z consumers also heavily influence household purchasing decisions across age groups, making them strategically crucial for long-term brand investment.
Traditional retail marketing—emphasizing product features, functions, and prices—no longer resonates with this generation. Instead, Gen Z purchases the culture around products and demands brands that help express their identity. This requires brands to shift from preaching at audiences to participating authentically in their social spaces with genuine permission to be part of their story.
Duolingo exemplifies this approach. Originally, its green owl mascot Duo sent mildly threatening push notifications that users found unexpectedly effective. The internet created memes around these notifications, which organically evolved into a broader chaotic social media presence. Rather than a calculated strategy, Duolingo's authentic voice accidentally resonated with Gen Z, leading to an intentional marketing strategy built around participating in internet culture.
Successful Gen Z branding follows three key principles: first, genuine community conversation rather than one-way preaching; second, moving at the speed of culture by jumping into existing conversations rather than creating contrived moments; and third, self-aware humor that acknowledges the reality of corporate social media management. This approach has produced measurable business results—Duolingo reports that social media drives significant new user acquisition.
Young startup founders like those behind Good Girl Snacks naturally embody Gen Z communication styles without deliberate training, speaking to audiences as friends through authentic, behind-the-scenes content. By posting daily for three years, Good Girl Snacks achieved zero customer acquisition cost, avoiding traditional advertising expenses entirely. The founders emphasize that Gen Z dislikes overt advertising and responds to natural, authentic brand communication.
Experts frame successful Gen Z branding not as a specific aesthetic but as positioning products as "identity Legos"—tools that help consumers express aspects of their identity (creativity, environmental consciousness, inclusivity, rebelliousness) to others. As Gen Z ages, the most important legacy of this branding shift may be teaching companies how to interact with consumers rather than market to them—a skill likely essential for engaging future generations like Gen Alpha.
Key Insights
- Gen Z is projected to spend $12 trillion by 2026 and over $22 trillion by 2036, surpassing Baby Boomers' projected spending and becoming the largest, wealthiest, and highest spending generation in history
- Gen Z consumers buy the culture around products rather than product features and functions, requiring brands to shift from telling customers about products to helping customers express their identity
- Duolingo's effective Gen Z marketing strategy originated accidentally when mildly threatening push notifications from the Duo mascot created viral memes, eventually building an entire authentic brand voice around this organic cultural participation
- Good Girl Snacks achieved zero customer acquisition cost for three years by posting daily on social media and communicating naturally to audiences as friends, avoiding traditional advertising and influencer payments entirely
- Successful Gen Z branding functions as 'identity Legos'—helping consumers signal values like creativity, environmental awareness, or inclusivity to others, rather than operating as traditional billboards pushing product information
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] Unknown: You may have noticed brands are getting weirder online. They're joking with customers in the comments, jumping on memes and internet trends, and sometimes they're behaving more like influencers than actual companies. Food and Bev specifically, everyone tries to make you know all their imagery and everything look so delicious. We were doing things that were completely the opposite, like putting pickles in condoms and putting pickles on stilettos and things like that, it created a reaction. Gen Z's growing spending power is helping drive that shift. Gen Z, who's between the ages of 14 and 29, is projected to become [0:33] the largest, wealthiest, and highest spending generation in history. Even though many Gen Zers are still…
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