Generational Brand Fatigue: An Insight for Startup Founders in 2025

Legacy brands face rejection from Gen Z due to stagnation, not their products. Generation Brand Fatigue highlights the need for emotional resonance through modern design and positioning. Founders should seek outdated categories, prioritize aesthetics and user experience, and focus on perception rather than mere innovation, finding opportunities where legacy brands fail to evolve.

Let’s start with a simple truth.

Most categories don’t need new technology. They need new brands.

Legacy brands are everywhere. They’ve built distribution, product reliability, and recall over decades. But in 2025, that’s not enough — especially if you’re building for Gen Z.

This isn’t a branding problem. It’s a cultural relevance problem.

And you can use this insight to come up with your next big business idea. Let’s unpack.

💡 Insight: Generation Brand Fatigue

If you’re under 30, chances are that if I were to ask you to choose between a legacy skin-care porduct (like ponds or dove) and a new age brand like minimalist or plum, you would choose the latter.

Not because legacy products are bad. But because they feel dated.
They don’t speak your language. They don’t look like they belong in your world.

Gen Z doesn’t reject legacy. They reject stagnation.

This is Generation Brand Fatigue.

And if you’re a founder, it’s not just an insight is a playbook in itself.

The Atomberg vs Bajaj Example

Let’s look at ceiling fans.

Bajaj, Crompton, Usha, Havells — functional products, legacy trust, mass retail distribution.
But almost zero emotion. Zero aspiration. Zero digital pull.

Atomberg wasn’t born because fans didn’t exist. It was born because fans stopped evolving.

They added:

BLDC motor (tech)
Sleek design (aesthetic)
Remote & app control (UX)
Digital-first content (distribution + positioning)

The result: A forgotten category became aspirational.
That’s the real product-market fit — not the product, but the market’s emotional upgrade.

Same Playbook: Mokobara vs Samsonite

Samsonite is functional, reliable, premium.
But Gen Z doesn’t relate to premium that looks like it was designed for a corporate traveler from 2008.

Mokobara played it smart:

Product = good enough
Design = minimalist, modern
Positioning = travel as joy, not just utility
Communication = playful, human, Instagram-first

They didn’t just sell luggage. They sold identity.

So, What Can You Build?

Here’s the framework I recommend to founders:

1. Find Boring but Essential Categories

Look for products that:

Are used in every household
Haven’t changed much in 20 years
Are dominated by 2-3 legacy brands
Have functional parity but emotional whitespace

Think: geysers, shoes, water purifiers, mixers, pens, pressure cookers, lunch boxes, toasters, school bags.

The best ideas don’t scream for attention.
They quietly sit in ₹5,000 Cr. markets with zero brand love.

2. Modernize the Stack

Design: Start with aesthetics. Form factor matters more than founders think.
UX: Think about the post-purchase journey. Installation, unboxing, support.
Distribution: Online-first with retail optionality. Don’t ignore Tier 2.
Brand Voice: Talk like a friend, not a catalogue.
Community: Don’t build a brand. Build a tribe.

3. Don’t Over-Innovate the Product

Functionality should be solid. But the game is won on:

Perception
Packaging
Positioning

Mokobara didn’t invent wheels.
Atomberg didn’t invent fans.

They just made them relevant again.

Final Word

Every founder today wants to build something “disruptive.”

You don’t need to create the next AI unicorn.
You need to ask a simpler question:

“What category is ripe for emotional disruption — not technical disruption?”

That’s where the next Mokobara, Atomberg, or boAt will come from.

Legacy brands don’t have enough incentive to innovate. And that’s where your opportunity lies.

The Simple Ideas Blog