Gen Alpha doesn't want brands to act young. It wants them to be real

When Reginne Cabanban told her 12-year-old son that she had participated in the viral 6-7 meme trend for her agency's TikTok account, she did not expect him to burst into tears laughing.

The managing partner at The Tribe, formerly Tribal Worldwide Philippines, had simply wanted to share how her agency was engaging with a popular internet trend. Her son's reaction, however, offered an unexpected lesson about the generation marketers are trying to reach: understanding youth culture does not mean brands should jump on every craze.

Cabanban's observation reflects a wider challenge facing advertisers in Indonesia and the Philippines, where Gen Alpha's digital habits, unconventional humour and rapidly changing interests are pushing brands to reconsider how they approach youth marketing.

For creative leaders, the answer is not simply to produce more short-form videos or adopt the latest internet slang. It is to understand what makes young audiences engage, what makes them turn away and how brands can remain relevant without appearing to force their way into the conversation.

That tension is particularly visible in the rise of brainrot, where absurdity has become a language of its own among young audiences.

In Indonesia, Michael Fabian, executive creative director at BBDO Indonesia, sees the popularity of brainrot and absurdist content as an extension of local storytelling rather than a departure from it.

"I read brainrot as folklore with WiFi," he said, pointing to Tung Tung Tung Sahur, an internet character inspired by the traditional kentongan used to wake communities during Ramadan's pre-dawn sahur period. Its absurd mythology helped turn a familiar cultural reference into an internet phenomenon.

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For Fabian, the appeal lies in combining something locally recognisable with a format that audiences can easily repeat and share.

So whenever a brand asks me how to do absurd, I say roots and rules. The weird stuff that lasts has a local root people recognise and a rule simple enough for a kid to repeat.

Angel Roberty, founder and CEO of AdONCE, similarly believes brainrot is a creative language with its own conventions, including repetition, sound and characters that audiences can reinterpret.

Rather than simply copying popular memes, she encourages brands to develop flexible creative assets that audiences can play with.

She identifies three considerations for successful executions: moving quickly enough to participate in fast-changing culture, allowing audiences to engage with the creative idea rather than merely imitating them, and ensuring there is an actual idea behind the humour.

The risk, however, is that brands become so focused on appearing relevant that they lose sight of what makes the content entertaining in the first place.

The biggest creative mistake is trying too hard

Preliminary findings from Merlot, a Redcomm agency, offer further insight into how young Indonesian audiences respond to branded content.

Its online survey of 305 students aged 13 to 18 across 120 schools in 59 cities found that 60% skip content that looks fake, while 50% skip content they consider cringe. Another 36% skip content that looks like an advertisement, while 22% reject content that feels stiff or outdated.

Among respondents who provided open-ended answers about what makes something cringe, common descriptions included over-the-top behaviour, pretending to be someone else and attention-seeking.

The findings suggest that the problem is not necessarily brands participating in trends, but how naturally they do so.

Cabanban's experience with her son illustrates this distinction. While marketers might see participation in a meme as a way to demonstrate cultural awareness, young audiences may interpret the same execution as an adult trying too hard to be part of their world.

Fabian shares that concern, warning against brands adopting the surface-level language of young audiences without understanding its cultural context.

"A mascot yelling 'skibidi' feels like an adult in a kid's costume, and kids can smell that from the next kampung," he said.

TikTok discovery does not mean TikTok is everything

Beyond creative execution, Gen Alpha's digital behaviour is also challenging how marketers approach platforms and content distribution.

Cabanban observes that her children can become intensely absorbed in particular videos, watching them repeatedly, but can also lose patience and move on to the next piece of content almost immediately.

She believes marketers need to understand these behaviours before deciding which platforms or formats to prioritise.

In Indonesia, Roberty points to another consideration: the implementation of PP Tunas, which restricts children under 16 from holding accounts on digital platforms classified as high-risk under the country's child protection framework.

The rules began phased implementation on 28 March 2026, initially covering services including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Roblox, among others.

Roberty argues that this changes the assumption that brands can simply reach young audiences by following them onto their preferred platforms. Instead, she sees greater opportunities in shared family content, physical experiences, packaging, retail and school-related touchpoints.

"The shelf and the playground are becoming media again," she said.

Make content that parents and kids watch together. Build characters and stories that live offline, in lunchboxes and school bags. Take packaging, retail and events seriously again.

Fabian also highlights the importance of physical environments, from milk cartons at breakfast to food vendors outside school gates, as everyday touchpoints that reach children and parents alike.

Meanwhile, Merlot's research suggests that even when qualified young audiences discover products on TikTok, they use other platforms for different purposes.

Among its respondents who were eligible to use these platforms, 80% identified TikTok as their most-used platform for searching for products to buy. However, its role was considerably smaller for socialising (16%) and joining communities (17%). YouTube led for watching creators at 67%, while Discord ranked first for joining communities at 31%.

This suggests that marketers should not mistake product discovery for an established relationship with a brand. A platform that introduces a product might not be the place where young audiences discuss it, develop shared interests or build communities.

Give them something worth returning to

Ultimately, the experts believe brands need to look beyond views, likes and viral moments when assessing whether their Gen Alpha strategies are working.

For Cabanban, the more important question is whether an initial interest translates into repeated engagement or actual changes in consumer behaviour.

She cautions that children's preferences can shift quickly, making it difficult to distinguish genuine brand affinity from temporary excitement.

"There's always going to be pressure to keep up with what's trending, especially with a generation whose interests seem to change so quickly. But I think brands also need to know when to stop chasing the next big thing and focus on what makes their product worth choosing again," she said.

For advertisers, the more sustainable advantage may come from understanding what young audiences genuinely enjoy, giving them room to participate and creating something they want to return to long after the trend has disappeared.

This is a two-part analysis. Click here to find out how Gen Alpha is already influencing household spending.

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