AndrianaWhen we hired a Gen Z marketer at Intch, we expected fresh ideas. What we didn’t expect was how completely it would reshape our entire marketing playbook and how little of our old approach survived the transition.
Here are a few takeaways from the experience.
TikTok runs on different rules. Instagram ads can last for weeks. On TikTok, you’re lucky if a trend holds for a couple of days. Staying relevant means treating microtrends as a full-time job and accepting that the pace is set by the audience, not the brand.
Authenticity isn’t a buzzword, it’s a filter. Gen Z has a radar for anything that feels manufactured. The content that works isn’t polished or aspirational. It’s the stuff that makes people say “that’s so me.” Emotional accuracy beats production value every time.
Let them lead. If you’re a millennial founder trying to imitate Gen Z’s style, it will show. The shift that actually worked for us was stepping back and letting our Gen Z marketer own the creative direction. Our return on ad spend went from around 30% to 120%.
Stop explaining, start resonating. We moved away from the classic pain, solution, offer formula entirely. The new approach barely mentions pain points. It’s all about cultural relevance and instant recognition.
The bottom line: if your product targets Gen Z, or if you’re building for a future where they’re the dominant workforce, the old playbook won’t cut it.
Alex Levy
Yakov Filippenko
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