The Power of Youth Culture in Shaping Brands| Middle East & Africa Summit 2025

Market Demographics & Revenue Impact:

• Golden Goose reports that approximately 70% of its sales are driven by Gen Z and millennial consumers.
• Time Magazine currently holds its largest and youngest audience in its 100-year history, with 45% of readers aged 35 and younger and 30% located outside the U.S.
• The MENA region presents significant growth potential, with 47% of the population aged 24 or younger.

Defining Youth Culture:

• Panelist Haifa argues that youth culture is not a monolith but should be analyzed through three "iceberg" layers: surface aesthetics (TikTok trends), intermediate patterns of belonging and politics, and deep currents like economic instability and the climate crisis.
• There is a growing recognition that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are distinct cohorts with different motivations; Gen Alpha is purely digital-native, whereas Gen Z adapted to the digital world.
• Brands are advised to avoid treating youth as a single demographic and instead focus on micro and niche cultures across different regions.

Strategies for Engagement & Co-Creation:

• Golden Goose: Implements a "co-creation" model where customers customize products (e.g., sneakers) in-store, and employs cobblers to offer repair services to extend product lifecycles.
• PacSun: Established a Youth Advisory Board comprising individuals aged 13–24 to advise on brand direction; launched a free "Youth Report" based on 6,000+ global respondents to guide industry understanding.
• Blank Street: Reframed beverages as "cultural moments" and fashion accessories, with matcha drinks accounting for 50% of business due to their visual and social media appeal.
• Time Magazine: Appointed its first millennial editor-in-chief and released the "Time 100 Creators" list featuring 150 voices from 15 countries to highlight young digital influencers.

Consumer Behavior Trends:

• Self-Influence: PacSun's 2025 Youth Report indicates that 51% of Gen Z and Gen Alpha respondents believe they, rather than celebrities or influencers, have the most influence on their own fashion choices.
• Shift in Consumption: Gen Z alcohol consumption has dropped approximately 90% compared to previous generations, driven by a focus on longevity and sleep health; Blank Street positions its cafes as "future cocktail bars" to replace evening social drinking.
• Status & Aspirational Spending: Young consumers seek cultural relevance and attainable status symbols (e.g., low-cost branded coffee) to signal belonging before they can afford high-end luxury goods.
• Social Commerce: PacSun generated nearly one million jeans sold via TikTok Shop, utilizing the platform as a primary revenue stream and sales channel for user-generated content.

Sustainability, Ethics & Social Impact:

• Rivet Grants: Rivet has funded 1,100 projects in over 75 countries, with 80% led by entrepreneurs under age 25; initiatives focus on climate, education, inclusion, health, and poverty reduction.
• Example Case Study: A young Nigerian entrepreneur named Stan Lee received an initial $250 grant to address lack of electricity, eventually scaling to a $500,000 EU funding round for a business producing solar-powered science kits.
• Collaborative Activism: Crocs and Rivet collaborated on a "gibbets" (shoe charms) project where change-makers from five continents defined the prompts, fostering a feedback loop of authentic co-ownership.
• Corporate Values: Generational consumers expect brands to join existing social fights rather than lead them from a top-down position; transparency regarding supply chains and labor practices is critical.

Technology & AI Integration:

• Time Magazine: Eliminated its paywall to maximize global reach and partnered with Scale AI to train 750,000 assets on its 100-year archive, enabling users to query news via chat.
• Business Intelligence: Blank Street uses AI tools to analyze untagged user-generated content (e.g., scanning videos for brand cups) to generate sentiment scores and track brand awareness.
• Workforce Evolution: Panels suggest AI will create new human-centric roles such as "cultural strategists" and "cultural architects," where youth fluency provides an advantage over automated processes.

Geographic Expansion & Events:

• PacSun Middle East: Announced a five-year partnership with Maje Futame to enter the Dubai market, with a first store at Mall of Emirates; activated Trackside experiences at the Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi.
• Time Arabia: Time is actively seeking a local language partner to launch "Time Arabia," aiming to expand international coverage in the MENA region.
• Time Impact Gala: Scheduled for Abu Dhabi, the event will honor regional leaders including Jamie Salter and Alexis Ohanian to highlight local impact stories.

Pricing Power & Long-Term Brand Health:

• Investment in Authenticity: Sandro (Golden Goose) links cultural credibility to pricing power, noting that self-expression and community participation drive willingness to pay premium prices.
• Inter-generational Appeal: Golden Goose benefits from being a "democratic" brand worn by multiple generations, with a product line that includes items purchased by consumers as young as 18 (born 2007) up to grandparents.
• Future Outlook: The consensus is that youth culture is the "main stage" for brand relevance, requiring continuous investment to secure future revenue streams as current youth consumers age.