The generational slang battle took a new direction this week as teams across a whole range of sectors took the play on ‘Gen Z language’ to boost their marketing efforts on TikTok and it did not disappoint.
This trend has been rumbling for a little while, with some fun being poked at the Millennial pause being edited into some fun clips – the Pridemore Properties tour reaching a cool 6m+ back in July and more recently, an Instagram Reel from UA Walton College at the University of Arkansas with their Dean which I loved.
As well as the usual articles on Gen Z and Alpha language older generations can’t possibly understand, we’ve seen a fair few parents making the most of embarrassing their children by pretending to use their language in work meetings and at drive thrus.
Then this week enter the room Currys with this effort, the outtakes are worth a look tbh. Then Fyfield Manor, an 800-year old B&B in Oxford, get their Gen Z daughter to write this Gen Z tour and a cool 11m watches later, they’ve perhaps stolen the show on this trend, althought this from Beamish Museum is a nice one too. Impeccable results, very demure.
There is something very appealing of older generations having fun with language and the aftermath is still showing a few nice wins for the quick thinking. Berks NHS having a go to promote their sexual health team and services and a rather seriously delivered go from East Mids Airport. There are some really truly awful ones too, and if you’re only just considering it and maybe still waiting on your Brat Summer and Very Demure efforts to be approved, it’s probably best to wait for something else!
It does raise quite an ironic point about youth voice though. While shifts in language and popular slang can be an easy way to highlight generational differences, the very success of all of the above content is the collective appreciation among Gen Z as well as older age groups who feel they can’t quite speak the same way as young people.
Bringing youth voice into your marketing and communications, from youth panels, market testing, ensuring a diverse staff base etc, all contributes to helping content land in platform. It does actually make perfect sense to involve and test with your target audience (just as you should with any audience targeting). And if writing script for social is something you wouldn’t ordinarily let someone younger get involved with, maybe it might help. No cap.
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