Girliepop, slay, no cap – these are terms you can hear from your average 22 year old TikTok influencer… and, more recently from middle-aged (and up) company employees….
Brands are getting Gen Z to write their marketing script
The Gen Z marketing script trend has been taking social media by storm in the last week. The concept is simple enough – stick a middle-aged employee in front of the camera and have them recite Gen Z slang terms with a deadpan expression and a visible lack of understanding of anything they are saying.
Undeniably, hilarious.
And millions of people seem to agree.
Currys gave the real kickstart to the trend with a TikTok starting with “It’s a brat summer at Currys, my guys”, proclaiming a microwave “ate and left no crumbs”. The video raked up 2.2 million views, and counting – and given the accessibility and ease of production, this quickly turned into a social media trend, with use of this format skyrocketing fast.
Currys starting the trend
Other notable Gen Z marketing scripts include: Northumberland Zoo (11.2 million views) 800-year old hotels (15 million views) and even acclaimed institutions like the University of Leeds (200K views) jumped aboard the trend, to name just a few.
More than a week after the start of this internet phenomenon, it’s still going strong as of the time of writing this. The response from the public has been overwhelmingly positive, with younger customers (and in the case of Leeds University, prospective or current Gen Z students) engaging with the content, leaving comments like “now THIS is marketing” or “the Gen Z intern needs a raise”.
Even serious institutions are not exempt – here’s the University of Leeds version.
As with every generation-specific trend however, this one caused a bit of controversy and started some discourse around its authenticity. Some marketers described the trend as fake, declaring that “it’s more than obvious when a millennial wrote the script”.
That can be the case because an older millennial often lacks the understanding of the appropriate use of Gen Z slang (no offence to any elder millennials out there!), leading to stilted, unfunny or plain wrong uses of the terms. So, some brands end up just copying the successful tiktoks without understanding what made them successful in the first place resulting in “cringe” content that doesn’t engage its target audience.
In fact, it can do quite the opposite. When Gen Z dubs something as inauthentic it can lead to a slew of negative comments and have an overall negative effect on brand sentiment and perception.
So, what lessons can brands learn around Gen Z marketing?
Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Before you jump on the Gen Z marketing script bandwagon (or any generation-specific trend for that matter) think about whether you have someone on your team with a genuine understanding of the context of them. Think about the execution itself – is it something that would fit in with your brand’s personality, tone of voice and visual style?
For this trend specifically, location-based videos work the best (Zoo, University, Store, Fitness, Hotel) because that gives the videographer and person scripting an opportunity to switch between shots in different locations, making the videos more attention grabbing. This would be difficult to replicate if you are a service-based business trying to take part in this trend, for instance, as there will likely be very little variety in the shots.
Considering these parameters, will help brands determine whether a Gen Z marketing trend is actually worth participating in or not.
Can we support you with your social media?
Visit our social media marketing page to learn about how The Marketing Optimist can support your business. We have both the strategic knowledge and understanding, and the creative ideas to make your social media content fly. Contact our team today.
