In her latest article for Advertising Week entitled Beyond the clichés: What Gen Z really wants from brands, our Chief Research Officer Heather O’Shea explores what today’s most talked-about generation truly values and how brands can build real connection with them.

Heather wrote the piece following her session at Advertising Week New York, where she joined Aarti Bhaskaran from Snap Inc., Brad Jansen, and Kirsten Beach from Dobbino to share findings from our global study of more than 6,000 Gen Z social platform users. The article distills the biggest takeaways from that research: that Gen Z’s values of integrity, community, and authenticity now define brand connection.

As Heather explains, Gen Z “has grown up through overlapping crises” and carries both optimism and exhaustion. They’re “woke and numb,” caring deeply about social issues but wary of constant pressure to fix everything. For marketers, that means acknowledging their emotional reality instead of oversimplifying it.

The article also challenges long-held stereotypes. Gen Z isn’t lazy, instead they’re redefining hard work around creativity, self-sufficiency, and purpose. “Nepo babies are out, self-starters are in,” Heather writes. And while they haven’t abandoned status, they measure it differently: “Flexing wealth is out; impact is in.”

At its core, the piece is a call for authenticity. Six in ten Gen Z consumers say they’ll only buy from brands that share their values, particularly honesty, trust, and respect. They don’t expect perfection, but they do expect transparency.

As Heather concludes, “Gen Z isn’t one thing and that’s exactly the point.” To resonate with this generation, brands need to move beyond trend-chasing and embrace the contradictions that make Gen Z who they are.

Read the full article on Advertising Week: https://advertisingweek.com/beyond-the-cliches-what-gen-z-really-wants-from-brands/