From Gen X to Gen Alpha: The Timeless Power of Ambi-Messaging
Learn about how language changes from generation to generation and how your brand's messaging should adapt as a result.
What can be taught vs. what can’t
Stay current or become irrelevant
Nothing stings quite like a member of the newer generation—be it a younger audience or client, your students, or your own kids—giving you the figurative (and sometimes very literal) eyeroll. You thought you were on top of trends! You’re versed in all the platforms! You’re even aware of influencers and their devil-may-care, hand-held content! Then one day you casually drop some “so yesterday” slang, and it goes over like a lead balloon. Just like that, you’re out of play, floundering in the wake of the latest generation.
Take heart! Don’t let this feeling render you or your work obsolete. Blink and everything changes all over again anyway. Instead, stay calm. Laugh at yourself. Own your vantage point. Appreciate others’. Pay attention. Be discerning. Notice what sticks, what fizzles, what flares. Ask yourself which messaging muscles are most developed, and which could use a little work. And most importantly, foster a learning mindset because nothing worth anything stays the same for very long.
Lost in translation
Communicating across a generation or two is a lot like learning a new language. Start by understanding the basics, like how to order food and ask directions to the bathroom. Then you need to study it—read it, memorize it, try it out in conversation. Beyond that, you need to become familiar with the local customs, the cuisine, the landscape, and yes, the slang. You will feel like a foreigner. That’s because you are. If you’re lucky, you might start dreaming in this new language, and that’s when the magic happens.
Even so, don’t expect the natives to be especially welcoming. You may have a Visa, but you just got here. No doubt you’re well-traveled, but here you’re green. You’ve worked hard to make the trip, but the kids don’t really care I’m afraid. You own no currency (and traveler’s checks are kind of a thing of the past, btw). That said, the exchange rate is pretty good and the latest edition of the travel guides are hot off the press. Chapter 1: Cross-generational Messaging 101.
What can be taught vs. what can’t
Connecting with people in younger and older demographics has always been both necessary and difficult. When asking my 13-year-old what I should know about how to communicate effectively with his generation, the first thing he said was, in effect, you can’t. Of course this has been true for parents and children since time immemorial; we don’t speak the same language and never will because we were raised in different times by people who were themselves raised in different times. Ok, fine, I said, but what tends to work the best, even when you think it’s “cringey.”
He decided to explain his take on this by using one of the more catchy and ubiquitous Gen Alpha terms—skibidi—because he knows I’ve been trying this one on for a while, and every time I get the thumbs down. “If you’re using it as an adjective,” he explained, “it’s not good or bad, it can be both. But it’s more complicated than that because skibidi is its own thing. No one wants to say ‘good’ or ‘bad’ when you can say ‘skibidi!’ Your generation’s brains will not be able to comprehend the mass meaning of skibidi. Skibidi is just skibidi, and you have to accept that.”
So in addition to that rather harsh lesson in acceptance, what my son was trying to tell me is that some terms—and even whole ideas, whole concepts, whole linguistic movements—are owned by the people growing up in a particular era at a particular cultural moment. This language is theirs, and theirs alone, because they invented it after all. Just as my parents’ generation takes credit for cool, and Gen X takes credit for rad, and Millennials take credit for sick, and Gen Z takes credit for lit, so too does Gen Alpha take credit for their (alert: unveiled “elder” bias ahead) maddeningly frenetic dialect that sprouted from a meme about singing toilets in Ohio with heads popping out of them.
There is simply no translation for that inexplicable Internet brainchild.
When it works and how
Keeping in mind what we can and cannot hope to achieve with our discrete generational dialects, there are nonetheless a few universal laws that apply to all successful messaging. The divining rod for this invaluable ore is unexpectedly simple and feels a little upside-down: Don’t try too hard. Ultimately, good communication relies on confidence, practice, and ease. If you’re forcing it, that’ll come through and it won’t feel genuine. In the words of my resident Gen Alpha representative, “Let it flow. Once you let go, you’ll understand it.”
Likewise, if you’re too nonchalant, no one’s going to care. So there’s a fine line there. Knowing and loving your content—and not losing sight of your unique generational perspective on it—will help you find that balance. So loosen up, get your bearings, and ask, “As marketing brand stewards, who are we?”, “Who are we trying to reach with our marketing?” and “What messages are we trying to promote?” Here are some examples of messaging that did just that. These campaigns move easily across seemingly daunting gaps—and we’re talking about both conceptual and communication gaps here:
1. Metro Trains in Melbourne: "Dumb Ways to Die"
This Australian campaign takes a simple yet very serious message—be safe around trains—and animates it with little humanoid orbs who get eviscerated while singing the title song, “Dumb Ways to Die.” A light-hearted yet essential bit of public service communication plus pathbreaking creativity plus unexpected, almost off-color humor equals, according to reports, actual behavioral change. There’s the impossible made possible: seemingly weightless messaging about precarious and rather urgent content that sparks IRL action.
While this kind of clever approach might be off-putting to Boomers, Gen Xers would find it novel, funny, and even a relief, unlike the public service messages of the 80s, which leaned a lot harder on earnest, authority-figure scare tactics, like this one from the Partnership for a Drug Free America: This is your brain… This is your brain on drugs. It may have sent a message, but I’m not sure it had the desired results; the tagline did become a satirical Gen X gag, however.
“Dumb Ways to Die”, on the other hand, was conceived and produced by Millennials to appeal to Gen Z audiences. Nice work, Millennials! The YouTube comments alone are a testament to the staying power of cheerfully ironic reminders, appropriateness notwithstanding. Gen Alpha, meanwhile, might not find this messaging novel or new, but they would find it funny. “Rebellious humor” is their native tongue as evidenced by the goofy and sometimes stomach-ache inducing Sour Patch Kids advertising on tiktok.
2. Blue Seat Studios: "Consent – It's Simple as Tea"
The topic of consent has always been both essential and very difficult to get across to teenagers, who historically have a habit of not fully listening or caring all that much in the first place. This campaign uses a humorous, relatable simile to capture the fundamentals of what consent is and why it is perfectly natural and sensible to use it, respect it, and promote it. The copy is sharp, clear, and it makes you chuckle. It also helps you realize how simple a concept consent really is. It’s as if the animated stick people are saying, “Hello!? Wake up and smell the English Breakfast, people!”
Teachers love this video for its educational value. Parents love it because it helps with those tricky adolescent “talks” we all dread. Every organization that works on behalf of sexual assault and abuse prevention loves it because it’s so on point and easily digestible. Hence the 150,000,000+ worldwide views, firmly ensconcing it as a pillar of the Marketing Canon. “It’s as simple as tea” is a perfect example of messaging that has lasting multi-generational appeal, due both to its clarity of message and the troubling fact that the problem isn’t generation specific.
3. LEGO’s 404 Page: "Oh, bricks!"
Imagine it’s a week before your kid’s birthday and you’re scrambling online to get that gift he asked for three months ago. You click a Google link to the LEGO Store, and instead of Harry Potter’s 4,801-piece Gringotts Bank Collector’s Edition Set, you get a 404 notice, but somehow it makes you laugh instead of smash your keyboard to oblivion because it features Emmet, the mildly dimwitted star of “The LEGO Movie” saying, “OH BRICKS! We can’t find this page.” In smaller font, a caption reads, “We’ll try not to lose our head over this, but if we do…we’ll put it back on.” Perfectly on-brand, perfectly targeted, with a slight nod to both kids and caregivers who know very well how handy it is to pop the angry face on Hermione when reenacting the Prisoner of Azkaban scene where she punches Malfoy in the face.
To be fair, it’s not especially difficult for such a legendary brand to appeal to every generation since 1932, when Ole Kirk Christiansen invented LEGO in his carpentry workshop in Denmark. But that’s because Ole was onto something. He named his creation after the Danish phrase meaning “play well”—an appropriately simple call to action, perfectly suited for a toy that is both basic and engaging, both straightforward and endlessly creative (despite those Kragle-obsessed control freaks out there—a.k.a. President Business—who render their sets imaginatively sterile). And the rest is history.
4. CeraVe, starring Michael Cera: "I Am CeraVe"
This one you just have to watch—and you could safely do so with your grandparents as easily as with your kids. It is a perfect mockery of the cliché skin care commercial we’ve all seen, complete with airy music, breezy drapery, and sculpted models, plus a wistful Michael Cera as unlikely brand inspiration. The ad highlights Cera’s comedic style perfectly: “Oh, you didn’t know? The truth has been hiding in plain sight. I am CeraVe.”
Somehow it makes perfect sense when a narwhal surfaces and makes a noise that gets subtitled, “Your skin looks so moisturized, Michael Cera.” The no-holds-barred weirdness of the ad conflates awkward goofiness with hygienic flawlessness, and that’s what makes it as funny on the fourth viewing as the first, and also what makes us keep an eye out while perusing the skin cream aisle at CVS. Thanks goes to the mega-Super Bowl franchise for inspiring that nugget of marketing genius.
Each of these examples employs a few key ingredients: the element of surprise, the element of delight, and implicit trust in the audience to get the joke, to be in on the trickery, to be willing to hop on the fun bus even—and perhaps especially—in the face of challenging or tired content. So how can your brand marketing campaigns do this, and do it well? Here’s our advice:
Embrace contradictions
The older generations—Gen X, Millennials, and even Gen Z—may never be fluent in Gen Alpha. But it’s important that we do our best to understand what matters to the youngest consumers out there: what excites them, what they aspire to, what they fear, and what they need. There’s a tidal wave of viral noise out there, and these digital natives are swimming through all of it, wanting to belong and go with the flow, but also needing to figure out who they are and how they want to be seen as distinct from everyone else.
It’s this interplay between being a part of and setting oneself apart from that gets at that sweet spot where the divining rod starts to dip toward a vein. If messaging can do both of these things, it works. It’s essential to go to great lengths to understand your clients. Step into their world and experience their singular space in the marketing landscape. Craft messaging that lands with your target audiences, and explore the edges of those spaces in hopes of discovering insights that push a concept, product, or offering into brand new territory.
Stay current or become irrelevant
Darwin would tell us that in order to survive, we need to evolve, and in order to evolve, we need to adapt. This is also true with messaging. You can sink your otherwise seaworthy ship with old strategies, passé terminology, and outmoded execution. Gen Alpha would call this brain rot, “the constant use of slang without any meaning,” says my informant. It’s when the method drowns out the mission and you’re left with a bunch of jargon that doesn’t mean anything anymore.
Get in the habit of questioning what works in real time with A/B testing and other messaging comparison tools. Challenge your assumptions, cull your existing marketing assets, and please oh please, “murder your darlings.” Often that precious, clever turn of phrase you hold so dear is the one that muddies the bathwater.
Like the three environmental Rs that call everyday consumers to action, there are also three Rs of marketing: Rethink, Reframe, Rewrite. To do this well, it is imperative to listen to, work with, and get input from people of all ages in your sphere of influence. Invite all your audiences into the room, even if you’re skeptical about their bias or expertise. Each individual contributor has intrinsic value. If they might buy what you’re selling, they have even more.
Stay nimble and humble
Being nimble and humble is a very powerful and magnetic blend of qualities. We’d be willing to bet that if you asked a boardroom of marketing CEOs to name the two most coveted qualities of good communication, they wouldn’t pick these. For one, they’re not very capitalist; they’re much too generous for that. Capitalism, of course, is predicated on the belief that property, industry, or business has value only if it turns a profit. Yet when dividends are your only goal, plenty of important visions, viewpoints, and voices fall by the wayside.
How about this for a more responsive and nuanced approach to buying and selling stuff? To be nimble, you must be flexible, alert to a changing environment, and ready to course correct when necessary. You allow yourself to be vulnerable while fortifying your base. You are able to step lightly and move swiftly. You scan for signs and follow the tracks. You sense the magnitude of seismic shifts before the Richter scale has a chance to measure them. This goes back to those guiding principles of good communication: confidence, practice, and ease.
Add humility and you’re willing to accept that you don’t have all the answers, nor should you. You accept that you can be wrong, in theory and in action, and are willing to make things right. You listen well, take stock, and do your research. You offer up as often as you require of. You don’t assume that what you say will necessarily communicate what you mean. You are shrewd, absorbing as much material as you can while not affixing to any one ideology. You’re more curious than judgmental, as hopeful as you are skeptical, and you’re prepared to offload the baggage of your preconceptions if necessary. More simply, in the words of my old-soul tween, “If saying it feels good, it’s probably good to say it.”
Embody “Open Source” thinking
So open up the trade routes. Talk to people in a variety of forums so as to become more familiar with the vocabulary, trending topics, consumer interests, and influencer idiosyncrasies. Visit platforms and digital spaces where you haven’t spent much time and notice what’s going on—what’s relevant, and what’s yesterday’s news. Invite people of all ages and identities from varied backgrounds into collaborative relationships where everyone’s input and energy is welcome. Become a giver instead of a taker; that positive juju will come back around again. Perhaps most importantly, be aware of the horse you rode in on, because even the most accepting and open minded of us carry bone-deep biases.
Ready to tap that vein of branding gold? Cross-generational fluency is your new encryption code, the ticket to your organization’s burgeoning innovation and productivity. Connect with your key audiences and listen, as I did with my 7th grader, even if they call you out for having “negative 10,000 aura.” (Tough crowd.) Over time, and with no small measure of diligence, even the most seasoned among us can acclimate to today’s cultural consumer vernacular—all while making our still very wise and relevant voices heard. Ahem.
Enjoy flexing your new ambi-messaging muscles, just not all at once. We don’t want any injuries.