The Subtle Art of Engaging Gen Z: How Serviceplan and Rügenwalder Mühle Grab Attention

Berlin, May 2025. There is a creative buzz in Berlin as many young people come together to make posters for Billie Eilish’s anticipated concert. With multiple sold-out shows, the singer-songwriter is very popular, especially among gen z. Rachel Jünemann, 20, and her friends enjoy gathering to paint posters together. The student thinks, “It is a great way to show your creativity and love for the artist.” But that is not all. The friendship group also hopes to win the scarce concert tickets.

Creative agencies Serviceplan Culture and Serviceplan Hamburg, and meat and meat alternative company Rügenwalder Mühle, invited the community to create colourful posters and contribute to a city-wide campaign under the slogan ‘Close to Your Star.’ They gave their campaign budget to the community, generating €100,000 worth of media space for fans and transforming Berlin into a dedicated fan space. Ultimately, everyone who submitted was part of a national lottery to win the tickets.

Rachel is a big fan of the campaign. “My best friend and I love crafting and Billie Eilish, so it was like hitting two birds with one stone.” In the end, they didn’t win the lottery, but were excited to share their crafts on TikTok afterward.

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Reaching Gen Z – The Struggle Is Real

As a gen z, Rachel felt engaged with this campaign. Understanding the young generation is crucial for brands, as they will comprise 26% of the consumer base by 2030.

However, cutting through the noise is hard. About 35% of gen z skip videos that don’t grab their attention within the first five seconds, according to data by Zebracat.

Rügenwalder Mühle and Serviceplan Germany seem to have mastered holding the young generations' attention with their poster campaign and its forerunner, the ‘#Wurstpromoter.’

With that campaign, the marketers jumped on the hype of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and made fans promote sausages for two free tickets.

The ‘#Wurstpromoter’ campaign was a big success and increased the purchase intent from 1.8% to 5.6%, says Rügenwalder Mühle. Interest in the company increased by 44% during the time of the campaign, according to Google Trends.

So, What Is the Secret Behind Engaging Gen Z?

Well, step one is to get the target audience into the room where it happens. As a fellow gen z and cultural marketing director at Serviceplan Culture, Maurice Endres (Moe for short), brings his expertise and understanding of the audience into projects and campaigns.

​Steffen Zeller, on the other hand, brings years of experience as a chief marketing officer and knows the history of the brand Rügenwalder Mühle like the back of his hand.

When discussing the target audience, both explain that they have different ways of defining it. Because Rügenwalder Mühle offers meat and meat alternatives, the goal is to reach the ‘flexplorers.’ That is the audience open to dive into both product categories.

Culture Hacking – How To Touch Grass With Gen Z

Before the posters for the Billie Eilish concert, the company made waves with its campaign for Taylor Swift’s sold-out Eras Tour. By encouraging people to apply for the position of sausage promoter, the company effectively promoted its brand. Ultimately, two people won tickets to the popular concert.

For Serviceplan Culture cultural marketing director Moe, it is all about delivering something to the target audience that they didn't even know they wanted in the first place. Moe says, “Diving into the culture and community is key.”

Rügenwalder Mühle wants to be part of happy memories and the community building of people, says Steffen. “Through this, we manage to emotionally connect with our ‘flexplorers’ and put the sausage in the centre of things while helping to create community.”

Since it is all about authenticity, having people on the team who understand gen z, the culture, and the language helps. Moe explains, “We are not selling a product but a vibe and going with the momentum.”

But, this type of campaigning also poses a risk. Agencies and companies must take a chance on creative teams to challenge the status quo and devise new ways of engaging people, especially on social media. Moe says: “If you want to engage young people, you have to understand them and act as quickly as they do. Sometimes you have to disrupt, but authentically. And agencies have to trust their teams enough to take that leap of faith.”

The Gen Z Council

While the first two campaigns were a test run, Serviceplan, and Rügenwalder Mühle are now putting their money where their mouth is in the long term. After the success of their two concert campaigns, the marketing companies have decided to invest in a gen z council that gives honest and unfiltered feedback before projects go out. Moe says: “It is a real collaboration between us and the council. We don’t want to just talk about the target audience but get them fully onboard.”

The last two campaigns have successfully raised brand awareness and key performance indicators (KPIs), so the company wants to build on what works. Steffen says: “The qualitative and quantitative feedback has been amazing. That is why we are doubling down on that, putting fire under the next rocket, and will not have to wait for long until the next big thing.”

The company also wants to arrange real-life workshops and build a marketing strategy that fits a sustainable gen z engaging plan.

When fans ask you which concert you are doing a campaign for next, your numbers keep climbing, and young people notice your brand's existence more and more. Chances are, you are doing something right.

Now, the goal is to build a long-lasting soul brand with consistent “engaging campaigns.” Moe says: “We want to start conversations and add value to the community in a long-lasting way.”