Many legacy brands are scrambling to connect with Gen Z. Water filtration brand Brita found a surprising path in a slightly unhinged cartoon shark.
Last year, Brita and agency partner VaynerMedia launched a surreal social campaign starring a cartoon shark singing an anthem about hydration. “At Least I’m Hydrated” went viral, helping the brand break through with younger audiences.
At ADWEEK’s Social Media Week, Rita Gorenberg, senior marketing director of brand experience at Brita owner The Clorox Company, and VaynerMedia chief creative officer Rob Lenois discussed four unexpected principles behind their Gen Z-focused pivot.
@britausa you THIRSTED for it: AT LEAST I’M HYDRATED 2 #hydrated #song #unhinged #adulting ♬ At Least Im Hydrated 2 by Brita – Brita
1. Lean into chaos
The wellness space has long sold self-improvement, but Gen Z had grown tired of perfection, Lenois said. The team found traction instead by creating “messy, chaotic content,” including “slightly unhinged jingles.”
That was their cue to “lean hard into messy and chaos,” he said.
But even within that chaos, small wins still matter, Lenois observed. For Brita, that meant the simple reminder to stay hydrated. “That just took off,” he said.
2. Listen to the audience
A singing shark is a weird idea, but it came from following the audience, not forcing a concept on them.
“Like any truly good idea, the shark came about by following what we were seeing and not trying to force something on the audience,” Lenois said.
When VaynerMedia first pitched the concept, reactions inside Brita were mixed, Gorenberg recalled. But the team leaned on data showing what Gen Z actually cared about.
“It’s the audience and algorithm telling us what’s working. You can’t ignore that information,” she said.
Lenois went further: the audience isn’t just there to consume content; they’re a creative partner.
“The comments gave us the roadmap. The audience told us what they wanted to see next, what they wanted the shark to sing about next, and the comments became the brief,” he said.
