83% Gen Z create content and 80% want brands playing along: Survey  

A new YouTube Trends and Fandom Report shows that 83 per cent of Gen Z consider themselves creators, making them the most content native generation in India. 

Brands are moving quickly to tap into this behavioural shift, as 80 per cent of Gen Z fans prefer brands that actively engage with the things they are fans of. 

This is pushing marketers toward creator-led collaborations, anime inspired brand moments and community driven storytelling, signalling a new era where fandom is at the centre of brand strategy.

The Pushpa 2 trailer launch, Ajjubhai’s face reveal for his 40 million subscribers and Fukra Insaan’s Bigg Boss journey show how fan edits, VFX recreations, memes, livestream reactions and commentary videos amplify every moment.

Brands Step Into Fandom to Stay Culturally Relevant

Before the numbers, the report underlines a key shift. Gen Z does not want brands talking at them. They want brands inside their worlds.

This has resulted in brand moments shaped directly by fan culture. McDonald’s tapped global anime fandom with its WcDonalds campaign, a concept shaped by fan edits and YouTube anime lore. International creator MrBeast collaborated with Indian creator Mythpat to release a Hindi video designed specifically for his Indian fanbase. These examples show how creators and brands are meeting young audiences where their passions live.

The report notes that for brands and creators to remain relevant, they must allow fans to remix, reinterpret and reshape content in their own style.

The report shows 87 per cent of Gen Z identify as fans of something or someone with 91 per cent participating in fan activities in the past year. These include reaction videos, edits, recreations, fan art, lore breakdowns and community driven discussions.

Gen Z fandom is segmented into four categories. Thirty five percent are casual fans, 26 percent are big fans, 26 percent are superfans and 13 percent are professional fans who have already begun monetising their content.

Creators and fans now overlap completely. As fans, they understand what audiences want. As creators, they understand how to package that demand using digital tools and platforms.

A major behavioural shift is changing how young Indians interact with the media. Ninety three per cent of Gen Z fans use YouTube weekly to watch content about the things they love.

What is more significant is how they watch. Seventy eight percent of Gen Z say they spend more time watching content that unpacks or explains something than the original content itself. This has powered an entire ecosystem of reaction videos, explainers, mashups, recreations, dance covers and long form breakdowns that now dominate Gen Z viewing patterns.

Niche Communities Grow Faster Than Mainstream Ones

Gen Z is driving niche fandoms to scale. Sixty two percent say they belong to a fandom that no one they know personally is part of.

Creators like @krisssthetic and @PleaseSitDown have built micro communities around K pop choreography and UPSC mock interviews, with each channel crossing 500,000 subscribers. These spaces demonstrate how YouTube allows lakhs of Indians to connect through content rather than geography.

The report notes that the volume of fan content allows audiences to re-experience and reinterpret cultural events through multiple lenses, extending their lifespan beyond the original release.

With 83 per cent of Gen Z identifying as creators, India is entering an era where young audiences no longer passively consume content. They produce it, remix it, elevate it and expand it. And increasingly, they expect brands to behave the same way.