Nike Tops List of Most Popular Apparel Brands for Gen Z, Millennials

Credit: Spencer Platt

A recent study from research firm Ypulse revealed that Nike is the champion when it comes to shoppers in the 13 to 19, 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 age ranges. Benzinga analyzed the results, and came to the conclusion that Nike is the king of the Gen Z and millennial markets.

In compiling the rankings, Ypulse relied on a list of factors dubbed the PRIMe Measures. Via Benzinga, these are:

• Personality: cool, innovative, true to themselves, trustworthy

• Relevance: expresses who you are, popular, reflects diversity, supports causes you care about

• Influence: pay attention to, like to hear from more often, heard something positive, recommended to others

• Momentum: talked about more often in past six months, will use, buy or buy from in the future, has a bright future, hot right now

Ypulse vice president Bobby Calise told Benzinga that Nike's authenticity experienced a surge as a result of the Colin Kaepernick campaign. Immediately after the campaign, Nike's scores in the "reflects diversity" and "supports causes you care about" categories improved.

In terms of the other companies ranked, Adidas held the No. 2 spot for the 20 to 29 age rank, while Under Armour took the No. 2 spot for the 30 to 39 demographic. Meanwhile, Vans had the No. 2 spot for the 13 to 19 group.

Calise made a note of Supreme's top 10 ranking. He was surprised that the streetwear giant performed so well, given that it's not as ubiquitous as the other companies mentioned. The North Face also performed well, nabbing the No. 7 spot for 13 to 19, and the No. 4 spot for the 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 groups.

For suppliers and distributors working in promotional apparel, there are some key takeaways here. First, athletic apparel continues to dominate. Nike, Adidas and Under Armour all took rankings in the top five, so it's a great time to keep pitching athleisure staples. In addition, The North Face's ranking proves that quality outerwear continues to be in demand, and that consumers are looking for rugged gear that also features athleisure-inspired details.

Check out the full list of rankings here.