How Gen Z Is Reshaping Digital Marketing in India
You are scrolling your Instagram feed when a food delivery company plays on your hunger at night. In a few seconds, the language-learning app has a naughty cartoon owl. Then there is a billboard that has a Bollywood dialogue you've heard a hundred times. You laugh, you tell a friend, and you're back up and moving. This is modern Gen Z marketing!
For years, ads were advertised on a tried-and-true formula: introduce the product, tell people what's great about it, give it a tagline, and hope they remember it.
Brands have started experimenting more with memes, creators, short videos, cultural references, and conversational content nowadays.
Google's report on the trends of YouTube as viewed by Gen Z in India in December 2025 found that 68% of the surveyed online Gen Z (14-24) said that they use language or slang they pick up from internet videos and memes.
For digital marketers, it's a warning that highlights the relevance of internet culture to communication: brands can communicate in ways that better resonate with younger audiences.
Let's take a look at how brands are implementing these ideas.
The first phase is Meme Marketing, where brands start talking on the Internet. The first step is Meme Marketing – Brands begin to communicate online.
Recall how all the ads were supposed to be official and professional?
Marketing is often different for Gen Z.Brands try out scenarios involving people, internet jokes, trending formats, and common culture. Don't necessarily make every post viral. It's about producing content that your audience will want to interact with. A brand called Zomato and Blinkit have already got a ticket booked here for their 'Billboard Banter' campaign.
Zomato and Blinkit took up a famous Bollywood catchphrase in January 2023 and created an outdoor advertising campaign.
Blinkit's billboard read:
Doodh mangoge, doodh denge
Zomato responded:
Kheer mangoge and kheer denge.
The campaign used a common conversation from the film Maa Tujhe Salaam.
The billboards caught the eye of much online, and other brands got in on the discussion too.
What was interesting about the campaign?
No explanation was necessary for either brand. Blinkit made the joke grocery delivery oriented and Zomato made it food-oriented. These two messages were instantly understood due to the cultural reference.
Takeaway from marketing: When the time is right, brands can communicate quickly through familiar cultural moments. When it comes to humour, it's even more effective if it's a natural fit for the product or service.
4. YouTube and Instagram have embraced the short-form video medium.
Consider the last time you watched an entire commercial.Remember the last time you watched a full commercial. Was it a showy commercial, or a Reel that was more like Entertainment? The short video has become an important component in digital storytelling.
In India, 89% of researchers surveyed from the Gen Z generation accessed Reels at least once a day in June 2026, according to a study by Meta and Ipsos that surveyed over 4,000 people.
This means opportunities for marketers to connect in a succinct and stimulating way.
Educator: Swiggy Instamart's “Chawal or Chawla” is an example of a brand.
Swiggy Instamart made a typographical error to create an entertaining ad.
In the campaign, the customer enters the word "chawla" instead of its correct form, "chawal" (meaning rice).
The unexpected result?
Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla comes to the customer's doorstep.
Swiggy Instamart does not directly tell readers what it offers or does, but rather a surprising joke.
The brand's submission to the Kyoorius Creative Awards states that the campaign has garnered over 70 million views. This is an on-brand reported number.
The lesson for marketers: Everyday customer transactions can be fun, entertaining ads, and still convey the brand's core message.
Gen Z Slang Is Influencing Brand Communication.
The term "POV" is part of online parlance, as are phrases like “main character energy,” “delulu,” and “it's giving.”
These phrases are sometimes employed by brands when writing for younger demographics, to make it easy to understand.
Let's take a fashion brand's post as an example:
“POV: You just found the clothes for your main character moment.”
Compare that with:
Discover a new line of stylish garments.
The two express something about fashion, with the first one being a playful style which has ties to internet culture.
But relying on the slang of the generation of Gen Z does not guarantee the effectiveness of advertising.
Think of a financial services organisation rolling out “slay” in all promotional campaigns. Its messaging may be out of context if not delivered correctly.
The marketing lesson to learn: Know how to speak your customers' language before you start talking about it. Refrain from copying all the popular expressions – instead use the relevant language.
When a mascot becomes an internet personality, it is a true adventure that 4. Duolingo has gone on record as showing.
It's not hard to recognize Duo, the green owl from Duolingo, as a recognizable presence on social media.
The mascot isn't just used in traditional ads for language learning, but is also used in humorous, exaggerated, and sometimes silly content.
The constant reminders for lessons that Duo posted online became a part of their brand's social media persona.
The interesting part with this approach is consistency.
The owl's personality is tied to something that people already know about the product - language lessons reminders.
The connection makes content easy to recall.
Marketing lesson: By establishing a consistent character or brand personality, your audience will also be able to remember your content without it being a typical advertisement.
Not all businesses require a cartoon mascot. An ongoing feature, a consistent brand tone or voice, or a recognizable personality can also do the trick.
Advertising and marketing become more personal through Creator Marketing.
Not all products are found via traditional commercials for Gen Z consumers.
Creators help in product discovery by providing reviews, demos, tutorials, entertainment and regular story-telling.
Suppose you see a fashion creator show you cheap outfits for university at college.
The products are not placed in a traditional advertisement but rather are presented in a relatable situation.
But followers are not the only measure of a campaign's success.
Brands should consider:
• Audience relevance
• Creator credibility
• Content quality
• Brand compatibility
• Engagement authenticity
• Campaign objectives
If a regional creator's followers are similar to a brand's target audience, then they can be a great fit for a local business.
The marketing takeaway is to select creators because they are relevant and credible and not just popular.
Brands are also subject to relevant regulations in the field of influencer advertising, such as the Advertising Standards Council of India's regulations regarding 'material connections'.
Spotify Wrapped has revolutionized the way we discover music.Spotify Wrapped has become a game-changer in the world of music discovery.
Memes and slang are not essential for a cultural campaign to be effective.
It's sometimes best to give them a personal thing to share.
Spotify Wrapped makes users' music history into personal summers.
Individuals can view their most played songs, popular artists and listening trends, and then share selected information via social media.
Spotify's 2025 Wrapped campaign went beyond just data, adding interactive components, social engagement, and physical activations.
People may be more interested in content when it reflects relatable experiences
For smaller brands, they could inspire
Shareable achievements
Interactive quizzers
Customer milestones
Marketing takeaway: Instead of simply asking customers to share your advertisements, create experiences they may genuinely want to share.
Regional Content Is Making Gen Z Marketing More Relevant
India isn't one uniform digital audience.
India is not one even digital audience: language, humour,cultural references, entertainment. A Jokes or memes that connects with audeince of mumbai may need different execution for audiences in Chennai or Chandigarh.
Google's 2025 YouTube trends research found that 77% of surveyed Indian online Gen Z respondents aged 14–24 had watched translated content or creators from another language during the previous year.
For brands, this creates opportunities to experiment with regional creators and multilingual content.
The product may remain the same while the storytelling changes.
Marketing takeaway: Regional marketing should go beyond translating captions. It should reflect the cultural and communication preferences of the intended audience.
How Can Indian Brands Apply These Gen Z Marketing Strategies?
You don't need Zomato's advertising budget or Duolingo's mascot to create relevant marketing content.
Start with your audience. What do they watch? Which creators do they follow? What everyday situations do they relate to? What problems does your product solve?
Then develop content around those insights.
For example, a fashion business could experiment with college-life Reels, creator styling demonstrations, and outfit-related humour. A food business could explore late-night cravings, office lunch situations, or festival-related content.
A digital marketing strategy can connect these ideas across multiple channels:
Awareness: Reels, memes, and creator campaigns.
Engagement: Interactive content, relatable humour, and community conversations.
Consideration: Reviews, tutorials, and product comparisons.
Conversion: Product pages, marketplace visibility, and performance advertising.
Retention: Customer support, loyalty experiences, and ongoing communication.
However, brands shouldn't measure success only through viral views.
Monitor the metrics that match each campaign's objective, including reach, engagement, qualified website visits, leads, purchases, and customer acquisition costs.
A meme that receives thousands of shares may build awareness, but that doesn't automatically mean it generates profitable sales.
What Does This Mean for Digital Marketing Agencies?
For digital marketing agencies, Gen Z marketing is about connecting cultural insights with measurable marketing objectives.
A campaign might begin by analyzing audience conversations and identifying relevant content opportunities.
The next step involves developing creative concepts, collaborating with suitable creators, and distributing content through the right platforms.
Finally, campaign data can help determine which approaches resonate with customers and support business objectives.
This is where an integrated digital marketing strategy becomes valuable.
The goal isn't simply to go viral. It's to turn audience attention into meaningful brand connections and measurable business outcomes.
Conclusion:
Don't Chase Gen Z Trends. Understand the Culture Behind Them. From Zomato and Blinkit's Bollywood-inspired billboards to Swiggy Instamart's humorous campaigns, brands are finding different ways to connect advertising with internet culture.
Amul uses a recognizable personality; Spotify creates shareable personalized experiences. Creators help products appear in relatable everyday situations. Your audience is scrolling, sharing, discovering, and talking about brands every day.
Is your brand part of those conversations? At Viralstan, we think digital marketing should go beyond posting content and chasing images. It should connect creative storytelling, audience insights, and measurable business goals. Ready to develop a digital marketing strategy that connects with your audience?