We’ve loosened the tie with many brands, following a society-wide trend towards being more casual. How did we get here? Perhaps the shift traces back to the year 2005, when laptops first outsold PCs in the US, and the word wifi was added to the English dictionary. This was the beginning of the end of the traditional workplace. Years of start-up culture, the gig economy and hoodies in the office shortly followed. Nowadays, this article is more likely to be read from the dining room table
table than an office cubicle.
For older generations, the traditional workplace set a high bar of formality in our lives. Social etiquette, corporate hierarchy and office wardrobes were all far more formal than they are today.
For Gen Z, whose early years of work consisted of Zoom meetings and track pants, there aren’t the same touchstones of formality in their lives that Millennials and Gen Xers remember.
For retail brands looking to target Gen Z, this has created a communication challenge.
So what does a brand do when faced with making its established, traditional presence appeal to casual-loving Gen Z?
Beware ‘best friend’ voice
Recently coined as ‘Your Cool Friend’ by US strategist Joe Burns and ‘BFF Marketing’ by UK agency Sonder and Tell, the best friend voice tries to talk to young people in their own language.
The tone is quirky, vaguely sarcastic, made-for-social media. It’s expected from the likes of ASOS, promoting “off-duty looks from szn to szn” and Cotton On: “It Girl approved. We are totally obsessed!!” Bank ads say ‘slay’, insurers say ‘it’s a lot’, and countless eDMs begin with ‘hey bestie’.
Trying to adopt this tone is dangerous for brands. Here’s why.
Firstly, everyone sounds the same. The impact of being uniquely friendly, and a brand that ‘gets it’ (the culture, the cool vibe) is lost when every brand is uniquely friendly. The result – no one gets it.
Secondly, more often than not, talking in ‘best friend voice’ makes fun of young people more than it connects with them. Silly slang diminishes the audience, creating and reinforcing arm’s-length stereotypes of a generation.
Finally, in addition to degrading the audience, it degrades your brand. It’s not an idea or personality built on meaningful differences. And it’s limiting – once you start talking purely as hip best friends, how does that voice stretch and grow with your business in the future? It doesn’t.
How to strike the right tone
The right tone for Gen Z should be true to your brand, and respectful to the audience.
Consider that in Gen Z’s digital world, everyone has access to a public platform, which gives much greater variety to the voices they expect to hear. And in an era of content creators and self-publishers, authentic individual expression is more valued than ever.
So forget overly casual, one-dimensional youth-speak. The keys to appealing to Gen Z are variety, authenticity and creativity. And those things can come from any brand.
For example, nailing the creative aesthetic is 100-year-old Gucci, whose fastest-growing segment is Gen Z. The brand exemplifies inclusivity over exclusivity, and radical self-expression over perfect polish. The brand’s recent sneaker campaign shows young people intertwined in a dance; the language is still high-end – “emotion, passion, craft…the liberating power of expressing one’s creativity through art” – but champions bold creative expression.
The legacy (Boomer) brand that has become a surprise hit with Gen Z is Kathmandu – the “We’re out there” campaign features young people making an authentic connection with nature, and the brand’s Well.Der.Ness line of outdoor activewear leads with language like, “Feel total bliss being active or just hanging around in nature.” Playful, engaging and relevant – no need to name their audience ‘wellness queens’.
Another traditional retailer that has bridged the generation gap is Officeworks. Consistently rated as a top brand by Gen Z, the brand’s platform of “Make bigger things happen”, and frequent focus on creative products and pursuits suits Gen Z’s entrepreneurial spirit and imaginative self-expression. Officeworks’ social media strikes a great balance – captioning “it’s your turn to host Friendsmas” on a video about in-store printing, shows insight and friendly appreciation of the audience, without the stereotypes.
The key to Gen Z appeal is not trying to talk as their best friend.
Brands can and should speak more casually, but bring your own authentic variety.
Stress-test your brand’s voice and visual identity; they should flex to meet this audience, not completely change. And never use the word ‘slay’.
Further reading: Gen Z will rewrite the rules of Australian retail