65% of Gen Z feels nostalgic for eras they never lived. That's a marketer's dream — and a minefield. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to unpack why some brands earn their way into a decade that isn't theirs, and why the ones that fake it get caught every time.

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74% of Gen Z uses TikTok as a search engine. 81% of teens get news from creators. But 55% still say they trust established experts when a story really matters. So the question isn't whether Gen Z has abandoned traditional sources. It's whether "the source" is even a concept anymore. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to figure out who they actually trust, when credentials still matter, and what all this means for brands and truth.

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The ’90s version of showing off was a giant Tommy Hilfiger logo across your chest, a big Nautica patch on the sleeve of your polo, or head-to-toe Adidas from the hoodie to the trainers.

Gen Z’s version? Waking up at 4am for a limited edition sneaker, waiting in line for 12 hours for a hoodie, or hunting down the Canada Goose jacket that sold out in minutes. The logo might be smaller, but the scarcity and sacrifice add something even more valuable than the product itself - the story behind how you got it.

In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to explore how identity is signaled now that scarcity, sacrifice, and cultural relevance matter as much as the product itself. Why are Gen Z willing to work harder than ever to earn their brand identity?

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Some brands you grew up with stick with you forever. Others get dropped the minute you have your own grocery list. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to figure out what makes Gen Z stay loyal, what makes them switch, and why so many of them are happy to keep their parents' bank but wouldn't be caught dead in their parents' jeans.

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Brands have been gearing up for America's 250th birthday like it's the next Super Bowl. The market is shrugging. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to find out which 250 plays are actually landing with Gen Z, and why so much of the big-budget spectacle is losing out to the small, simple stuff.

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From licensing to sponsorships to endorsements to full-on artist partnerships, brands have a lot of doorways into music, and marketers love walking through all of them. But the market is paying way less attention than the industry thinks. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to find out which music marketing moves earn a place in young consumers' lives and which ones just become wallpaper.

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Brands are betting big that AI will make advertising faster and cheaper. Gen Z has one question: at what cost? In this episode of Market Says, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to find out where the line sits between a useful tool and a brand-killing shortcut.

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The algorithm doesn’t just show us what we care about. It can start to shape what we think we care about. In this episode of Market Says, hosts Marcus Collins and Gayle Troberman, alongside University of Michigan students get to the heart of how brand relevance works in a feed-first culture. If people are discovering issues, products, controversies and cultural cues through their “for you” pages, then brands are no longer just competing for attention - they’re competing to become part of someone’s identity. For marketers, the question becomes less “what do we want to say?” and more “how is the market receiving, reshaping and sharing what we stand for?” Because today, brand meaning doesn’t only live in the campaign. It lives in the feed.

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In this episode of Market Says?, hosts Gayle Troberman and Marcus Collins sit down with University of Michigan marketing students to find out what Gen Z fans actually think about brand marketing in sports and what it takes to get their attention.

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Hosts Marcus Collins and his University of Michigan Students will take a rare look at culture through the eyes of tomorrow’s consumers. Marketers will get schooled by the students as they take the mic and decide what gets a pass and a fail when it comes to creating culture and connecting with Gen Z.

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