Brands looking to connect with Gen Z often don’t know how to connect with them. Talent agency giant United Talent Agency hopes to change that.
In February, UTA acquired Gen Z consulting firm JUV Consulting for an undisclosed amount to form a practice called Next Gen focused on helping marketers reach younger consumers. This week, Next Gen will host its ZCON conference—an annual conference that brings together Gen Z leaders from industries like beauty, tech, and entertainment—for the first time under the ownership of UTA. The event was founded by JUV Consulting in 2023 for marketers to discuss strategies to reach younger consumers.
More than 40 speakers are slated to speak at ZCON this year—more than double the number of speakers from last year. UTA said that revenue from the two-day event has grown 150% year-over-year, which includes brand activations from names like LinkedIn, Spotify, and Axe. Creators including Halley Kate, Avantika, and Black House Radio will attend the event. UTA declined to share ZCON’s revenue numbers.
Hearst’s Cosmopolitan will also have a presence at ZCON with an area that highlights brands and creators spearheading Gen Z culture, including an awards ceremony.
“My pitch has always been, ‘Don’t talk about Gen Z—talk to Gen Z,’” said Ahmed. “We are a team of folks who represent the communities that are most culturally impactful in terms of where the zeitgeist is, and where it’s headed.”
UTA’s Next Gen also puts on other events throughout the year—like an event at the Cannes Lions this year.
Doubling down on Gen Z
Ziad Ahmed, head of Next Gen and a co-founder of JUV Consulting said that JUV was familiar with UTA before the acquisition from working on brands like Eos, JanSport, and Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlain Coffee. He said that UTA and JUV have both have successfully been able to position branded content and talent relationships by focusing on culture.
“We started working with UTA because we represent a lot of brands in the influencer marketing space,” Ahmed said.
In 2023, Julian Jacobs, co-head of UTA Entertainment and Culture Marketing, met Ahmed. “I kept seeing not just him, but some of the other JUV team in places that matter, places of influence—whether that was Cannes or other conferences,” said Jacobs.
When Jacobs and Ahmed connected, Ahmed said he knew that UTA always felt like home. He said that an acquisition wasn’t something the JUV team had thought about.
Jacobs, who has been at UTA for 16 years, said the two agreed that JUV could give UTA more expertise around Gen Z and youth culture.
“This is a company that has always been a first mover, an innovator, and a thought leader in youth culture—we were the first talent agency to start a digital talent department,” Jacobs said.
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