'Gen Z in love with themselves; real-life heroes work better as brand endorsers than reel life ones'

Gen Z is in love with itself, and celebrities as brand endorsers will not work as well with it, Nestle India chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said on Tuesday, Addressing the CII Marketing Leadership here, the fast moving consumer goods company chairman said real life heroes trump the reel-life celebrities when it comes to effectiveness of brand campaigns, citing Nestles recent successes.The Generation Z is in love with themselves.

Gen Z is in love with itself, and celebrities as brand endorsers will not work as well with it, Nestle India chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said on Tuesday, Addressing the CII Marketing Leadership here, the fast moving consumer goods company chairman said real life heroes trump the reel-life celebrities when it comes to effectiveness of brand campaigns, citing Nestle's recent successes.

''The Generation Z is in love with themselves. They do not want to be a great film star, they do not want to be great politicians, they do not want to be a great corporate leader,'' Narayanan said while underlining that associating with a social cause also helps brands.

For a ready-to-drink brand, Nestle set aside the age-old formula of getting celebrity brand endorsers but opted for three real-life heroes whose achievements include making a Mumbai beach cleaner, teaching taekwondo to underprivileged girls, and an animal rights activist for a recent campaign.

''There are many unsung heroes in this country. The generational shift is taking place all around us,'' Narayanan said, making it clear that he is not pitching for avoiding celebrities.

He said that real-heroes as brand ambassadors campaign gave Nestle ''lots of returns'' which were better than anything else it has had.

It became into a movement with Gen Z latching on to it and reached 20 million people organically, he added.

Narayanan said that it is a very positive way of communication in a world otherwise filled with negativity, and also spoke about Nestle's attempts at being good.

He said Nestle switched to paper straws much before it was made mandatory and the switch has helped to ensure that there are 30 million less plastic straws the world has to be grappled with now.

Marketing needs more anthropologists than pure-play marketers, Narayanan said, stressing that the study of societies and human behaviour is becoming more important in the way in which we market our brands.

It is also essential for business leaders to create organisations where people are self-driven, Narayanan said, pointing to Nestle's experience with a switch to working from offices, where it has witnessed employees voluntarily returning to offices without any diktats.