Is Marketing Still an Interesting Career for Gen Z?
As a somewhat proud member of Gen Z, I think that a career in marketing is undeniably still worthwhile, relevant, and (dare I say it) exciting. To be blunt, for the majority of us recent graduates, the prospect of any career is exciting, but I will try to explain why I, for one, am actively looking to kickstart(er) my career in marketing.
I have always been interested in branding, and this is more than just a vague statement to put on a cover letter and then forget about for the rest of time.
A memory from my childhood (perhaps not an early memory; let’s not oversell things here) stands out in particular. I can’t remember how old I was, but I do clearly remember getting quite upset at my parents for having bought the off-brand versions of food staples that we always had at home.
It didn’t matter how much my beleaguered dad attempted to explain it to me. ‘They’re flakes of corn with sugar on them’ was just plain wrong, as far as I was concerned. It was heresy.
Tony the Tiger was a hallowed part of breakfast time, as important as the milk itself, and to replace him with a bland, abstract farmyard vista without a proper slogan or genuine brand presence was beyond awful.
Of course, this is ludicrous to anyone over the age of eight.
Or is it?
Even today, I hesitate a little when faced with a choice between Heinz Baked Beanz (get the spelling right, please) and a brand that I can’t even remember the name of. Surely there’s enough of a difference to justify spending that little bit more?
Let’s not answer that.
Across the country, tens of thousands of my fellow Brits are making the same agonising choices. On the one hand, the cost-of-living crisis is making life genuinely difficult for a large number of people in the country, and being able to save even small amounts can open up just a little bit of breathing space when it’s most needed. On the other hand, a lifetime of campaigns devised and created by incredibly clever people have built up an all-pervading sense of which brands are ‘right’ and which brands are ‘wrong’.
Now, of course, at this stage, someone will pop out of an air duct next to my desk in this lovely Newcastle office and, in a shrill and grating voice, say ‘Not me!! I never pay any attention to brands, or branding, or advertising, and I am never persuaded to buy or experience ANYTHING unless I’ve decided to do so myself’. Obviously, this isn’t actually about to happen (at least I hope not) but while there are certainly people who pay much less attention to brands and marketing than the average individual, they are in the minority. Most consumers pay a lot of attention to branding and imagery, and this sets up some difficult choices.
Objectively, there isn’t much difference between two kinds of frosted flakes, but if a marketing campaign does its job, the average consumer will both believe that a clear difference exists, and more importantly, that it would be a mistake to purchase the ‘wrong’ product. In 2026, however, it’s more difficult for consumers to justify the expense of luxuries such as name-brand cereals.
Banishing Tony the Tiger back to the supermarket shelf undoubtedly will draw the ire of a small child but it will also help to keep the heating on a little while longer.
This means that companies need to develop new marketing strategies to adapt to changing times. If WK Kellogg Co., now owned by Italian chocolate giant Ferrero, were to put out an advert featuring their timeless striped mascot smoking cigars on a yacht in a bizarre attempt to appeal to Gen Z males, I don’t think that it would go down too well. The question of how to connect with different consumers in the right way is a fascinating one, and as so many parents will testify, it is quite difficult to get young people to listen, let alone convince them that something is cool and worth their increasingly short attention span. How would a massive brand go about doing this?
Enter Gen Z.
The best way to get inside a demographic’s head is to talk to them, but brands can move beyond focus groups. In an age where recent graduates’ birth years start with a ‘2’ and not a ‘1’ (you’re not old, just vintage), what better way is there to find out what young consumers want than to hire them?
Using the exact same logic, a career in marketing should be appealing for young people because it gives them the ability to exert influence on the ways in which large brands permeate different aspects of life. The chance to steer brands in a certain direction should not be overlooked; if a brand engages in practices that you don’t believe in, marketing gives you the chance to change the company from the inside, if you can demonstrate that the change will be beneficial for the company’s growth.
As an example, a large chunk of younger people are both worried about climate change and dismissive of green-washing campaigns that don’t actually do anything positive for the environment. A position in marketing leads to a well-received campaign with emphasis on genuine green strategy, and that might lead to a shift in the way that a company operates. This may seem optimistic and, dare I say it, naive. I might start a role with a genuine desire to transform a brand, get bogged down with the practical difficulties of doing so, and settle for making small changes where I can.
In short, I might find that it’s a lot more difficult to tame the tiger than I previously thought. Still, there’s no harm in giving it a go, and the best way to do so, I think, is to get my start in marketing.
