The 20 brands catching Gen Z’s attention rose while average equity fell. Few passed an old peak.
In July, Liberty Mutual introduced a fuzzy yellow puppet named Liberty Biberty, built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop from a joke in a 2019 ad where an actor mispronounced the brand’s name. By the end of September, the insurer had the second-biggest Gen Z gain of the quarter.
That gain put Liberty Mutual in Ad Age’s quarterly Gen Z brand rankings, a list of 20 brands catching Gen Z’s attention.
The short answer: Many of the brands that rose with Gen Z this summer laughed at themselves, cut prices on familiar favorites, teamed up with other brands, and turned up where Gen Z already was. They did it while average Gen Z equity fell. And 16 of the 20 are still below an earlier Gen Z high.
Which brands rose fastest with Gen Z in Q3 2026?
Bose, Liberty Mutual, The Farmer’s Dog, Electronic Arts (EA), and Hollister had the biggest gains in Gen Z brand equity from Q2 to Q3 2026, according to HarrisQuest data. Bose led with a 15.5-point rise. Ad Age has the full list of 20 Gen Z brands.
Brand equity here is the average of four measures (familiarity, momentum, consideration, and perceived quality) among Gen Z adults in the US, on a 0–100 scale. The trend read compares each brand’s third-quarter level with its own Gen Z history since January 2024.
Trend reads, from most to least certain: Strong is a new Gen Z high with a verified story in the quarter. Confident is a new high with no single dated campaign, or a level well above the brand’s usual range with a verified story. Emerging is a return to a recent high, or a level above the usual range but below an earlier peak. Watch is a gain that clears the bar narrowly, moves with a season, or rests on one measure.
What did the brands that caught Gen Z’s attention do?
They leaned into the chaos
“This quarter’s theme: embrace the chaos,” says Justin Pincus, managing director of HarrisQuest. “Laugh at yourself, like the insurer that turned an old ad joke into a mascot called Liberty Biberty. Or do what OpenAI did: let the headlines argue about AI ending the world, and show people how it can be the end of life’s inconveniences instead.”
Liberty Biberty got mixed reviews from Gen Z, though Ad Age reported he won points for being a real puppet instead of AI. Either way, the share of Gen Z who said Liberty Mutual was on its way up doubled, from 11% to 22%. Its gain is rated Confident, well above its 2024 and 2025 levels.
OpenAI’s September launch ad skipped the debate about AI’s risks and sold its newest model as help with everyday chores. Its Gen Z equity climbed 10.5 points, back to its November 2025 high, and Gen Z trust in the company held. Its gain is rated Emerging.
They cut prices on familiar favorites
Bose cut its original QuietComfort headphones to $229 in July, then announced a new model on August 6 in limited colors like Dewdrop Mint. Gen Z gave it the biggest gain on the list. Its trend read is Emerging, and the lift had faded by late September.
Pizza Hut brought back the $3 Personal Pan on a Throwback Value Menu on July 14, and its Gen Z equity peaked in the weeks right after. Gen Z also rated Pizza Hut 7.5 points higher on how much it shapes today’s trends. Its gain is rated Watch, the most cautious read.
Price got both brands noticed. Neither gain has reached new ground yet.
They teamed up with other brands
Liquid Death sells canned water as a heavy-metal joke, and this summer the joke traveled: a MrBeast Feastables flavor, a Goodwipes scent, and a BARK pet line. It’s the only brand on the list rated Strong. Hollister’s dorm and home collection reached more than 1,500 Target stores on June 28, just before students left for campus; its gain is rated Watch. Anthropologie added a kitchen line from chef Molly Yeh, a Barbour collaboration, and nine Nike styles, and reached its best Gen Z level since early 2024, though its gain is also rated Watch.
They showed up where Gen Z already was
The Farmer’s Dog became the NFL’s first official pet food partner on September 9, with Giants running back Cam Skattebo and his rescue dog Duke; its gain is rated Emerging. Toyota’s World Cup campaign opened in June and held fan events into July, and Audi built a July spot around soccer midfielder Diego Luna; both gains are rated Watch.
Ulta Beauty borrowed a superhero. “Supergirl” star Milly Alcock fronted its campaign in theaters, on streaming, and in stores from late May through mid-July, and its gain is rated Emerging. LOL Surprise turned 10 with dolls of Jennie and Rosalía, a YouTube series, and a presence at Lollapalooza from July 30–August 2. Its Gen Z equity reached its highest level since spring 2025, rated Confident.
Which of these Gen Z gains are new ground?
Before the list was final, we checked every candidate’s 12-week Gen Z trend since January 2024. Ten of the 20 earned a Watch rating, including five of the brands above: Pizza Hut, Toyota, Hollister, Audi, and Anthropologie.
EA, also rated Watch, shows why the check matters. College Football 27 launched in July and Madden followed in August, and EA got the same lift in the third quarter of 2025. Toyota’s gain took it back to its January 2026 level.
Liquid Death is the one brand rated Strong. Its 12-week Gen Z reading reached 46.0, past its previous high of 41.3 in March 2026. L’Oréal also edged past its Gen Z high, with no single dated US campaign behind the move, and YETI matched its own.
All of this happened on a falling tide. Across the 1,565 brands measured in both quarters, average Gen Z equity fell 1.3 points.
Did advertising drive the gains?
For some brands, ad recall rose alongside equity. Liquid Death’s Gen Z ad recall rose from 6% to 15% in the quarter it set a new Gen Z high.
For others, ad recall barely moved. Seven of the 20 gained equity while their own Gen Z ad recall held flat or fell. Poppi is the sharpest case: equity rose 7.3 points while ad recall dropped 5 percentage points. Its one dated story, a Spider-Man promotion, ended on August 8.
What should brand leaders take from this?
Read any Gen Z gain against the brand’s own history. A seasonal bump and a new high can be the same size on a quarterly chart, as EA shows.
Check the tide. A 5-point gain in a quarter when average Gen Z equity fell 1.3 points is a bigger result than the number alone suggests.
Split what you paid for from what you earned. Ad recall tends to track spending, so equity that climbs while recall holds still may be coming from word of mouth, culture, or earlier spending.
Look under the composite. Consideration, the share who would buy if price were no object, rose for all 20 brands, by 11 percentage points on average, more than any other measure. When your own score moves, find out which of the four parts moved it.
How HarrisQuest measures Gen Z brand equity
The rankings come from HarrisQuest brand tracking, which surveys US adults every day and reports familiarity, momentum, consideration, quality, and ad recall by generation. That daily data is what lets a quarterly list sit on top of a trend running back to January 2024. Brand teams use it to see how Gen Z reads them this week and to tell a real move from a seasonal one.
See how your brand reads with Gen Z. Book a HarrisQuest demo
Frequently asked questions
Which brands are gaining the most with Gen Z right now?
In Q3 2026, the brands with the biggest gains in Gen Z brand equity were Bose, Liberty Mutual, The Farmer’s Dog, Electronic Arts, and Hollister, according to HarrisQuest data behind Ad Age’s quarterly Gen Z rankings.
Which brand gained the most with Gen Z in Q3 2026?
Bose, with a 15.5-point rise in Gen Z brand equity from Q2 to Q3 2026, according to HarrisQuest data, though the gain had faded by late September.
What is brand equity in these rankings?
The average of familiarity, momentum, consideration, and perceived quality among Gen Z adults in the US, on a 0–100 scale, measured by HarrisQuest.
How often are the rankings published?
Ad Age publishes them every quarter as two lists of 20 brands: one for Gen Z and one for millennials.
How can I measure my own brand’s standing with Gen Z?
HarrisQuest reports brand equity and its four parts daily by generation, with trend history, so you can see whether a Gen Z gain is new ground or a return to an earlier level.
About the research
HarrisQuest data is collected online every day among adults 18 and older in each market, and US data is weighted daily to US Census benchmarks. Figures come from HarrisQuest brand tracking (the QuestBrand module) among US Gen Z adults, comparing Q2 (April 1–June 30, 2026) with Q3 (July 1–September 30, 2026). Equity, its four parts, and ad recall are measured across all Gen Z respondents, not only those familiar with each brand. The 101 largest gainers with at least 125 Gen Z respondents in each quarter were reviewed before the list was final. Brands also needed at least 47.5% Gen Z familiarity; a brand between 30% and 47.5% stayed in only when a verified, dated story carried its move. Trend reads use a 12-week moving average from January 1, 2024. The tide figure averages the 1,565 brands measured in both quarters, weighted by sample size. Trust and the trend-shaping rating come from QuestRQ, HarrisQuest’s reputation tracking module, rated by Gen Z adults familiar with each company, as average scores on a 0–100 scale. Findings based on fewer than 100 respondents are directional. Ad Age published the rankings on October 15, 2026.
