Both Sides of the Brief
Working in an industry that spends a lot of time talking about what Gen Z wants, I have a front-row seat to both sides of that conversation, and more often than not, the gap between what the industry thinks we want and what’s actually happening is wide. That’s a major influence on this column and why I try to keep an eye on the incoming crop of practitioners shaping the industry.
So this month, I chatted with Lainey Patton, CU Boulder student, LVPR intern, and emerging digital marketing professional, to get the scoop on what brand marketing looks like through the eyes of someone simultaneously studying and doing it. What’s exciting, what’s surprising, what does this incoming generation of marketers see that maybe other practitioners don’t?
What about brand marketing right now excites you? What made you want to study it?
“What excites me most about brand marketing right now is how much creativity is involved. There’s always something new, a trend, a platform, a totally unexpected way a brand connects with people, and I love that it never really gets old. I’ve always been drawn to the social media and content side of things, but what really pulled me toward studying it was realizing there’s so much strategy underneath all of it. It’s not just making something look cool. It’s about building something people actually want to be part of.”
Creativity as a prerequisite feels more true now than ever. The current consumer craves genuine connection over a quick hit of promotional dopamine. PR, by dictionary definition, is about relationships, and the campaigns breaking through right now are more communal and more felt than consumed. I see the industry moving toward experiential, participatory work, something to get involved in rather than scroll past. Two-way PR is becoming the baseline expectation rather than the gold standard.
What do you think your generation is going to change about the way brands communicate/market?
“We want brands to feel real. Growing up surrounded by ads means we can spot inauthenticity pretty fast, and we’ll just scroll past it. The brands that actually land with us have a personality, they get their audience, and they’re not trying too hard. I also think we care a lot about community, so I see brands moving toward real conversations and experiences instead of just pushing a message out and hoping that it sticks.”
When marketing campaigns and content are created to squeeze meaning out of a trend that was never a fit to begin with is a total ick for me (more on that here). Brands showing personality is another way to illustrate authenticity that we see with founder-led content and behind-the-scenes access. Gen Z’s relationship with brand loyalty works more like a current, chasing it as a destination tends to miss it entirely. The brands catching the current lead with personality, story, and authenticity upfront.
What excites you about the future of brand marketing/comms?
“There are just so many ways to tell a story now: creators, social, PR, AI tools, and honestly we’re still figuring out what all of it can do. What excites me the most is that the brands winning right now are the ones staying innovative without losing the human side of it. And I get to be entering the industry while all of that is still taking shape, which feels like good timing.”
I love that outlook. The Gen Z panic I read most often paints us as chronically burned out and fighting a system working against us. That framing misses the opportunities that uncertainty represents. I’ll take this one step further: I don’t think the pace of change slows down. The industry will keep shifting at breakneck speed. The practitioners who thrive are comfortable with the current.
What did school prep you for (and/or what did you expect from school) that is actually different IRL?
“School gave me a solid foundation. Consumer behavior, marketing strategy, the fundamentals, but nothing really prepares you for how fast everything moves in real life. There’s no one right answer, and things are rarely as clean as a class project. The biggest surprise for me was how collaborative it all is. Some of the best ideas I’ve seen come out of a random brainstorm, not a polished deck. Being adaptable honestly matters just as much as anything that I have learned in the classroom.”
Education builds an invaluable body of knowledge, but it can also neglect some of the common skills needed to thrive in the corporate world. Specifically, the muscle for real collaboration as PR/marketing are relentlessly team sports. Group projects get a bad rap, sometimes deservedly so, but the version of that in real life is constant, and the quality of what comes out of it depends entirely on whether a team actually trusts each other enough to throw out the first idea and get somewhere real. That’s a skill schools could do a much better job fostering, because it might be the most used one in this field.
What’s refreshing about talking to someone entering the industry right now is the lack of cynicism, genuine clarity about what they value and why. The fundamentals of what makes communication work haven’t changed: be real, build trust, give people something worth showing up for. Every generation just figures out a new way to do it.
So readers: What do you think the industry is still getting wrong about younger practitioners? I’d genuinely like to know.