BIMA House Day 2: Generation Distrust: what Gen Z’s loss of faith in digital experiences means for marketers by Online Responsibility Network

Gen Z are the true first digital-native generation — having never known a world without ubiquitous, always-on connectivity, smartphones, and social media – but instead of that creating greater confidence in digital, it’s produced the opposite effect. Raised in an era of misinformation, algorithmic manipulation, influencer culture, AI-generated content and increasing concerns around privacy and mental health, many young adults now approach digital media with high levels of distrust.

This event explores the trust gap between Gen Z and digital experiences, and asks what this means for brands, marketers, platforms and agencies trying to build meaningful engagement with consumers in their teens and twenties – making considered purchases and building adult lives for themselves.
We will start off with some eye opening research commissioned by ORN (Online Responsibility Network) and then open up to a panel of expert speakers.

The session will challenge attendees to rethink how marketing works in a world where younger audiences are more informed, more critical and more resistant to traditional persuasion than any generation before them. And how rebuilding trust must be a mandatory topic for brands.

Speakers

Diana Erskine Chief of Business and Client Operations (COO), Omnicom

Diana is a senior operational leader who has spent over 15 years figuring out how to make complex media and digital businesses drive growth and become better, more effective, and more rewarding places to work. Working within IPG Mediabrands UK&I and now Omnicom, she is an architect behind UK Operational Excellence, focusing on building a future-fit model that balances data, automation, and AI with genuine commercial accountability.

While her day-to-day involves navigating the matrix of a global holding company, Diana’s holds a real passion in her role as a collaborative industry colleague helping to drive a common, higher standard for Brand Safety in the UK. She doesn’t believe online safety can prevail as part of a “checklist” exercise; she believes it must be baked into the operational DNA of how agencies and brands function.

As a member of the new BIMA and ORN Online Safety & Trust Council, Diana is a vocal advocate for moving beyond the rhetoric. She is committed to building the practical, rigorous systems required to tackle misinformation and win back audience trust in a skeptical age.