From ‘Brat’ to ‘Brainrot’: How brands are speaking Gen Z’s language

New Delhi: As Gen Z gears up to spend a whopping $2 trillion by 2035 (Snap Inc report), marketers are diving headfirst into their world, decoding their lingo, and making sure no stone—or slang—is left unturned.

Take YouTube India’s recent nostalgia-packed gem: they brought iconic TV frenemies Komolika and Prerna back but with a Gen Z twist. 

Cue trendy buzzwords like “demure” and “brat” as the ad hilariously flips the script. Komolika, in a plot twist for the ages, asks for styling advice and even calls out patriarchal tropes. Prerna’s sassy comeback? “A brat and a demure kabhi dost nahi ban sakte.” Touché!

Brands everywhere are vibing with Gen Z, and we’ve got 7 words they used in 2024 to keep it lit. 

Brainrot: "Brainrot" was chosen as the Oxford Dictionary's word of the year in 2024. It refers to the supposed decline in a person's mental or intellectual state, often due to consuming too much trivial or unchallenging content, especially online.

Can't understand? Take a look at this example. If you see content that makes absolutely no sense, like vegetables dancing to Bhojpuri music, that's brainrot. India's quick commerce giants, such as Swiggy Instamart, led the charts by creating brainrot content where they showcased a potato's marriage and asked users to find the "best match for aloo."

Brat: The Collins Dictionary chose “brat” as the word of the year in 2024. Someone who is characterised by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude is commonly referred to as being “bratty.” 

Inspired by the Charli xcx album, “brat” is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally. Back home in India, YouTube capitalised on the word in the ad that featured Urvashi's Komolika and Shweta's Prerna having a funny conversation when Komolika begged for styling advice.

Demure: "Demure" was selected as Dictionary.com's word of the year in 2024. It means being shy and modest. A new usage has spread on social media after TikToker Jools Lebron popularized the phrase "very demure, very mindful." This phrase is used to describe a refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior, especially in work settings.

In India, branded content around the world was again led by YouTube.

Manifest: A wellness trend involving dreaming or willing something into existence in the hope it will make it more likely to happen. Though the word dates back in English to at least the 1300s, its newest meaning gained notoriety after a surge of celebrity-inspired popularity on social media.

Jeevansathi.com popularised the word "manifest" in India with a post saying "manifesting a jeevansathi like" and showcasing happy couples getting married.

Looksmaxxing: Attempting to maximise the attractiveness of one's physical appearance is known as looksmaxxing. Promoted by Gen Z and marketed by e-commerce brands, the word became synonymous with “rizz” which means charisma.

The runner ups

Dynamic pricing: Varying the price for a product or service to reflect changing market conditions; especially the charging of a higher price at a time of greater demand, such as for a popular artist's concert tickets.

Slop: Art, writing, or other content generated using artificial intelligence, shared and distributed online in an indiscriminate or intrusive way, and characterised as being of low quality, inauthentic, or inaccurate.

Words like "dynamic pricing" and "slop" were runners-up in this category. They were mainly used in discussions about quick commerce in India and while booking flights. Many brands adopted these terms in their marketing to spread awareness and engage their audience.

Notable mentions: 

Enshittification: The Macquarie Dictionary's word of the year 2024 is enshittification which refers to the gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of profit-seeking.

For obvious reasons, there was no branded content planned around the word.