Winning over Gen Z isn’t easy. These marketing leaders are showing how it’s done
By Mikeblack · November 11, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Winning over Gen Z isn’t easy. These marketing leaders are showing how it’s done
Over the past two years, these 9 #QSR brands drove $600M+ in revenue opportunity as a result of growing #culturalresonance with #GenZ -- out of 31 brands studied
Together, that's a combined $7.2 billion in revenue opportunity #growth
Even more remarkable, a few of these brands, like Chic-fil-A, already had GenZ strength to begin with and got stronger
That makes these #marketing leaders worth following on #LinkedIn because they're likely to be posting and sharing about the bold moves they're making to connect with Gen Z values, passions and needs
So, how did we get these numbers?
Based on research from Collage Group, we've established that 1pt of cultural resonance gained with an audience drives a .79% increase in purchase intent
By linking that purchase intent connection to brand awareness, we can estimate how many new Gen Z consumers went from simply being aware of the brand to considering buying it, and apply assumptions about the value of acquiring the new customer in a year
These metrics don't factor in actual conversion, but they do show how brands built on cultural resonance can increase purchase intent and as a result, contribute to what's being run up at the register
This impact of culture on brand growth has been missing from the conversation until now, but needs to measured and managed like any other marketing funnel #KPI
For the full findings, methodology and case studies, check out the link to our Culture Converts research in the comments below 👇
Published in partnership with ANA Cultural Leadership Alliance
#culturalintelligence