How do you make a brand more relevant to Gen Z?
That’s a question luxury handbag brand Coach asked itself a few years ago.
“Being a heritage brand, brand awareness wasn’t an issue,” Coach’s VP of marketing for North America, Kimberly Landry Wallengren, said at YouTube’s IAB NewFronts presentation this month. “What we needed was to build brand relevance with the younger generation.”
Content creators became a crucial part of Coach’s marketing plan, Wallengren said. One partnership she highlighted was Coach’s collaboration with Gen Z YouTube creator and author Haley Pham (who has millions of subscribers and Instagram followers).
Promoting one of the brand’s signature styles, the Tabby bag, Coach ran a commercial starring Pham. The brand also worked with Pham as an ambassador on other platforms, including TikTok and Instagram. Wallengren said that Coach has evolved its creator strategy to have longer-term partnerships rather than “one-off” or “transactional” collaborations.
The Pham partnership increased brand consideration among Gen Z female shoppers, Wallengren said, which is one of Coach’s core KPIs.
“We’re seeing an impact not only on brand, but also on those business metrics,” Wallengren said. “This is translating into incredible supercharged acquisition of Gen Z in like month over month, quarter over quarter business growth.”
Big Tech’s pitch to brands
YouTube’s big pitch to advertisers during its NewFronts presentation was heavily anchored in the trust between YouTube’s content creators and their loyal viewers.
During the NewFronts, YouTube unveiled its revamped BrandConnect platform, now called YouTube Creator Partnerships, which helps connect advertisers with creators by leveraging Google’s Gemini AI.
“Invest in the creators that can authentically represent your brand,” said Brian Gargan, YouTube’s director of premier ads, creators, and content. “When you do it right, the performance and the equity are there.”
Meanwhile, over at Meta’s NewFronts, the Big Tech company pitched advertisers on tools to help brands follow cultural moments, discover creators, and drive shopping on its platforms — including new affiliate tools on both Instagram and Facebook.
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