They’re too young for jobs, but not too young to shape the economy. Gen Alpha’s spending influence is real and growing, with new data from public relations firm DKC showing that children in this age range (8-14) impact nearly half of their households’ purchasing decisions. 

When ads become content: The new norm for Gen Alpha

Unlike any generation before, Gen Alpha never experienced a time without pervasive digital influence. Social media is where entertainment and ads mix, sometimes reaching children who might not fully understand they’re being marketed to.

In the past, a child hearing, “No, you don’t need that,” from a parent learned to manage impulses tangibly and productively. The store aisle was a controlled environment, and adults helped set limits that felt real and immediate. 

But today’s reality is different, and on social media, that kind of guidance doesn’t exist for Gen Alpha. Children as young as age 8 or 9 are bombarded with powerful, direct and highly engaging visual corporate messages that turn products and commercial lifestyles into objects of near-obsessive admiration. For today’s young generation, the line dividing entertainment from advertising has effectively vanished. Corporate messages no longer knock before suggesting consumerism; now, they live inside the content itself with very little oversight or regulation.

Teens see thousands of targeted online ads every day

Children are uniquely vulnerable to marketing because their skills at critical thinking and impulse control are still developing. The constant stream of familiar faces, stories and product placements on social media can light up the same pleasure centers that drive adult buying habits, conditioning young minds to crave and consume in ways that can become deeply ingrained and addictive. 

Advertising for children has evolved into a multibillion-dollar industry. According to estimates shared by UNICEF, a typical 14-year-old encounters around 1,260 advertisements daily on social media. 

Brands track children’s online behavior using sophisticated algorithms and data analytics, allowing them to deliver personalized ads that target kids’ interests and emotions. This constant, tailored exposure creates strong desires in children, who then repeatedly ask their parents to buy the products—a phenomenon known as “pester power.” Parents, often giving in to avoid conflict, complete the cycle with the final purchase. 

Kids’ spending power reaches $101 billion annually in the U.S.

According to DKC, parents of kids ages 8 to 14 estimate that 42% of household purchases are swayed by their children, with Gen Alpha directly controlling $101 billion of consumer spending power. The average child in this age group has $67 a week to spend, equaling $3,484 a year—almost 50% more than in 2024, according to Axios. Gen Alpha is drawn to highly visual, interactive and community-driven entertainment. Popular platforms like YouTube, TikTok and gaming streams dominate their screen time, with many preferring short, snackable content that fits into their fast-paced digital lives.

Gen Alpha thrives on popular cultural messages that flow naturally into their everyday conversations. Living and breathing online culture, their social norms create a clear divide from Gen Z in the digital realm. This generation rejects straightforward marketing altogether. They want to see their purchases woven into stories they can follow and engage with. 

How brands speak directly to Gen Alpha through storytelling

To reach Gen Alpha, brands are moving beyond traditional ads to create immersive, narrative-driven content. MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) is one of the world’s top digital influencers, and among the wealthiest, proving how a single creator can build a brand worth hundreds of millions. As of 2025, his net worth is estimated to be at $1 billion, with annual earnings reportedly exceeding $100 million through YouTube ad revenue, sponsorships, merchandise and his own product lines. His success is a prime example of how creative content and smart marketing can lead to massive earnings. 

With over-the-top challenges and jaw-dropping generosity, MrBeast keeps his young fans glued to the screen. But look closer, and you’ll see brilliant marketing at work. From slick sponsorships to subtle plugs for his own brands, like Feastables and MrBeast Burger, every view is a sales opportunity.

While viral TikTok trends generate quick buzz, they rarely foster lasting loyalty. Instead, brands are becoming full-fledged media creators, producing original, high-quality videos and collaborating with influencers to build enduring digital communities that resonate with young audiences.

In today’s social media landscape, advertising has transformed into a sophisticated creative industry. Leading directors and social creators craft compelling stories that connect deeply with Gen Alpha, blending cinematic artistry with cultural relevance. This approach makes brand messages feel authentic and engaging, speaking directly to a generation raised entirely within the digital world.

For Gen Alpha, connection with brands isn’t transactional; it’s relational. This generation demands narratives that resonate and communities that feel real. Marketers today face a paradox with this demographic though: They must build relationships through storytelling and community, yet do so with heightened awareness that this audience is uniquely impressionable. Responsibility here isn’t a box to check—it’s a continuous, evolving commitment to respect the boundaries between engagement and exploitation in an environment where those lines so often disappear.

Photo by LightField Studios/Shutterstock

There was a time—not long ago—when each season brought with it a new beauty “moment” that we all knew about. Graphic liner, bold blue lips, glitter brows. And while many of these trends were polarizing or impractical for daily life, they kept beauty fun, expressive, alive because we were all talking about it. Now, trends seem to have disappeared.

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Scroll through TikTok or Instagram, and the majority of trends are replaced with instruction. It’s a masterclass-heavy moment. In many ways, this is a gift—we’ve never had access to professionals and the knowledge that was once reserved for celebrities (think: Danessa Myricks’ tutorials or Mary Phillips’ underpainting technique). Yet, it feels like something’s missing: the joy of surprise or rush of reinvention.

Instead of beauty inspiration coming from the pages of a magazine or the front of Fashion Week, they’re stitched together by algorithms, hyper-personalized feeds, and ever-scrolling For You pages. One person’s feed might be neutral lips and soft contouring, while their best friend sees bold liner and smokey eyes. Whether it’s over-filtered social media feeds or the striking similarities between influencers, there’s a uniformity that’s hard to shake.

It’s splintered the beauty world into hyper-particular niches—each with its own set of unspoken rules and strictures.

“Trends are fragmented because everything is fragmented these days: how we communicate, who we listen to, how we get information,” says New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman in a recent article.

But in the deluge of tutorials and trends, maybe this fracture actually creates space for us all.

With the rise of no-makeup makeup and “your skin but better” foundations, there’s been a move toward embracing (and even re-creating) natural features—freckles, texture, human imperfection. We’re questioning the beauty standards we grew up with and collectively finding empowerment in choosing not to cover up.

Yet somehow, this movement meant to celebrate individuality has somehow developed its own homogenized aesthetic. Even the “natural” look—think perfectly dewy skin, fluffy brows, subtle contours—creates a new type of conformity, evolving into its own prescriptive routine. We’ve traded one uniform for another, even if it’s a more subtle one.

“When even being anti-trend—deciding to buy nothing or at least nothing new—is trendy, you know we have reached peak trend Dada,” writes Friedman.

Has the pendulum swung so far that there’s no longer any space for whimsy and weird? How do we get back to playful expression?

Maybe the way back isn’t about abandoning tutorials or the quiet power of subtlety, but about giving ourselves permission to color outside the lines again. To apply a product simply because it makes us feel something, not because it’s trending. To reclaim experimentation as a form of art.

Dare I say, there’s room for both celebrating our natural features while exploring creative expression through the color and texture of makeup. For finding both acceptance and transformation. Personally, I want to start having more fun again.

Instead of following a tutorial from someone whose features look nothing like mine, I want to start being more intuitive in how I apply my products. Instead of focusing on doing it right, I want to do it in a way that feels right. Some days, it may be no makeup, but other days, it may be a fun pop of color.

Recently, I find myself gravitating toward grungy green eye shadow and mustard yellow nail polish—the kind of unconventional hues the minimalist version of me would run from. So I’m saying it—rather typing it—here for accountability: My goal is to incorporate more colors in ways that feel personal and authentic. Less prescriptive, more playful. Maybe you’ll join me?

Illustrations by Megan Badilla