Gen Z's global purchasing power is expected to reach $12 trillion by 2030, yet the generation remains hard for brands to reach. At an Advertising Week New York panel, Diageo's Smirnoff, dating app Hinge and creative agency Dazed Studio shared what has worked in Gen Z marketing.
"Make sure that it's from Gen Z to Gen Z," said Jose Nicolas Velez, global marketing director at Smirnoff. "You have to meet them where they are. Make sure you take calculated risks."
Smirnoff named singer Troye Sivan its "chief vibes officer," and he was involved in the creative process. Beyond scripted comedy spots, the campaign released an out-of-office message Sivan recorded on his phone for fans to download and use. Scenes were set in an office and a press conference, not a bar. Gen Z is drinking, Velez said, just at cafés and festivals more than at bars.
Gen Z fears looking "cringe" but wants authenticity. That doesn't mean it rejects polished work. On the Hinge campaign, "we had conversations about, 'do we move this text two millimeters to the right,'" said Rachel Effendy, executive creative director at Dazed Studio. "Some Gen Zers also appreciate craft."
Hinge tapped into the romance genre and BookTok with an audiobook launched on Substack, a platform brands use to reach Gen Z through long-form storytelling. The 2025 edition was a limited hardcover of love stories Hinge had posted. Even as a dating app, Hinge centers its advertising on getting people offline and onto real dates.
Both brands accept that Gen Z socializes differently and choose to participate in its culture rather than reshape it. That requires constant adaptation, because culture moves quickly. Velez's closing advice was simple: "Don't be boring."
For more on community-driven sales, read TikTok names its first European BookTok bestseller. For turning live experiences into content, see Experiential marketing is a social content shoot.
Gen Z's global purchasing power is expected to reach $12 trillion by 2030.
Troye Sivan helped shape the creative, the humor moved alcohol advertising out of the bar, and fans got raw, usable assets like a downloadable out-of-office message.
No. Dazed Studio says Gen Z values authenticity but also appreciates craft, so brands should combine raw social content with well-made creative.
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