Brands looking to successfully engage with Gen Z should prioritize product transparency, organize conversations about mental health and create safe online spaces for consumers.

These were among the tips shared by Gen Z executives and creatives from Women’s Health, August, Bubble Skincare and Mindshare last week at Ad Age’s Gen Z roundtable on health and wellness, moderated by Adrianne Pasquarelli, special projects editor/senior reporter at Ad Age.

Below, some of the takeaways from the virtual event.

Gen Z differs from previous generations in prioritizing health and wellness

Gen Z doesn’t see a separation between their health—physical and mental—and their sense of self. Even a glance at posts on TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere will show young consumers openly discussing how an acne product can boost their confidence, for example. Or looking for advice on menstrual products.

“I think it really comes down to the fact that physical health and mental health are so much more directly tied and integrated,” said Wolf, manager of Invention+ at Mindshare.

Wolf highlighted how exercise, for example, should be seen as a source of joy rather than something associated with shame or dread.

Gen Z is looking for uplifting experiences that benefit their physical health and overall well-being. “We’re not willing to sort of sacrifice that mental health piece in order to achieve it,” Wolf added.

Importance of mental health to Gen Z

Bubble gives its over 25,000 brand ambassadors the “space every day to talk about their mental health, to talk about what’s going on in their lives, their struggles, what they like, what they dislike,” said Robinson, director of community and acting social media director of Bubble Skincare. 

Robinson said other brands can follow suit because mental health is becoming more “prevalent in the lives of young consumers.”

“I think that the reason that mental health has become so much more important for Gen Z is because we haven’t had really an option,” said Okamoto, co-founder of August. “We are a generation that is having to grapple with a lot of the side effects of having, you know, burnout with millennials around us, but also capitalism and the system of capitalism not being very sustainable from an energy perspective.”

Also read: 23 Gen Zers to know in advertising and marketing

Okamoto said helping Gen Zers overcome burnout comes from a place of passion and recognition for people as “holistic humans.” She suggests that brands can significantly contribute to this effort by emphasizing authenticity, transparency and sustainability.

This also applies to the way mental health conversations are conducted in the workplace and what priority they are given. Managing these expectations and creating spaces where mental health is discussed more openly can foster brand loyalty.

Wellness-oriented content that feels authentic and builds community

“When it comes to apps, there are so many different options, which is great,” said McMahon, assistant social media editor for Women’s Health. “I personally find a lot of my community on TikTok as a place where I can go to kind of talk about my mental health and have a community to listen to me. And I think that's kind of going back on that first question, what makes Gen Z so different from previous generations is our demand for authenticity and our own.”

Gen Zers view wellness as an extension of everyday life and are turning away from a singular view of what it means to be healthy, said McMahon. “It's about what makes sense for us individually and what makes sense in our communities online.”

Sustainability’s role

Gen Z feels a sense of responsibility to be conscious consumers due to climate change and environmental concerns. Clean and sustainable ingredients and packaging are increasingly important factors in product choice.

“We’re transparent with our ingredients. We’re transparent with our packaging. We’re transparent with where we’re formulating our products,” said Robinson about Bubble products. “It's always something that we're thinking about. Especially on the ingredient side, formulating with no controversial ingredients based on science rooted in plants.”

Credible content is a priority

Gen Z values credibility and transparency in health and wellness content, so content creators must be forthcoming with their audiences.

“I think credibility is such an important thing for Gen Z, especially growing up on the Internet. There’s so much information. We’re bombarded with it every day,” said McMahon. She added that in her role as a social media manager, deciding which conversations to engage in online, which influencers to collaborate with, and which brands to partner with is crucial to operations.

What makes health and wellness advice trustworthy to Gen Z

“I really look to peers,” said Okamoto. “I think that’s where we see this like power of social media. We might not have the expertise to talk about things from a medical perspective, but what we do know is our experience, and we can talk about our own experience with mental health and what's working for us.”

Okamoto often considers this from a Gen Z perspective: Customers seek a safe space for these conversations, not just answers from the brand.

“And in that space, my role is really not to be like, just having the microphone. It’s really about creating the space, giving everyone else a microphone and kind of being in the driver’s seat of maintaining psychological safety, fostering conversations so that other people can really have that discussion,” Okamoto said.

For Bubble, Geneva acts as a place where members can share their struggles, get advice, or get connected with experts, Robinson said. 

Wolf said influencers often serve as trusted sources due to their personal connections with audiences, which can be a challenge for traditional media and brands in connecting with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who might seek community and peer-to-peer connections over traditional media.

How Gen Z navigates conflicting information online

McMahon says vetting information and sources is a very “Gen Z” thing to do. “How we view our health and wellness as a very individual thing. We’re also viewing our information as that. And so that’s why I think it's really important for brands to have a wide net of ways they market information, ways that they give it to us,” she added.

Robinson added how education plays a factor in this. Bubble is always looking for fun and uplifting ways to educate its audience and community.

Developments and challenges in the wellness industry

Okamoto expressed excitement about the progress in acknowledging that gender is a social construct and explained how Gen Zers are more fluid in gender and sexuality. August, for example, uses gender-inclusive language in its marketing and packaging.

“I think that when we talk about health and wellness, we’re thinking a lot about how our gender plays a role in that, how intersectional health and wellness is and how our intersectional identities both can be fluid, but also all kind of play into our current health and wellness and what might help, what resources we might have access to,” Okamoto said, adding that misinformation is a big challenge.

Wolf sees a challenge and opportunity for historical brands in the digital age to directly connect with consumers, start businesses, and create products, highlighting the shift in consumer behavior and brand engagement. “Because Gen Z especially is so interested and fascinated and motivated by what’s the next new thing,” she said.

“Finding new ways to be innovative as a brand, even if you are one of these historical giants of a brand, and still finding new ways to be the new shiny thing that Gen Z can take interest in without being a new product,” she added.

Which brands get these Gen Zers’ stamps of approval? (Responses have been edited for clarity and length.)

McMahon: “I love the Morning Brew TikTok page. They really broke on the scene with really hilarious corporate skits about, you know, what's going on in policy and how is that affecting me personally? I think it's a genius delivery on corporate satire, but also making it extremely relatable and it relates to financial wellness.”

Wolf: “I think mine would have to be Starface Pimple Patches. I think it's so fun the turning it on its head of pimples being this thing to hide that shame and the very Gen Z approach of, I want joy integrated into my pimple care products. I want to have a bright, colorful star sticker on my face to handle it.”

Robinson: “"I really have loved, in recent years, what Lululemon is doing to uplift women in the athletic space. They’re currently doing a campaign, around just women and Ultramarathon. I'm really loving the emphasis there on females and athletics, it's really exciting to see.”

Okamoto: “I would say that I’m not super Gen Z-focused, but I think that one that I think really exemplifies a lot of the values is Cabinet Health. They do plastic-free refillable, super transparent supply chain, kind of taking on the big pharma industry.”