{"id":10780,"date":"2025-10-09T20:16:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T00:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/2025\/10\/09\/main-character-energy-building-brands-gen-z-follows\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T18:34:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T22:34:02","slug":"main-character-energy-building-brands-gen-z-follows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advertisingweek.com\/aw360\/news\/main-character-energy-building-brands-gen-z-follows\/10780\/","title":{"rendered":"Main Character Energy: Building Brands’ Gen Z Follows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With over half of the Gen Z population now shopping inside social apps \u2014 and Gen Alpha, raised on ad-free streaming and algorithmic curation, rarely encountering traditional ads at all \u2014 the rules of brand engagement are due for a reset. Today\u2019s young consumers demand authenticity, inclusion, and emotional resonance from the brands they choose to align with. A new wave of creator- and celebrity-led brands are turning culture into commerce, reshaping how marketers build identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With over half of the Gen Z population now shopping inside social apps \u2014 and Gen Alpha, raised on ad-free streaming and algorithmic curation, rarely encountering traditional ads at all \u2014 the rules of brand engagement are due for a reset. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[40,4],"topics":[2],"class_list":["post-10780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-awnewyork-2025-sessions","tag-culture","topics-editorial"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMain Character Energy: Building Brands' Gen Z Follows | AW360<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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