How brands are trying to capture Gen Z’s purchasing power

When they launched their company Good Girl Snacks in February 2024, Leah Marcus, 26, and Yasaman Bakhtiar, 27, knew their debut product, Hot Girl Pickles, needed a unique look.

To them, the pickle aisles all looked the same. Bland. Disinfected. Chartreuse. Marcus said the founders instead aimed for a marketing hook and brand look that was “completely opposite” to traditional food brands. Featuring neon pink and turquoise labels, Instagram posts showed dill pickles wrapped in condoms and blunts.

The message wasn’t supposed to look appetizing. It was a statement, Marcus says, that “everything we do is about creating a reaction.”

Younger customers are here, both online and in stores like Erewhon.

Gen Z consumers, especially those between the ages of 14 and 29, tend to appreciate a brand’s raw approach, said Amecas Reed, a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. They’re working on marketing that clearly shows what their individual brands value, whether it’s style, the environment, or tastier, sexier pickles, and they can use that same branding to tell their friends and followers what’s important to them, Reed says.

Brands that appeal to Gen Z “act less like billboards and more like boxes of identity Legos,” Reid says. The products they buy are meant to “help Gen Z say something: ‘I’m creative, I’m iconic, I’m environmentally conscious, I’m health conscious, I’m rebellious, I’m inclusive, I’m culturally savvy.'” Or simply say, “Hey, I’m interested in this joke.” ”

More companies are taking notice. Some, like Bakhtyar and Marcus, choose dynamic color palettes and spicy messages, while others create self-deprecating mascots and smart brand collaborations. It seems like everyone is getting in on the internet trend.

But developing customers who respond positively to condom-wearing pickles is easier said than done, and there’s no one-size-fits-all strategy. The trick is to act quickly when a meme hits and do it in a way that feels authentic to your brand. That’s because Gen Z “can tell if a brand is inauthentic,” says Lando Rivera, 25, who works for the New York-based marketing agency Athletics and runs his own eponymous branding agency.

Few brands have mastered this approach like Duolingo. The Pittsburgh-based language learning platform and its cartoon owl mascot Duo have amassed more than 18 million followers on TikTok. This interest is primarily driven by the brand’s casual, sarcastic tone and active participation in online trends.

Duo has danced to viral music in an empty, yellow-wallpapered room, dressed up like celebrities, and had tea with other characters from the Duolingo universe. This is a reference to the internet trend that inspired the 2026 horror film “Backroom.” In one of Duolingo’s most talked-about online campaigns, Duo was briefly killed when he was hit by a vehicle that resembled a Tesla Cybertruck.

Rivera said the owl’s antics send a message to young users that Duolingo understands their sense of humor. The consistency of the duo’s voice over time is also important, he says, as many Gen Zers can catch fraud or blatant marketing from a mile away.

Duolingo’s director of brand marketing, Katherine Chan, says that consistent effort is intentional. “I think Gen Z is more media savvy than any previous generation and is very aware of how much they’re being marketed to, so instead of trying to make their own moment happen, they need to jump into the conversations that are already happening,” Chan says.

“Having a wink at that is the kind of self-awareness that I think Gen Z really appreciates,” she added.

Some Gen Z entrepreneurs are at an advantage when trying to connect with their own demographic. For example, Marcus and Bakhtyar say they intuitively know how to use tone to connect with their online audience.

“We are a generation that really hates being advertised very overtly,” Bakhtyar said, adding that brands today no longer even need to feature their products in online posts to get people’s attention. Instead, the co-founders might stay on camera, posting recipes for pickle martinis or recounting the mistakes they made while starting and running a business together as friends in their 20s.

Marcus and Bakhtyal say their tone, which is reminiscent of FaceTime calls and “Get Ready” videos, helps Gen Z viewers feel like they’re getting great recommendations from a friend, rather than witnessing a brand grab their attention.

This strategy makes viewers feel like they actually know the co-founders, keeps them coming back again and again, and builds trust and brand loyalty over time, Marcus added.

Colors, fonts, and mascots may change as trends evolve, but some core traditional marketing strategies still work for Gen Z. Shoppers of all ages want to know how products can add value to their lives, said Kelly Pedersen, partner and global leader for retail at PwC. They want to know as directly and visually as possible, a lesson that peanut butter company One Trick Pony learned by chance, said co-founder and CEO Lucy Dana, 35.

When the Washington, D.C.-based brand launched in 2022, it packaged its natural peanut butter in standard glass bottles. After customers complained about oil floating on the surface of natural peanut butter, the company developed a plastic container that could be placed upside down on grocery store shelves, Dana said. The uniquely shaped, pastel-colored jar offered more design space, so the company expanded the descriptive text to the lid. “Another trick! Our specially designed peanut butter jars reduce natural oil separation.”

“I think it’s because of these jars that we were able to take off,” Dana says. Since One Trick Pony’s July 2025 relaunch, which it announced on Instagram, the brand has tripled its social following and is now stocked in retail stores at Target and other grocery stores across the U.S. Dana declined to share specific sales figures, but said the startup’s sales have so far increased five times in 2026 compared to 2025.

Still, some of Gen Z’s spending patterns are different from past generations, Pedersen said. “They’re not just concerned about price or convenience; they want to use the product to brand themselves and market themselves to their own followers.” They may prioritize buying from and posting about brands that are environmentally conscious, politically active, or part of a larger cultural trend like the 2025 love boom. Their posts tell those around them who they are. That means the products they prefer can play an important role in defining their identity among their friends, adds Reed, the Wharton marketing professor.

“Gen Z, I think they want a full range of experiences,” Pedersen said. “If they’re going to pay maybe $30 for a squishy toy or something, they want to[participate]in the whole squishy toy world, from getting hooked on the brand’s social media storytelling to hosting real-life events that bring other fans together.”

For brands, finding fans among Gen Z may have the added benefit of changing algorithms in their favor. Gen Z is so online that it contributes to and partially influences social media algorithms for consumers of all ages, Pedersen says. In other words, the more you view, like, and share a certain type of content, the more likely it is to be distributed to other people’s social media feeds.

Gen Z’s purchasing power is also becoming increasingly influential. When compared to millennials of the same age, Gen Z’s household income is 25% higher and their total expenses are 16% higher, after adjusting for inflation, according to an analysis of data from PwC Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“I think it’s an existential threat to ignore this demographic right now,” Pedersen said. “It’s not just about offering products for young people. It’s a bigger message, it’s a bigger campaign. It’s about engaging with customers in a different way, engaging them and discovering your brand.”

At Good Girl Snacks, early returns are a sign of success. The co-founders declined to share sales or profitability numbers, but as CNBC Make It reported on August 29, the company was valued at $8.5 million after a $3 million seed funding round in March.

“The whole strategy was to start with a niche and find out who the audience is,” Marcus says.