In celebration of World PR Day 2025, EloQ Communications is pleased to reshare this article as a way to promote a spirit of learning and passion for the profession, particularly from the next generation, where fresh perspectives meet real-world experiences in a practice-oriented academic environment. The following piece presents a student’s perspective from the class of Dr. Clāra Ly-Le, Managing Director of EloQ Communications and university lecturer.
Gen Z is no longer just the audience. They are the directors, scriptwriters, and a powerful new voice in brand communications. When users can turn a film into a global trend, brands must shift from control to collaboration.
From Passive Viewers to Active Audiences
In the digital age, Gen Z has moved beyond passive content consumption. They have become truly active audiences, decoding, modifying, and resharing messages in their own way. This shift from one-way messaging to creative collaboration forces brands to rethink their role: understand audience psychology and relinquish total control.
Through the lens of media psychology, this article analyzes Netflix’s Bird Box Challenge as a prime example of empowering users, especially Gen Z, to co-create content and contribute to lasting brand equity.
Understanding Gen Z’s Media Psychology
To communicate effectively with Gen Z, we must view them not just as young consumers, but as critical digital individuals with strong influence. Several key psychological factors shape how they engage with content:
- Desire for control and personal ownership:
Gen Z grew up in a world of hyper-personalization from curated playlists and social media feeds to game avatars. They expect content to match their preferences and feel entitled to interact with or modify what they see. This explains their love for remixing, commenting, critiquing, and reimagining media.
- Dopamine-driven sharing behavior:
According to neuroscience, sharing humorous, edgy, or countercultural content triggers dopamine rewards. As a generation that is constantly online, Gen Z seeks validation through likes and shares, driving them to create or adapt content to gain attention.
- Ingroup bias:
Gen Z tends to share content that aligns with their worldview, values, and digital identity groups. Memes, parody videos, and voice-overs are tools of self-expression that reinforce group belonging.
Implication for brands: To connect with Gen Z, don’t control the narrative and empower it. The more open-ended the content, the more likely it is to spread.
From Theory to Action: Reshaping the Communication Model
Traditional one-way broadcasting is no longer viable. Brands need to evolve toward models that invite collaboration:
- Co-creative Messaging Model:
Brands provide a flexible content framework, and users personalize it with their own style, emotion, and formats. For example, Netflix didn’t launch the Bird Box Challenge, users created it. But by leaving space for interpretation, the brand empowered the community to build a viral movement.
- Emotions over control:
Brands are no longer message gatekeepers. Instead, they serve as emotion activators and experience enablers. Content strategy should shift from message-centric to emotion-triggered storytelling.
- Soft moderation:
Avoid total detachment, implement gentle safeguards such as social listening, early risk alerts, and trend-tracking AI to intervene when necessary. Netflix, for example, issued a safety warning once the Bird Box Challenge became potentially harmful.
Netflix and Bird Box: An Unofficial Campaign with Maximum Impact
a. Reverse Strategy
No big ads, no official challenge, no campaign launch. Netflix simply observed and echoed. When blindfolded videos inspired by Bird Box started trending on Reddit and Twitter, Netflix chose not to take over. Instead, they let the content spread organically. Weeks later, the brand only tweeted a short safety warning:
“Can’t believe I have to say this, but: PLEASE DO NOT HURT YOURSELVES WITH THIS BIRD BOX CHALLENGE.”
This is a classic case of “low intervention–high attention”: minimal interference, maximum insight.
Netflix used social listening to track trends and emotional responses without formalizing what was user-led. This allowed soft crisis control without losing authenticity.
b. The Psychology of Going Viral
The Bird Box Challenge succeeded because it triggered key sharing behaviors:
- A mix of danger and humor made it attention-grabbing.
- It tapped into pop culture (Sandra Bullock’s blindfolded character was instantly meme-worthy).
- Easy to replicate, all you needed was a blindfold and a phone.
- It offered a sense of cultural belonging, joining the trend meant being part of the moment.
According to the two-step flow theory, KOLs and micro-influencers posted early videos, followed by waves of user participation, creating a viral snowball across platforms.
c. Silent Presence, Strong Visibility
Netflix didn’t run ads or direct the narrative, yet Bird Box dominated TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter through user-generated content (UGC). Interestingly, the memes and challenges didn’t dilute the movie’s message, they reinforced it.
Key results:
- Over 70,000 user videos in the first 10 days
- #BirdBoxChallenge trended globally on Twitter for 3 consecutive days
- 27% surge in “Bird Box” Google searches within 48 hours
- Brand mentions increased fivefold on social media
=> 45 million views in the first week, a Netflix record for an original title
Netflix didn’t shout. They showed up, at the right time, in the right role.
Strategic Takeaways: 5 Steps to Empower Creative Users
For brands looking to embrace co-creation, consider these questions and actions:
Conclusion
Netflix didn’t create virality, they created the conditions for it.
This is the art of modern communication: activate, don’t dictate. Collaborate, don’t command. When Gen Z steps up as creators rather than consumers, brands must act as creative partners not authoritative voices.
In this new world, brands no longer hold a monopoly over messages. They are responsible for designing shared experiences, inspiring participation, and cultivating ecosystems of co-created content.
References (APA Style)
- Hall, S. (1973). Encoding and decoding in the television discourse. Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham.
- Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Uses and gratifications research. Public Opinion Quarterly.
- Wired UK. (2019, January 5). How Netflix engineered Bird Box to be a viral triumph.
- Social Targeter. (2024). Understanding Gen Z’s UGC Psychology.
- Dizplai. (2024). Content Owners Guide to Capturing Gen Z Attention.
Soure: Brands Vietnam