Published 03 July 2025

18 min read

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025 (London, June 18-19) assembled marketers, strategists, agencies, social impact experts and technologists across businesses like Lego, ITV, Adidas and Shape History to strategise connecting with Gen Zalpha. We unpack six major directions, including the digital balance economy, communications minus ‘cringe’, experiential ROI (return on investment), fandom shake-ups, social media super-toolkits and the ‘f*** it bucket’.

Gen Zalpha in Review: Stances, Spirit & Spending

The New Tactical Social Media Toolkits

Comedy Without Cringe: Satire & Unhinged Absurdity

The Digital Balance Economy (& Allying with Zalpha Parents)

Experiential Returns: Guided Trips, Darker Dives & Unexpected Journeys

Fan-Culture Commerce

Grasping youth culture’s most pertinent shifts – attitudes, ideals and spending – as Gen Z segues into Alpha (the oldest of whom are now 29 and 15, respectively) underpinned YMS 2025. Ultra-brand-relevant observations included acknowledging ‘the f*** it bucket’ (why impulse spending and chaotic content is holding court), continued kidulting, a growing ideological gender gap and opportunities to step up in providing hope and optimism.

Grasping youth culture’s most pertinent shifts – attitudes, ideals and spending – as Gen Z segues into Alpha (the oldest of whom are now 29 and 15, respectively) underpinned YMS 2025. Ultra-brand-relevant observations included acknowledging ‘the f*** it bucket’ (why impulse spending and chaotic content is holding court), continued kidulting, a growing ideological gender gap and opportunities to step up in providing hope and optimism.

Summary

Gen Zalpha in Review: Stances, Spirit & Spending

Grasping youth culture’s most pertinent shifts – attitudes, ideals and spending – as Gen Z segues into Alpha (the oldest of whom are now 29 and 15, respectively) underpinned YMS 2025. Ultra-brand-relevant observations included acknowledging ‘the f*** it bucket’ (why impulse spending and chaotic content is holding court), continued kidulting, a growing ideological gender gap and opportunities to step up in providing hope and optimism.

The New Tactical Social Media Toolkits

Multiple speakers spotlit tools and tactics for sharpening social media commerce strategies. The best included trend-tracking or ‘vibe-checking’ dashboards for getting ahead of the TikTok game (including time frames for when brands should step in), comment analysers turning real sentiments into more engaging content and guidance on supercharging social-first search engine optimisation (SEO).

Comedy Without Cringe: Satire & Unhinged Absurdity

As 17% of American and British Gen Zers are willing to drop brands over content they deem cringeworthy (Pion, 2025), several speakers highlighted how harnessing the chaos (see the ‘f*** it bucket’ mentality detailed above) and absurdism can help brands resonate, including sidestepping tone-deaf trend-hopping. Key tactics include unhinged meme-driven brand personification and ‘chaos content marketing’ social activations.

The Digital Balance Economy (& Allying with Zalpha Parents)

Zalpha parents’ perspectives were another core debate, with speakers discussing a) switching cynical selling – i.e. commodifying the tween/teen years – for supportive strategies, and b) rerouting the increasingly negative impacts of tech (artificial intelligence (AI), social media algorithms and devices). Embracing the “booming digital balance economy” was posited as vital for connecting with a generation (Z) that’s re-evaluating its relationship with technology.

Experiential Returns: Guided Trips, Darker Dives & Unexpected Journeys

Showing up in real life (IRL) was a hot topic, with speakers from TV, beauty/grooming, travel and dating discussing annexing well-established online identities with physical activations to court contemporary relevance. IRL experiences with a digital component (phygital interplay), inserting your brand into unusual routines, a third-space resurgence and the power of unexpectedness were priority subtexts.

Fan-Culture Commerce

Dovetailing with discussions about the desire for shared experiences, other speakers rallied around the perennial but fast-fluctuating topic of fandom. Women’s sports headlined alongside spin-off possibilities for film and TV entertainment.

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025: Engaging Gen Zalpha

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Want to see the full report?

Offering access to over 350 consumer and cross-industry reports annually, Stylus Membership is your window to tomorrow’s most exciting opportunities.

We already arm more than 500 of the world’s most forward-thinking brands and agencies with the creative insights they need to make transformative business decisions.

We’d love to do the same for you.

Book a demo with us today to discover more.

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025: Engaging Ge...

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festiva...

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025: Engagin...

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festiva...

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025: Engaging Gen Zalpha

Youth Marketing Strategy (YMS) Festival 2025 (London, June 18-19) assembled marketers, strategists, agencies, social impact experts and technologists across businesses like Lego, ITV, Adidas and Shape History to strategise connecting with Gen Zalpha. We unpack six major directions, including the digital balance economy,...

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