Generational Branding Is Lazy

By Greg Behr

I’m what they call a “geriatric millennial,” a term that somehow manages to sound both offensive and vaguely clinical. Born in the early ’80s, I sit in a strange cultural in-between. I remember landlines, LimeWire, and rewinding VHS tapes, but I also understand Slack threads and streaming algorithms. I grew up with Oregon Trail and AIM away messages, straddling two worlds that don’t always make sense together.

As someone who works in marketing, you’d think I’d love the idea of generational branding. It’s a tidy framework. It gives us buckets to put people in, each with its own trends, platforms, and fonts. But here’s the truth: it’s lazy. And more often than not, it misses the mark.

Labeling people as Gen Z or Millennials or Boomers may help you plan a presentation, but it won’t help you build real connection. It turns entire communities into caricatures. Even worse, it keeps us from asking better questions. Questions about values, needs, identity, and the stories people are trying to tell with their time, money, and attention.

I see 25-year-olds who clip coupons and 65-year-olds who post DIY tutorials on TikTok. I see Gen Z voters who care deeply about fiscal policy and Gen X professionals running esports leagues for high school students. These people are not outliers. They’re the norm. They don’t behave a certain way just because of the year they were born. They act based on life stage, lived experience, and the things that matter to them right now.

This isn’t to say generational context is irrelevant. If you grew up during 9/11 or came of age during the pandemic, that shaped you. But when marketing relies too heavily on those labels, we start building strategies around assumptions instead of insights. We lose the nuance, and the nuance is where the resonance lives.

What we need is a shift back to human-centered branding. Instead of chasing generational approval, we should be listening for what people actually want. What gives them a sense of purpose? What gives them a sense of belonging? The brands that stay curious are the ones that build loyalty. The ones that reduce their audience to stereotypes are the ones people scroll past.

So yes, call me a geriatric millennial if you must. Just don’t assume I want your avocado subscription box or that I’m nostalgic for the sound of dial-up. I might be, but you’ll have to ask first.