Gen Z isn’t ignoring your ads by accident. They’re actively avoiding them. This generation gets informed, inspired, and ready to buy through creators, not through the channels brands still pour budgets into.
The shift in attention is already visible at a national level: in the UK, Youtube has overtaken ITV across all age groups, from children and teenagers to adults. The opportunity for brands now sits neatly in creator-led content not traditional broadcast or display advertising.
Why Gen Z Trusts Hauls over Ads
Gen Z wants to be on-trend, but their budgets dictate what actually ends up in the basket.
Hauls bridge that gap.
A creator showing what they bought, what they returned, and what was actually worth the money reads as an authentic recommendation.
Nielsen research shows people trust user-generated content 2.4 times more than brand-produced content. When the choice is between a polished ad and a real person’s honest haul, the haul wins the trust battle before the product is even out of the bag.
The Brands Winning the Hauls
Shein: Haul Culture at Scale
Shein has built an entire growth engine around haul culture. Its “picks for you” approach, powered by TikTok influencers, has turned everyday try-on videos into viral summer wardrobe moments. Rather than investing in traditional brand advertising, Shein leans on creator curation, letting individual taste and personality do the selling. It’s a direct answer to the Say/Do Gap.
Labubu: Collectibility via Creator Hype
Labubu shows what happens when scarcity meets creator culture. Over 1.4 million #Labubu TikToks, blind box unboxings, and hunts have all been mostly driven by creators not brand marketing. The combination of status and scarcity generates organic haul content on its own. The creators become the demand engine.
Primark: The Ultimate “No Ads” Retailer
Primark might be the clearest proof point of all. Its 460 stores across 17 countries and 26 million social followers, all reflect how Primark has built a retail giant without placing a traditional ad.
Its marketing model is built on hauls, the “Primania” user generated content (UGC) movement, and its instantly recognizable bags acting as walking ads on every high street. Primark also refuses to sell online, which forces word-of-mouth and in-store footfall to do the heavy lifting.
How to Activate Hauls Instead of Ads
- Find the right creators: Prioritize brand values, engagement quality, and relevance to your audience over raw follower count.
- Let go of polish: Gen Z is looking for people, not commercials. The rougher, more honest the content feels, the more it converts.
- Measure accurately: Track engagement rates, view rates, and audience demographics rather than relying on vanity metrics alone.
Own the Haul... Own the Funnel
Hauls do something paid ads can’t… They compress awareness, consideration, and conversion into a single, trusted moment. When a creator shows a product working in real life they’ve done the job of three funnel stages at once.
Talk to PION about activating long-tail creator hauls with data driven vetting.
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