5 Gen Z trends for brands to watch

Much like the ever-evolving nature of Gen Z vocabulary, new social media trends among the age cohort are materializing on a weekly, if not daily, basis—and are just as quickly bleeding over into the real world and influencing Gen Z’s shopping habits, media consumption and everything in between. For marketers looking to connect with Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—we’ve rounded up five buzzy trends across fashion, music and film that are captivating the coveted consumer demographic. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Owala starts to nudge Stanley out of the water bottle spotlight Let’s not get hasty here—Stanley’s massively-viral Quencher tumblers and their extensive library of limited-edition colors won’t be leaving the grasp of TikTok influencers any time soon. Case in point: dozens of teen girls just received new Stanleys over the weekend in their Easter baskets, including one TikTok creator who shared her “Easter haul” of seven different Quenchers. But some Gen Zers are slowly but surely swapping their Stanleys for a rival water bottle brand, Owala. In January, Casey Lewis—a Gen Z trendspotter and author of the newsletter “After School”—predicted Gen Z consumers in their late teens and early twenties would begin to pivot away from Stanley after “cringe” videos of millennial moms mobbing Target displays for limited-edition Quencher colors and clips of tweens crying tears of joy upon unwrapping a Stanley on Christmas morning both made the rounds on social media. Rewind: Stanley’s Target collab sparks social media frenzy One quarter into the year, her prediction is becoming reality. A growing number of Gen Zers on TikTok are declaring themselves “Owala girls,” sharing unboxing videos of their pastel or sparkly pink Owala bottles, or reviewing upcoming color collections from the brand. And TikTok data reflects this, with #Owala garnering more than 21 million views (largely from users between ages 18 and 24) and over 2,000 posts in the past month. @celinekiim my pink emotional support waterbottle 💗🌸🎀 #pinkaesthetic #pinkowala #owalawaterbottle #owalafreesip #candycoated #pinkwaterbottle #pinktok #pinkgirlyaesthetic #pinterestaesthetic #coquetteaesthetic #bowtrend #coquettegirl #softgirlaesthetic #pinkpilatesprincess #owalaunboxing ♬ origineel geluid - hanna Also read: How brands are battling for water bottle market share Mewing—a new solution for unwanted conversations Over the past few weeks, middle and high school teachers have taken to TikTok to call attention to a new epidemic among their Gen Z students: mewing. Or, rather, a warped definition of the term, which refers to a technique that supposedly allows you to redefine the shape of your jawline by holding your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Mewing isn’t exactly a new internet craze—it first grew into a social media fad last summer. Gen Z teens are now leveraging the practice as an excuse to avoid answering questions when called on during class or generally remain silent so as not to“break their mewing streak.” Because mewing requires them to keep their mouth shut and their tongue flattened to the roof of their mouths, some Gen Z students when called on by their teacher will tap a finger to their lips in a “shush” motion before running the finger along their jawline to indicate they’re currently busy mewing. Many Gen Zers, as they’re wont to do, have taken mewing in an ironic direction and aren’t actually trying to chisel their jawlines when they gesture to their teachers or parents that they can’t open their mouths to answer a question. @amandapri.v Rate the mew ♬ sonido original - Oswii Zendaya and a ‘tenniscore’ renaissance Like mewing, “tenniscore”—a fashion aesthetic inspired by country club styles such as tennis skirts, cable knit sweaters and chunky white sneakers—isn’t a brand new online phenomenon. But with Gen Z icon Zendaya starring as a pro tennis player in the film “Challengers,” out later this month, the glamorous tenniscore outfits she’s donned for the film’s press tour have sparked her fans’ enthusiasm for fashion matching the trend. The trailer for “Challengers” has racked up more than 11.4 million views and nearly 540,000 likes on the film’s official TikTok account ahead of its April 26 release. And fans have funneled their excitement around the film into videos about the tenniscore trend. And with fashion brand Skims—a Gen Z favorite—launching a tennis collection last month, creators such as @mixthelabel are anticipating a surge in the popularity of tenniscore content over the next several weeks. zendaya’s blonde hair and her tennis fits oh this challengers press tour is gonna be one for the books pic.twitter.com/6XNZo9iDSg— Kalyn/ Austin Butler Pr manager / BB ERA corwhores (@missdayabutlers) March 26, 2024 Skims’ Gen Z-focused influencer strategy Speaking of Skims, if you need inspiration for how to reach Gen Z through influencer partners, look no further than the underwear and loungewear brand. Skims, co-founded by Kim Kardashian, has been skewing the big-name partnerships at the core of its marketing strategy toward younger celebrities and influencers to appeal to the younger end of its customer base. Roughly 70% of Skims shoppers are millennials or Gen Zers, Jens Grede, the brand’s co-founder and CEO, told The New York Times last year. Its two most recent brand partners—Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy” fame and singer Sabrina Carpenter—are aimed squarely at Skims shoppers in their late teens or twenties. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SKIMS (@skims) Skims has quickly become one of Gen Z’s favorite brands, with nearly 47% of 18-to-24-year-olds and 45% of 25-to-34-year-olds viewing the brand favorably, according to a late 2023 survey from consumer analytics platform CivicScience. Only 3% of survey respondents aged 18 to 24 said they had a negative view of Skims. And according to youth market research platform YPulse, Skims’ star-studded campaigns with celebrities such as SZA, Snoop Dogg and Kate Moss have put the brand on the map for young consumers, with awareness of Skims jumping 13 points on YPulse’s Brand Tracker between 2022 and 2023. The brand’s recent partnerships with Cooper and Carpenter lean into a younger, more-online audience than many of its previous collaborations—and Gen Z is eating them up. Carpenter’s Skims photo shoot, in particular, captivated Gen Z fans of the 24-year-old singer and influencer, and Gen Z creators such as Dixie D’Amelio and Chris Olsen flocked to her Instagram comments in support of the partnership. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sabrina Carpenter (@sabrinacarpenter) Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour At this time last year, TikTok was flooded with content tied to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, from Swifties showing off their concert outfits or stacks of friendship bracelets to shaky, grainy livestreams filmed by audience members. Now, though, Gen Z is all about pop star Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour as it makes ts way across North America. The hashtag #GutsTour has amassed more than 1 billion collective views, nearly 90% of which have come from TikTok users between ages 18 and 24. Like the Eras Tour (though on a smaller scale), TikTokers have shared hundreds of videos of the outfits they wore to Rodrigo’s first arena tour or their favorite moments of her performances. The excitement around Rodrigo’s tour was only compounded by her release of a deluxe version of her album “Guts,” called “Guts (spilled).” Some Gen Zers have also been raving about one of the tour’s opening acts, Chappell Roan, whose song “Casual” recently took off on TikTok. @livbedumb 5 new tunes for ya!!!! GUTS (spilled) out friday 😈🎀💓 ♬ original sound - Olivia Rodrigo Ad Age Gen Z Contributor Column We welcome Gen Zers to submit fresh takes exploring Gen Z within the ad industry Learn more here

5 Gen Z trends for brands to watch

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