Recent industry research shows a change in how Generation Z discovers and purchases technology products. Many Gen Z buyers rely on creators, seen as ‘real’ people producing honest reviews and real-world demos. So how should brand owners adapt marketing, operations, and measurement methods when trust has moved from institutional branding to individual creators and community?

Why it matters for enterprise brand strategy

Gen Z makes up a large portion of global consumers with their spending influencing what becomes mainstream. If a brand leans heavily on traditional advertising, they risk losing relevance with younger consumers. Creator-led content can deliver high engagement and conversion at lower cost compared with broadcast-style campaigns. For marketing teams, that could be an efficiency and cost win.

Creators as gatekeepers

Discovery through social platforms, not search or media

A 2025 report found that over 50% of Gen Z consumers say they find products primarily via social media, not search engines or traditional media. For instance, over half cited TikTok or Instagram as where they found products, while only 18.8% used a search engine.

This suggests that product discovery is passive: people browse and consume, and are exposed to products without active search. Consumer tech companies might therefore move their focus from SEO to establishing presence in feeds and creator content, playing the social media (not search engine) algorithms.

Trust, not polish

Multiple sources indicate that Gen Z and younger millennials consider creators (or what were called ‘micro-influencers’) as more trustworthy than traditional ads or brand campaigns.

Analysis of creator-led brands show the value of transparent reviews and personal storytelling. Gen Z values peer credibility, honest takes, lived experience, and human voices.

Social commerce moves interest into purchase

The merging of social media and e-commerce is the trend that’s shaping the new picture. A 2025 global consumer report highlights that Gen Z and millennials are key drivers of the growth of this amalgamation of media channels.

Platforms with native shopping features let users move straight from media consumption to purchase, thus compressing what was a multi-step process into one click.

For companies selling consumer tech like phones and wearables, the shorter sales cycles can mean higher conversion rates, and much less friction between discovery and a purchase.

Practical challenges and risks

Attribution, measurement, and complex ROI

Some purchases follow so-called ‘dark social’ routes, such as private group chats or DMs, so it’s hard to track which campaign or creator drove a specific sale. Many creators have small or niche audiences, so discerning metrics may need more advanced analytics or different third-party tools than might already be in a brand’s martech stack. Should enterprises invest in new tracking software or accept a degree of uncertainty?

Brand safety harder to manage

Brands working with decentralised networks of creators will effectively be embracing a degree of unpredictability, if not to say chaos! Tone, messaging, and content may differ from creator to creator, so compliance and brand-safety could become a nightmare to oversee.

Research shows substantial variation from country to country in how creators disclose sponsored content to their audiences, for example.

Enterprises with international customers need clear but personalised contracts with content creators, and have to get their disclosure policies nailed down on a case by case basis. Of course, being too rigid can undermine that valuable authentic ‘feel’, but conversely, too much freedom given to the creator or influencer can risk inconsistency or even harmful messaging.

Operational changes and the skills gap

Most large enterprises are built to run and monitor ROI on traditional campaigns. Adopting a creator-centric approach requires new skills in community building, creator relations, and the means of producing or suggesting content just about constantly, day-in day-out.

That may mean retraining, new workflows, new staff, or a redesign of the marketing function that brings marketing, legal, procurement, and digital teams closer together.

Recommended steps

• Evaluate whether creator-led content and social-commerce deserve greater priority.
• Consider investment in different measurement and analytics tools.
• Establish Creator-governance frameworks. These may seem like an anathema to ‘organic’ creator-led media, but the brand still needs to protect itself.
• Long-term creator relationships. Ongoing collaborations build more trust than one-off campaigns that use creators as throw-away freelancers.
• Blend heritage with authenticity. Legacy brands might pair their institutional strengths (or new takes on that history) with creator-style storytelling, thus staying relevant.

(Image source: “Texting in the Rain” by garryknight is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

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