AdWeek shares TrackSuit insights on Gen Z brand consideration in 2025

The GIST: On Wednesday, AdWeek published purchase consideration insights from brand tracking platform Tracksuit. The data highlights the biggest shifts in purchase consideration among popular Gen Z brands from January to June, proving that authenticity and wellness work best to win over young fans. Here are the key takeaways and the ways they’re being implemented across women’s sports.

The winning brands: Coca-Cola saw purchase consideration jump from 56% to 71% — the biggest percentage boost among Zoomers — after the brand reimagined its 2011 iconic “Share A Coke” campaign for a Gen Z audience.

• Hinge, which endeavored to showcase real meet-cutes on the app through last year’s “No Ordinary Love” and “It’s Funny We Met On Hinge” campaigns, saw consideration jump 14% thanks to its honest brand voice when speaking to Gen Z users.

Where interest is waning: Though instant ramen staple Maruchan notched a relatively high purchase consideration score of 54%, this is a 16% drop from the beginning of the year, following a November product release.

• In the burgeoning Manuka honey industry, Manuka Health saw an increase in consideration, which may be attributed to its arrival in NYC and LA luxury skincare markets. However, competing brand Manukora saw declining purchase consideration despite its differentiation efforts.

Winning brands’ relationship with sports: Tracksuit co-founder and CCO Matt Herbert noted that brand consideration grows with familiarity, and that familiarity is fueled by consistency, uniqueness, and emotional pull.

• With 233 global partnerships across 21 sports as of 2022, Coca-Cola is steadfast and pervasive. Its sports drink brand, Powerade, focused on Gen Z in its latest March Madness campaign.

• Hinge, meanwhile, has gone offline to provide grants for sports organizations promoting wellness and personal connections, a move that affirms their devotion to creating genuine relationships.

• And although prominent sports sponsor Lululemon is fighting a legal battle versus dupes (admittedly a Gen Z fave), the brand saw higher purchase consideration when catering to NHL and Team Canada audiences.

The women’s sports angle: Per Herbert, brands can usually convert about half of consumers from product awareness to purchase consideration. And, according to Parity and HS&E studies, women’s sports fans strongly support purchasing from sponsors. That may be why surging wellness brands, like Unwell and Olly, have signed deals with the NWSL and Golden State Valkyries, respectively.

• Additionally, women’s sports sponsors are leading with storytelling, a move backed by our own data on women’s sports fans. It’s been proven that these fans reward brands that provide steadfast sponsorship because it shows loyalty, and that hits all three benchmarks Herbert noted for top brand consideration. Right in the basket.