How to Use Humor to Appeal to Gen Z Shoppers

As the buying power of Gen Z continues to grow, it's crucial for businesses to understand and appeal to this demographic's unique sensibilities, especially in their marketing efforts. One of the most effective ways to grab the attention of Gen Z shoppers is through humor. In this article, we will delve into the characteristics of Gen Z's sense of humor, discuss how to integrate humor into your marketing strategy, and examine examples of successful humorous campaigns. We'll also provide insights on how to avoid common pitfalls while using humor to connect with Gen Z consumers.

Understanding Gen Z's Sense of Humor

First and foremost, it's essential to comprehend Gen Z's humor styles to effectively utilize it in your marketing. This generation's humor is highly contextual, heavily relying on internet cultures and social media platforms. Understanding these nuances is vital for designing relatable, engaging, and shareable content.

Key Characteristics of Gen Z Humor

Gen Z humor often embraces the absurd, ironic, and self-deprecating. It can be highly referential, drawing on current events, pop culture, and memes for comedic effect. Additionally, it tends to be fast-paced, easily digestible, and driven by visual content, gifs, and captions. Keep these characteristics in mind when tailoring your marketing messages to resonate with Gen Z audiences.

For example, one popular meme among Gen Z is the "distracted boyfriend" meme. This meme features a man turning his head away from his girlfriend to look at another woman, and has been used to poke fun at everything from politics to pop culture. By incorporating this meme into your marketing content, you can tap into Gen Z's love of visual humor and current events.

Another key characteristic of Gen Z humor is its focus on inclusivity and diversity. This generation values representation and authenticity, and appreciates humor that reflects this. For example, memes that celebrate different body types or poke fun at societal beauty standards can be highly appealing to Gen Z audiences.

Memes, Sarcasm, and Irony: The Language of Gen Z

Memes are the universal language of Gen Z, communicating complex ideas, emotions, and humor through a single image or short video. Leveraging memes in your marketing campaigns can create a sense of connection and relatability with this demographic. In addition, sarcasm and irony are frequently employed in Gen Z's humor, often as a means of dealing with challenging situations or expressing skepticism towards traditional institutions and conventions. Incorporating elements of sarcasm and irony into your content can make it more appealing to this generation.

For example, a brand that sells eco-friendly products could create a meme that pokes fun at the excessive use of plastic in everyday life. This type of content can resonate with Gen Z's values of sustainability and social responsibility, while also showcasing the brand's sense of humor and personality.

How Gen Z's Humor Differs from Previous Generations

While humor has always been a powerful tool in advertising, what sets Gen Z's humor apart is its adaptability and fluidity. This generation's humor is continually evolving, making it more challenging for brands to stay up-to-date with the latest trends. Moreover, Gen Z values authenticity and embraces the unconventional, appreciating humor that reflects their diverse perspectives and experiences. Understanding these distinctions will help ensure your marketing campaigns remain relevant and engaging to Gen Z shoppers.

One way to stay on top of the latest humor trends is to follow popular Gen Z influencers on social media. These influencers often have their finger on the pulse of what's trending in Gen Z culture, and can provide valuable insights into the types of humor that are resonating with this demographic.

Another way to stay relevant is to experiment with different types of humor and content formats. For example, a brand that typically uses memes in its marketing could try creating short videos or gifs to appeal to Gen Z's love of visual content. By staying flexible and open to new ideas, brands can keep their marketing campaigns fresh and engaging for Gen Z audiences.

Incorporating Humor into Your Marketing Strategy

Marketing can be a tough game, but one way to make it more enjoyable for both you and your audience is by incorporating humor into your strategy. Not only can humor make your brand more relatable and memorable, but it can also help you connect with Gen Z, the generation that values humor more than any other.

However, it's important to remember that humor is subjective, and what's funny to one person might not be funny to another. That's why it's crucial to identify your brand's humorous voice and ensure that it resonates with your target audience.

Identifying Your Brand's Humorous Voice

Before you start incorporating humor into your marketing strategy, take some time to identify your brand's humorous voice. This voice should reflect your brand's personality and values and resonate with your target audience. Consider whether your brand's voice should be sarcastic, self-deprecating, witty, or absurd, and how that voice can be communicated through your ad campaigns, social media content, and other marketing materials.

For example, if your brand is known for being irreverent and edgy, you might want to use sarcasm or absurd humor to appeal to your audience. On the other hand, if your brand is more wholesome and family-friendly, you might want to use self-deprecating humor or witty puns to connect with your audience.

Creating Shareable, Relatable Content

One of the most significant advantages of using humor in marketing is its potential to create shareable, viral content. To accomplish this, focus on crafting appealing and relevant content that reflects the interests and unique perspectives of your Gen Z audience. Keep your content concise, visually appealing, and easily shareable across social media platforms. Make liberal use of memes, gifs, and humor-driven captions to capture and retain the attention of Gen Z shoppers.

For example, if you're a fashion brand, you might create a meme that pokes fun at the latest fashion trends or uses a popular meme format to showcase your products. Or if you're a food brand, you might create a humorous video that showcases your products in a fun and engaging way.

Utilizing Social Media Platforms Popular with Gen Z

As the first digital-native generation, Gen Z spends a significant amount of time on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. To effectively reach this audience, your brand needs to have a strong presence on these platforms. Invest in creating humorous, engaging content tailored to the specific platform and its user base, and consider collaborating with influencers who can enhance your brand's reach and credibility.

For example, if you're a beauty brand, you might collaborate with a popular beauty influencer on TikTok to create a humorous video showcasing your products. Or if you're a tech brand, you might create a series of humorous Instagram Stories that showcase the unique features of your products in a fun and engaging way.

Remember, incorporating humor into your marketing strategy requires creativity, careful planning, and a thorough understanding of your brand identity. But if done correctly, it can help you connect with your audience, increase brand awareness, and ultimately drive sales.

Examples of Successful Humorous Campaigns Targeting Gen Z

Many brands have successfully leveraged humor to appeal to Gen Z audiences. Let's examine a few standout examples that you can draw inspiration from.

Case Study: Wendy's Social Media Presence

Fast food chain Wendy's has earned widespread acclaim for its humorous, sarcastic Twitter presence. The brand cleverly uses its social media platforms to engage in light-hearted banter with its audience and playfully roast its competitors. The result is a highly shareable, engaging, and authentic social media presence that has garnered the brand significant attention and affinity among Gen Z consumers.

Wendy's has also successfully translated its social media presence into its advertising campaigns, creating humorous and relatable commercials that resonate with Gen Z. The brand's "We Beefin?" campaign, which featured a rap battle between Wendy's and a competitor, was particularly successful in capturing the attention and loyalty of Gen Z.

Case Study: Doritos' Bold and Quirky Advertising

Doritos has long been known for its bold, quirky, and humorous advertising campaigns. In recent years, the brand has effectively targeted Gen Z through its "Anti-Ad" campaign, which embraces a witty and irreverent approach, poking fun at traditional advertising tropes. This strategy has resonated with Gen Z's disdain for blatant commercialism and enhanced the relatability of the Doritos brand.

In addition to its advertising campaigns, Doritos has also successfully leveraged humor in its product innovation. The brand's limited edition "Rainbow Doritos," which featured rainbow-colored chips in support of the LGBTQ+ community, was a huge hit among Gen Z consumers who appreciated the brand's playful and inclusive approach.

Case Study: Old Spice's Absurd and Memorable Commercials

Old Spice's bizarre, hilarious commercials have captivated audiences, including Gen Z, with their unique blend of absurdity, self-awareness, and exaggerated masculinity. These commercials often go viral, largely due to their memorable visuals and distinctive humor. Old Spice's outlandish, left-field humor has effectively differentiated the brand, making it unforgettable to consumers.

Old Spice has also successfully leveraged humor in its social media campaigns, creating engaging and entertaining content that resonates with Gen Z. The brand's "Smell Like a Man, Man" campaign, which featured a series of humorous commercials and social media posts, was particularly successful in capturing the attention and loyalty of Gen Z consumers.

In conclusion, humor can be a powerful tool for brands looking to appeal to Gen Z consumers. By leveraging wit, irreverence, and relatability, brands can create engaging and memorable campaigns that resonate with this influential demographic.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls When Using Humor

Humor is a powerful tool that can help your marketing campaigns stand out from the crowd. However, it's important to use it wisely to avoid alienating your target audience. Below are some tips for avoiding common pitfalls when using humor in your marketing:

Striking the Right Balance Between Funny and Offensive

Humor is subjective, and what one person finds funny, another may find offensive. It's crucial to consider the sensibilities of your target audience when incorporating humor into your marketing campaigns. Avoid using humor that could be considered offensive or insensitive, and strive for humor that's inclusive and considerate of diverse viewpoints.

For example, if you're targeting a younger audience, it's important to be mindful of current social issues and avoid making light of serious topics. Instead, focus on humor that's lighthearted and relatable, such as poking fun at everyday situations or common experiences.

Ensuring Your Humor Aligns with Your Brand Identity

While humor can be an effective attention-grabber, it's important to make sure it aligns with your brand identity. Your humor should reinforce your message, values, products, or services, and not detract from or undermine them.

For example, if your brand is known for its eco-friendly products, you might use humor to highlight the importance of sustainability. However, if your humor comes across as insensitive or dismissive of environmental concerns, it could damage your brand's reputation and turn off potential customers.

Staying Current with Gen Z's Ever-Changing Humor Trends

Gen Z is known for having a unique sense of humor that's constantly evolving. To effectively reach this demographic, it's important to stay current with emerging humor trends and adapt your marketing campaigns accordingly.

One way to stay on top of current trends is to monitor social media platforms, where Gen Zers often share and create memes and other humorous content. You can also follow Gen Z influencers and content creators to get a sense of what's resonating with this audience.

By staying up-to-date with emerging humor trends, you can create marketing campaigns that feel fresh and relevant to your target audience.

In conclusion, humor can be a powerful tool for reaching Gen Z shoppers, but it's important to use it wisely. By striking the right balance between funny and offensive, ensuring your humor aligns with your brand identity, and staying current with emerging humor trends, you can create successful, engaging campaigns that resonate with this highly influential demographic.

Remember, humor is just one tool in your marketing arsenal. Be sure to consider your overall strategy and goals when deciding whether to incorporate humor into your campaigns.

Using video to connect with Gen Z

One of the defining characteristics of Gen Z is how important video is to this demographic. They are a video-first consumer audience that makes up the core user base of video-centric social media platforms such as YouTube and TikTok.

The good news? Video and humor play super well together. If you're looking to create content that clicks with Gen Z, video content that aligns with Gen Z's take on what's funny is one of the best ways to generate buzz (or maybe even go viral, if you're lucky - don't try to force it!)

GhostRetail offers a range of video shopping solutions that can help create video-centric ecommerce experiences, including shoppable video. If you're using humor to spotlight a product, why not convert a customer's interest into a sale by making that video shoppable? Get shoppable video for free.