Got a question? Ask Gen Pop
Ask Gen Pop is a cultural reporting series on what Americans actually think – so marketers can stop making expensive guesses.
Does it feel like we marketers have lost the plot a bit?
I know people have said this before. And maybe the delusional state in which we create, assert, and pontificate is even justified—great marketing thought leadership surfaces trends, commiserates over shared struggles, and occasionally cracks open new frontiers.
But mostly? We’re arguing with ourselves about people who aren’t even in the conversation. It’s a dinner party where we endlessly debate what the guests want to eat.
Except we forgot to invite any guests.
And to that end, the would-be guests are tired of our gimmicks anyway.
People are savvier consumers now. They know what they’re seeing is marketing. They even want to contribute—but we’re ignoring the voices that actually matter.
Beyond the TikTok pariahs and LinkedIn echochambers is a general population of everyday consumers (gen pop*) who drive businesses—and culture—forward. Those are the people I realized I needed to hear from. I have questions about how they think, what they buy, what resonates, and why. And when I started talking to other marketers about this disconnect, it turned out they’re feeling it too.
I always think back to my own wake up call. I was scrolling through Twitter (back when it was still Twitter) when I saw a thread where someone asked, “What vacuum is everyone using?” Replies listed several brands. My thumbs were already itching to type a rave recommendation for the Dyson I had when I saw someone had beat me to the punch. This is when I discovered that $250 was an outrageous price for a vacuum. Someone else who recommended a Dyson was booed for even chiming in.
This was the moment I learned that I am out of touch with the average American.
I started looking out for more of these moments. After the initial embarrassment wore off, I wanted to actually bridge this huge gap in my understanding of “the average American consumer.” Are they mostly middle-class? But is that class shrinking or widening? What are they buying the most? What do they really think? What are they eating for lunch? More than blindsided, it felt like I lost peripheral vision.
I wish my optometrist could measure how much perception of reality I’ve lost after 15 years of being on social media. This is all I can see right now.
Over and over, I started noticing a similar sentiment toward marketing ringing from gen pop: “I don’t feel represented.” It’s a statement we know to be true during election cycles, but it actually rings true year-round in entertainment, fashion, and popular culture. Beyond who’s on screen, consumers are itching to feel seen in billboards, being understood in a commercial, and knowing when something is for you vs. not for you.
And that’s how Ask Gen Pop was conceived.
Ask Gen Pop is a cultural reporting series about what Americans actually think—so marketers can stop making expensive guesses, and consumers can actually join the conversation. It’s a series born from my genuine curiosity—a chance for me to learn more about the people who power my career, for us as marketers to collectively grow, and for each other to connect as consumer culture rapidly shifts.
Every month, we’ll be asking the general population—the average, everyday American—what they really think about brands, ads, and the cultural moments marketers are trying to capitalize on. Based on your real and pressing questions of the moment.
I’m Tareen Alam: I run ChannelFore, a social media marketing agency, and bring the cultural and marketing perspective. My collaborator Morgan Stempf runs Videotape, a consumer research platform, and shapes how we approach survey design and interpret the findings.
Together, we hope to bridge the context gaps in consumer culture.
Who is Ask Gen Pop for?
Ask Gen Pop is for brand managers, strategists, cultural analysts, media buyers, and entrepreneurs who need to stay ahead. If your job depends on understanding how real people think and behave, our series is for you.
And if we’ve done our job right? We’ll all feel a little more seen, a little more understood. We’ll get better at relating to each other. Our differences won’t feel like threats—they’ll just feel human.
With every survey, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the findings and get direction for what we Ask Gen Pop next.
*In Ask Gen Pop, “Gen Pop” refers to the general population in a statistical context—everyday people across income levels, location, and personal backgrounds. “Gen Pop” can also have a prison context. We’re talking about the former.