By Brooke Solomon
If you’re still running your PR like it’s the early aughts, Gen Z can tell.
We grew up online, raised by Reddit threads, TikTok tea, and public apologies so bad they became memes that now live rent-free in our heads. We know when a brand is trying too hard, saying the right thing at the wrong time, or speaking to us like we’re a data point instead of real people.
So, here’s what we really think about most current PR trends, and how your brand can level up to meet us where we are.
We Know When You’re Faking It
We can spot inauthenticity from a mile away. Your “sincere” apology sounds like it was written by legal or AI. Your brand voice suddenly gets playful and performative during Pride Month. You’re trying to be woke, but it’s all surface with no substance that stops at the statement. If it doesn’t come from a real place, we don’t buy it and we don’t share it.
Actually, scratch that.
We might share it, but only to drag you in the comments.
The brands that do get it right? Look at Patagonia. Their environmental activism isn’t a one-time statement; it’s embedded in everything they do. From suing the U.S. government over public land protection to donating their entire company to fight climate change, their actions speak louder than any campaign. That kind of consistency, even when it’s inconvenient or controversial, earns long-term respect.
Talk With Us, Not At Us
Broadcasting a message and calling it a campaign isn’t enough anymore, and it certainly won’t work on our generation. We want to participate, give feedback, and see our input reflected in your brand’s actions. Don’t just make us feel heard; actually hear us. The best brands are the ones that do just that and build with their communities, not just for them.
With Fenty Beauty, for example, from day one, they asked us what we needed and actually listened. When people pointed out the beauty industry’s limited range of colors, especially for darker shades, Fenty reacted by offering over 40 foundation shades instead of just making a statement. They highlight creators from different backgrounds, share real voices, and treat customers as partners. This consideration of our voices and their openness to work with us makes the brand feel like it belongs to all of us.
Your News Release Is Not Going Viral
Unless we’re journalists, we don’t read news releases. Or your emails. We find out about brands through memes, TikToks, creators, and screenshots in group chats. If you’re not showing up organically where we spend time, you’re most likely invisible to us. Paid media gets you impressions, but organic gets you the key to our hearts (and ultimately our money). The only way to keep up with a chronically online Gen Zer is to be chronically online yourself. So yes, go ahead and say yes to the doom scroll.
Do Your Homework or Don’t Bother
Jumping on a trend you don’t understand? Worse than cringe, it’s a red flag. Especially if you’re two weeks late.
But doing your homework goes deeper than trend cycles. We expect fluency in everything: culture, context, timing, tone, casting, messaging, the list goes on. That means understanding the people you are addressing, showing genuine representation, and thinking carefully about every detail you share. If your campaign isn’t thoughtful, researched, and culturally fluent, it’s not just a miss; it’s a mess. And we will notice.
We’re Not Loyal, We’re Watching
There’s no such thing as blind brand loyalty anymore. One wrong move, one out-of-touch campaign, one “we’ll circle back internally” statement, and we have already moved on elsewhere. A million brands are doing what you do, and they are just waiting for your misstep to capitalize on and scoop up your customers. If one of them aligns with our values better, we’ll switch, plain and simple.
Just look at Shein. Gen Z helped make them a global phenomenon, but we also helped call them out. When concerns about labor exploitation, stolen designs, and the environmental cost of fast fashion came to light, the backlash was immediate. Their attempts at damage control felt surface-level and insincere, and personally, I can’t in good conscience support a brand like this just because it’s affordable.
This is 2025. Gen Z isn’t hard to reach; we’re just easy to lose. If your PR isn’t authentic, informed, and real, we’re already past it.
