The brief: Win the hearts and minds of Gen Z with engaging content that aligns with the target’s values and, maybe, even goes viral.

OK - even if that wasn’t the actual brief, these ads, campaigns, and social strategies knocked the ask out of the park. As a team of Gen Z creatives and strategists, we gathered our favorite work from this year (so far) that checked the must-haves from Gen Z and even gave us some new ways to think about engaging this audience.

Visit Oslo - Is It Even a City?

Watch HERE.

This ad speaks for itself in so many ways, but just to add some proof to the pudding: it “Broke the Internet” upon its release, and was the “best travel ad of the summer” according to popular travel news & media outlet, Afar. It was also hailed a top ad of 2024 by AdAge. The subtle sarcasm paired with the unapologetic self-deprecation as the thesis of this execution speaks so perfectly to Gen Z - especially coming from a brand (and city) that is widely not talked about in the first place. Totally a risk worth taking, which is what landed its spot on our list. Bravo.

CeraVe - “Michael CeraVe”

Watch the hero asset here.

You might be thinking, “This ad wasn’t targeted just to Gen Z, silly, it was in the Super Bowl!” and you’re right. While “Michael CeraVe” was ultimately a super bowl ad, it started as a socially driven influencer series that went wild on TikTok before the national audience (cough cough, boomers) ever saw it. By the Wednesday before the Super Bowl, when CeraVe dropped the teaser for its Big Game ad, the brand’s influencer-led campaign had already generated 6 billion impressions. So, so smart to take a grassroots approach of letting other people do the talking for you (the brand never posted about it) and then smashing a home run with the pièce de résistance 30-second spot to round out the campaign. Kudos to Michael…CeraVe.

The Nutter Butter Tiktok Account

The Nutter Butter Tiktok Account: it’s not one ad or one campaign - but all the content on this TikTok page may as well be considered a never-ending Nutter Butter commercial directed to (and perhaps by?) Gen Z. They’ve nailed a consistent art direction (not kidding) and the tone of the content is just so absurd it keeps the 1.5M followers coming back for more. Here’s our impersonation of the social manager at NB speaking to the creative promise: “keep coming back to our content for a brain break and a ‘wtf was that?’ moment, and hey, maybe go enjoy a Nutter Butter while you’re at it. Or don’t. Either way, we’ll be here.” No need to steer away from this strategy anytime soon…it has millions of views on pretty much every organic post.

Rare Beauty - Every Side of You

Unapologetic self-expression. That is all that needs to be said about the strategy behind this campaign, and Selena Gomez’s beauty brand has made that promise very clear with this thumb-stopping spot called "Love Your Rare". Focusing on self-love over perfection and narrated by Selena herself, this ad brings the campaign promise full circle.

E.L.F. - Mt Zitmore

This viral TikTok video is so simple yet so innovative at the same time. Pairing a concept that was probably laughed about in a pitch and never taken that seriously and then using augmented reality to bring it to life…sometimes the silly ideas just work. Well done E.L.F., which, by the way, is a brand that has seen increased Gen Z loyalty and admiration this year. Keep killin' it!

Pridemore Properties - Gen Z Intern

OK we couldn’t NOT include this one…Is it an ad specifically targeted to Gen Z? No. Did it go viral with Gen Z? Of course. It made its way to The Today Show and has maintained national attention for months since the original post. 78M views and counting. It also started a TikTok trend where other employee/employer accounts are making their own version of the post. While it may not have led to an increase in Gen Z home purchases (shoutout interest rates), it certainly caught our attention. Hilariously done, and a great reminder to brands to not take themselves too seriously!

Liquid Death - Pure Sugar

Liquid Death had to be included in this list for a whole host of reasons - namely, the fact that almost every time they come out with a new ad it turns into a PR home-run, and for good reason. This particular spot takes the cake as our favorite this year and is a perfect example of what we mean by PR-worthy: The title on YouTube is "Liquid Death Proves Decades of Soda Marketing Is BS"...it's so matter of fact and sort of absurd that we had to watch it, and seemingly so did everyone else. Why does it work with Gen Z? It makes a bold claim, directly calls out competitors/alternatives, and has a perfect satirical tone to balance everything out.

So, how'd we do? Do you have a favorite that we missed? Send your thoughts to hello@carsondoyle.com - we'd love to hear from you.