GEN Z CAN TELL WHEN YOU'RE FAKING IT.

There’s a moment - brief, uncomfortable, and unmistakable -  when you realise someone wants something from you.

Not needs.Wants.

Approval. Validation. Relevance.

Gen Z feels that moment almost immediately. Sometimes before a sentence is finished.

Sometimes before the logo even loads.

They don’t analyse it. They don’t debate it. They just feel it — and once they do, the conversation is already over.

Because (apparently) nothing repels this generation faster than effort that’s visible.

Gen Z didn’t grow up on advertising. They grew up on exposure.

Algorithms trained them to read subtext. Group chats trained them to detect tone. Internet culture trained them to spot irony, exaggeration, and performance at a distance most brands can’t even see from.

They’ve watched thousands of people perform versions of themselves for attention - influencers, creators, brands, politicians, peers. They know what authenticity looks like, not because it’s rare, but because they’ve seen its opposite so many times.

Trying too hard has a smell. And by the looks of it, Gen Z knows it well.

Most brands think they lose Gen Z because they’re not funny enough, fast enough, or fluent enough.

That’s not the problem. The problem is intent.

Gen Z doesn’t ask, “Is this cool?”They ask, “Why are you here?”

And if the answer feels like:

“We want your attention”

“We want your money”“We want to be part of your culture”

They’re out.

Not angry. Not offended. Just gone.

This generation has a brutal relationship with effort.

Effort in craft is respected.Effort in performance seems like it's not.

They admire people who are good at what they do - obsessively good. They’re drawn to specificity. They reward depth. They follow creators who care deeply about strange, narrow things.

But they recoil from brands that try to compress personality into campaigns. From those that borrow language without understanding its weight. From those that show up loudly without earning presence quietly.

You can’t “act casual” with a generation that has spent its entire life online.They know when casual is rehearsed.

What Gen Z responds to isn’t polish — it’s position.

They don’t need you to sound like them. In fact, the moment a brand starts mimicking slang or formats without fluency, the illusion collapses. What they want is clarity.

Who are you?Why do you exist?What do you actually care about?

If those questions don’t have honest answers, no amount of cleverness will save you.

This is why so many brand attempts at Gen Z feel awkward rather than offensive. They’re not wrong — they’re uncertain. They sound like someone constantly checking the room to see if they’re being liked.

Confidence, to Gen Z, isn’t volume.It’s comfort.

So no, Gen Z isn’t hard to reach.

They’re just allergic to desperation.

They don’t want brands to entertain them.They don’t want brands to impress them.They don’t even want brands to understand them perfectly.

They want brands to stop trying to prove they belong.

Because the moment you stop reaching for relevance — the moment you stand comfortably in who you are — is usually the moment Gen Z stops scrolling.

Not because you tried harder.But because you finally didn’t.