Deutsche Telekom Releases Gen Z Marketing Campaign

Deutsche Telekom has released its latest campaign, ‘NOT A PASSENGER’ as it continues to target Gen Z audiences. 

According to the company, the campaign is designed to inspire Gen Z to reclaim their agency and identity within the modern digital landscape, with research cited by Deutsche Telekom finding that 21% of people within the generation agreeing with the statement ‘The many possibilities of social media often overwhelm me’.

Deutsche Telekom is looking to empower younger generations through this campaign, by encouraging them to build up a sense of autonomy and reclaim their personal identity. 

“In an age of content overwhelm, filled with noise, opinions and pressures, Gen Z is fighting to tune into their own identity,” says Ulrich Klenke, Chief Brand Officer at Deutsche Telekom.

“As a brand, we believe in the many opportunities that the digital world has to offer but that the power lies in making it work for – and not against you. We want to empower Gen Z to truly own their world.”

Inside the campaign

‘NOT A PASSENGER’ features a 60-second hero manifesto film, as well as an exclusive Telekom Electronic Beats live experience in Berlin – encouraging viewers to refuse to be a passenger and ‘take the wheel’ of their personal identity. 

The campaign stars Wet Leg frontwoman Rhian Teasdale, who has to navigate through the world as noises, like opinions and unwanted advice, look to distract her. Over the course of the hero film, she makes the decision to “not be a passenger,” and live a more self-led lifestyle.

The film is being launched in Deutsche Telekom territories Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia across paid channels, social media, OOH media and real-world experiences.

This includes Telekom Electronic Beats, which will host a ‘NOT A PASSENGER’ event at a former garage workshop in Berlin. The event will be headlined by Wet Leg.

Marketing to Gen Z

The ‘NOT A PASSENGER’ campaign is the latest initiative in Deutsche Telekom’s ongoing #OwnYourWorld platform. 

This is a long-term commitment from the brand, which is looking to support and empower Gen Z – with Deutsche Telekom saying it is helping the generation navigate their online lives “with greater confidence, agency and control”. 

The company has been focusing on Gen Z for some time now. 

In 2021, it launched project futureproof, a campaign endorsed by Billie Eilish to “inspire and support” Gen Z in finding future careers and better understand the value of their existing passions and skill sets to help them in the world of work.

Then in 2025, Deutsche Telekom released a campaign to improve education on digital protection among young people – with research commissioned by the company finding that, while 90% of European Gen Z express concern around their digital privacy, less than 7% feel confident managing that data privacy and 70% would like more information on self protection. 

“The ability to own your identity online should be a fundamental right”, Ulrich said. “We know that knowledge is power. That’s why we are providing Gen Z with the knowledge and confidence they need to ‘turn privacy mode on’ in their digital lives.”

Who are Deutsche Telekom's partners?

Deutsche Telekom has several key partners, including: 

• Microsoft Corporation: Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, US, is a global technology leader serving as a strategic cloud partner for Deutsche Telekom. Led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, the alliance drives cloud transformation, edge computing and digital workplace collaboration. Deutsche Telekom uses Microsoft Azure as a core platform while delivering enterprise solutions to business clients.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS is a leading hyperscaler and key cloud infrastructure partner for Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems division. Led by Chief Executive Officer Matt Garman, AWS powers end-to-end managed cloud solutions, hybrid connectivity and sovereign data architecture. T-Systems acts as a certified Managed Service Provider, combining AWS Direct Connect and Kubernetes services with encrypted data centre hosting.
• Google Cloud: Google is a strategic AI technology partner for Deutsche Telekom. Led by Chief Executive Officer Thomas Kurian, the alliance focuses on joint telecommunications cloud infrastructure, network automation and enterprise AI solutions. Deutsche Telekom leverages Google Cloud for internal network operations while delivering co-managed cloud transformations to global corporate clients.