In this episode, Mari Considine, chief brand and marketing officer at Acenda Integrated Health, joins host Jason Mudd to discuss how to reach Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers with one brand promise.
Tune in to learn more!
Watch the episode here:
Meet our guest:
Our guest is Mari Considine, chief brand and marketing officer at Acenda Integrated Health. Mari brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience connecting brand storytelling with business strategy, especially in healthcare. She is a national speaker, an adjunct professor, and a PRSA ICON 2026 speaker on reaching four generations of patients.
5 things you’ll learn during the full episode:
- How to adapt your tone without changing your core message
- Why trust doesn’t transfer across generations and how to choose the right messengers
- Where patients now look for healthcare information
- How to match the right message, messenger, and medium
- How to adapt one brand promise to each generation without fragmenting your brand
Listen to the episode here:
Quotables
- “Trust is the thing that is less transferable than other things.” — Mari Considine
- “It's not about being everything to everyone, where your target audience is everyone. That's the nightmare scenario.” — Mari Considine
- “If we're not on social media or we're not driving that audience to talk about us, then we're pretty much invisible.” — Mari Considine
- “We're promoting the same product and the same service, and we're going to use the same core messaging. We're just going to tweak how we tell the story a little bit and where we're going to appear.” — Mari Considine
- “People are using AI even when they either don't want to or don't realize they are.” — Jason Mudd
If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to share it with a colleague or friend. You may also support us through Buy Me a Coffee or by leaving us a quick podcast review.
Resources
Guest’s contact info and resources:
Additional Resources:
- Earned media: The future of PR in the age of AI search
- Why does AI skip your website and cite the news instead?
- How earned media gets AI to remember your brand
If you like this episode, you're going to love this:
- Behavioral science secrets behind top brands
- Ageism in the workplace: Hiring bias, careers, and the future of work
- The best argument for PR? Surprisingly, it's AI
Recorded: Oct. 8, 2026
About your host Jason Mudd
Jason Mudd is a nationally recognized public relations expert featured by CNN, Entrepreneur, Forbes, NPR, The New York Times, PRWeek, and The Wall Street Journal.
Named North America’s top PR leader by the World Communication Forum, he serves as Partner of Axia Public Relations — recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies.
Jason has advised some of the country’s most admired and fastest-growing companies, leading campaigns for iconic brands including American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, GE, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon.
He’s also a professional public speaker, accredited PR practitioner, published author, entrepreneur, and host of On Top of PR with Jason Mudd — a podcast ranked among the top 2.5% globally by Listen Notes and a top 100 marketing podcast on Apple Podcasts. His guests have included leaders from Disney, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, and Wells Fargo. Learn more about Jason at https://www.axiapr.com/team/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00 - 00:21]
Mari Considine
Trust is the thing that is less transferable than other things. When we look at mediums and what channels people are on, there may be more crossover. But that trust piece doesn't have as much crossover. It's pretty different per generation.
[00:21 - 01:03]
Jason Mudd
Hello and welcome to On Top of PR. I'm your host, as always, Jason Mudd, with Axia Public Relations.
Today we're talking about reaching four generations with one voice.
Our special guest today is Mari Considine. She is the chief brand and marketing officer at Acenda Integrated Health. She has spent her career thinking about how people communicate with brands, especially in healthcare. She's also a national speaker and educator. She's a speaker at PRSA ICON about what it really takes to reach four generations of patients who don't all communicate, search or make healthcare decisions the same way. And that's why our topic today is reaching four generations with one voice. Mari, welcome to On Top of PR.
[01:03 - 01:15]
Mari Considine
Thank you so much, Jason. I'm really excited to talk to you today and really excited to share what I'll be talking about at ICON, which is the generations, which is certainly something that's very different, I think, for all of us.
[01:15 - 02:46]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, I agree. I'm excited to have you on the show. I saw you were speaking at ICON, and so I wanted to have you on the show to talk about this exact topic of reaching four generations with one voice. I think it's a really important conversation that we have within the profession. For the record, we're recording this on Oct. 8. ICON is later this month. I'm not sure if our audience is going to hear this recording before or after, but here we are providing this content for them as kind of a preview to your presentation, which I'm excited about doing. As we talk through it, I think we have five different things to consider as we're trying to reach four different generations, which I think is very helpful.
Mari, let's start off. One thing I always think about is when we talk about generations, we stereotype generations in their attributes or their preferences. I think there's some truth to that anecdotally, but I also think there are always exceptions when we're thinking about generations, right? Introverts and extroverts are going to behave differently, and you're going to see similar personality types among and within generations. But generations do have these tendencies they tend to align with based on experiences and how they were raised and things like that. So I'm excited to dive into this a little bit. Do you blend thinking about generations and personality types simultaneously? Or does that get to be too much all at once? What do you think?
[02:46 - 04:14]
Mari Considine
Well, I think you can do a little bit of both. But when we talk about generations, we're really talking about patterns, right? We're not talking about a hard and fast truth, because we do know there's nuance. There's even nuance within the generational set. If you're looking at our millennial generation, there are the younger millennials, who are closer to that Gen Z age, all the way up to the older millennials, who are closer to the Gen X age. So there's going to be a lot of nuance even in between. But when we look at patterns, we see things that come up over and over again as we're exploring the generations. That's really what I'll be talking about. You may have a baby boomer who's on TikTok, and you may have a Gen Zer who's reading a print publication. So again, it's not saying these are hard and fast truths. It's definitely looking at patterns.
We're also thinking about other demographics and other things along the way. But really what I'm talking about is how we make sure we're in the right place and we're using the right messenger. That trust piece is so important generationally, and it really doesn't cross over too much. So I'm definitely excited to talk a little bit about that, because we want to make sure we have the right messenger when we're communicating. It's very important. And again, there's not a lot of cross-bridging between the generations when it comes to who everyone trusts.
[04:14 - 04:56]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, that's really well said. I think we can find a baby boomer who loves TikTok. At the same time, we can find somebody who's millennial or younger who can't stand AI or doesn't want to be on social media. So the stereotypes usually don't hold up, but I think there's obviously some thought that goes into thinking this through properly when you're going to market.
One of the talking points I know we want to cover is one message doesn't mean one voice. I like this, especially because there's often a pattern or a viewpoint of speaking with one voice. So I want to dive into this a little bit more with you. Tell me more about your theme of one message doesn't mean one voice.
[04:56 - 06:50]
Mari Considine
Yeah, so let's look at what one voice might mean. None of this means we change our campaign or our core messaging. But look at a baby boomer, for example. They like more formal language. For a baby boomer, and even myself, I'm a Gen Xer, I don't like informal language as much. But if you look at the younger generations, they're going to tune that formal language out. So when we're talking about having different voices, it's really making sure your message is communicating with the formality it needs to reach one area and certainly with a less corporate tone for a younger generation. I work in healthcare, and that becomes very challenging, because we don't want to be too informal when we're talking about very important topics like healthcare decisions. But we do know that really corporate, formalized tone just does not connect with our Gen Z and younger audiences. And they're buying things. They're picking their own healthcare. They're old enough to be doing things on their own at this point. So we know we need to reach them in that way.
When we look at a millennial, they like that family-focused kind of communication. They want to hear a little bit more about family. They want to hear a little bit more about reviews and collaboration. It's just a little nuanced. So when we're looking at what those voices are, it's really making sure we're hitting all of those high notes in the right places. We don't want to use informal language in an ad where we're featuring a physician, for example. That would be a complete mismatch. But we might want something a little more informal if we're on TikTok with a peer talking about a product, service or, in my case, healthcare.
[06:50 - 07:09]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, I like that a lot. Thank you for sharing that. I think we should do a little due diligence here and set the table for our audience without making any assumptions. Let's talk through the four generations you're thinking of and identify the name and description for each, just so everybody's on the same page today.
[07:09 - 08:06]
Mari Considine
Yeah, absolutely. We're looking at our Gen Z. Again, there's nuance to this, but we're looking at them as ages 14 to 29, and they are a digital-first, peer-influenced group. Next up would be our millennials, ages 30 to 45. They are typically family managers, and they're very research-driven. Then we look at our Gen X, which is me, a proud member, ages 46 to 61. They're really efficiency-focused and, in many cases, balancing caregiving. Oftentimes this is now the sandwich generation. They're taking care of their children and also taking care of their adult parents. And then we look at our baby boomers. We have to be careful not to call them boomers, because in pop culture that's now become a derogatory term somehow. Our baby boomers are 62 to 80. They're really provider-trusting and really relationship-driven.
[08:06 - 08:35]
Jason Mudd
Yeah. Thank you for that. I'm a proud Gen Xer, and it's great to connect with you here. I sense it can be difficult when you're trying to reach such a broad audience of four generations, especially as a healthcare provider, and at the same time trying to be accommodating to and inclusive of all. Do you ever find yourself defaulting in a certain direction? Is there a certain recommendation you might want to lean into when you're trying to reach such a broad audience?
[08:35 - 10:54]
Mari Considine
I think that's really the challenge here, and that's really what I'm talking about. We all do it. We default, right? We use our core messaging on who we think that particular target is. For myself in healthcare, I think we tend to fall more on the older generation, but that is really a mistake, because now our younger people are spenders. They have money. And in my case in healthcare, they have their own insurance. They're making their own decisions. So if we're missing the boat and only speaking and defaulting to that more formalized communication that's very much focused on those older generations, we will tend to lose the younger set.
If we're looking at a product or service that goes to a younger generation, we may default to that younger generation and miss out on the older generation. They aren't just the generation that might be interested in your product and service. They may be the purchaser. They may be the caregiver. They may be the person actually making that purchase. Oftentimes, when we're looking at our audience, we become very focused on looking at things a certain way. My whole idea is really getting us thinking a little bit differently. When we're putting out a new campaign, launching a new product or launching a new program, we should really be thinking about whether we're hitting every generation. Do we want to hit every generation? We may not, depending on what you're looking to do. But if you're looking to hit every generation, make sure you're looking at the things that are very important to each one: who they trust and where they are, which is vastly different. Somebody who is on TikTok and gets a lot of their information from social media is in one area. But if social is where you're focused, you're going to miss maybe your older generations, who are still using traditional search and, more and more, AI. So it's not about being everything to everyone, where your target audience is everyone. That's the nightmare scenario, and that's not what we're looking to do. We're really just looking at the campaigns we're running and the messaging we're doing and making sure we're tweaking it enough and we're in those spaces, so we are reaching everyone, if appropriate.
[10:54 - 12:31]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, I was having a conversation with somebody I know whose target audience is the most affluent consumers in our country. As we were talking, he was very focused on using earned media to improve his visibility in AI citations, references and referrals. I challenged him a little bit. I said, "This audience you're going after typically is older and maybe less inclined to trust AI." I wanted to hear if he had thought this through at all. It was so funny, because he had a great observation I hadn't thought of yet. His research shows these individuals will go on Google and search for your reputation or for a solution. Then they'll want to connect with somebody who has experience working with them. He said what's happening, though, is they're using Google to perform their search, and this was very interesting to me, but the first thing Google serves them is an AI overview. That individual may not realize they're interacting with AI in that moment, because they've built this habit of trusting Google and searching on Google. So I applauded him for being open to thinking that way and realizing that people are using AI even when they either don't want to or don't realize they are. That's a perfect example. This particular demographic could be averse to using AI, but they're actually using it, maybe unbeknownst to themselves, not realizing those particular results are AI.
[12:31 - 15:27]
Mari Considine
Yeah, I think we do sometimes default to what we think. One of the things I talk about is that we have to listen. This was probably about a year ago. I was in Nashville giving a presentation very similar to this one, really talking about how we're going to reach every generation. I provided some research data on where they're searching. We talked about our older generation, and, absolutely correct, they're still on Google. They're using reviews and more traditional search. When we look at the younger generation, the data shows us social media is where they're searching. They're using social search. And I had somebody raise their hand and really argue with me that that's not true. "Gen Z is using AI. They want instant answers. They're using AI." And let me tell you, I had about 10 Gen Zers in that audience who got up and said, "Absolutely not. I don't use AI. I don't like AI. It's not what I'm doing."
I think the natural inclination is that a generation like Gen Z wants things instant. They don't like to wait. They want that instant gratification. So they must be going to ChatGPT and AI. But the research is showing us they're really not, and there are a lot of reasons why. One is the lack of trust. They really trust peers. They really trust people. They like that communication piece. The other part is the environment and sustainability. They're thinking broader than how we thought as Gen Xers when we were younger. When you put all of that together, it really makes sense to them, but it might not make sense to us. Like, of course they're using AI. Why would they use social search? Why would they be searching on social media? Well, I had one girl, and I wish it was recorded, tell me all about how she finds a provider on TikTok. I think it was shocking for people to hear. But again, the research shows us that is where the younger generations are looking for information.
So when we're talking about trust, do we want the CEO on TikTok providing information? Probably not, because they're not going to trust that, even though we're on the right medium. We're more likely going to have someone who's more peer-driven, someone they trust there. And we're not going to have the young person on that video on the landing page Google is driving an older person to. There, we really want more of an authority figure, perhaps the CEO, an expert, somebody who is more formal. So it really is about that nuance, but it's about listening. I think oftentimes we're making those assumptions without really listening. It's really up to us to listen to our own audience and get information from them, but also to look at research data and what it's telling us about each generation, which is oftentimes very different from what we think it is.
[15:27 - 16:05]
Jason Mudd
That's right. When you think about psychology and our own brains, we're designed to sometimes make assumptions based on experience so we can survive. It's a survival instinct we have. I think what you're also describing is you don't want to say this is always the case, but it could often be the case, or most of the time the case. There are always going to be exceptions, and we have to be open to that as we think through this. So I appreciate you going through how trust looks different across generations. Was there anything else you wanted to cover about that before we talk more about where consumers find their information?
[16:05 - 16:35]
Mari Considine
No, just really that trust is the thing that is less transferable than other things. When we look at mediums and what channels people are on, there may be more crossover. But that trust piece doesn't have as much crossover. It's pretty different per generation. Again, we're talking about patterns, not hard and fast truths, but that's really the area to focus on. It's really making sure that right messenger is in place, because that trust really doesn't bridge different generations.
[16:35 - 16:37]
Jason Mudd
Do you want to give another example of how that might work?
[16:37 - 17:51]
Mari Considine
Yeah. An internal communication example is perfect. You work for a large organization and you're launching a new piece of technology. The default is oftentimes having the CEO be the messenger of something big like that. That may work really well for some of our older generations, because it's about authority. It's about hearing from the top. That's really generational. When we were starting out in our careers, there was a hierarchy. It's very different now. For us, that's ingrained: it's coming from the CEO. Even for me, if it's not coming from the CEO, I'm questioning whether there's a problem. Is it maybe not a good decision? For me, I need that trust piece. But a younger generation doesn't want to hear from the CEO. They want to hear from more of a peer, somebody who's closer to them, whether it's a peer in their department or someone else who is closer to who they are. So from an internal communication standpoint, you can think about this too, making sure you're reaching the audience you want to reach in the right way with the right message.
[17:51 - 19:00]
Jason Mudd
You reminded me of a meeting I was part of just yesterday. I was "Mr. Mudd" every time someone said my name, and other people were Mr. So-and-so, President So-and-so or Director So-and-so. It was very formal. It took me back a little bit. I hadn't experienced a meeting with this formality in a while, but it came from the top. The CEO was in the room, and that's how he addressed everybody. It was a different experience for me than I've had in a while in a meeting like that, where everybody was speaking that way and using formal titles. That's not my normal, natural communication style, but I wanted to blend in, be helpful and integrate. So I had to pivot, or as we do so often in this PR career, improvise to make it work.
I like what you're saying there. We've hinted at this a little bit: Consumers find solutions in a changing ecosystem right now. What are you seeing happen in your line of work, and what is your recommendation to our audience?
[19:00 - 22:04]
Mari Considine
Yeah, I think search engines remain important. Even as social and AI are really shaping how people find information, we still have a large segment of our population using traditional search engines. But as you said, very often they're getting an AI response. So it is very different. Now we're living in this zero-click world. We may not even know someone heard about us through Google, because they might not reach our website. For younger audiences, search increasingly starts on social media, whether that's an intentional search or they've stumbled across us during their time on social, because we all know they're on social media and on their phones much more often than many of us are. In healthcare, we know that nearly three in 10 adults are using AI for healthcare information monthly. That's an important insight to consider, and we know that one will continue to grow.
I pulled up some numbers. Some of this is healthcare-specific, but people are blending human, digital and AI sources to find all the information they need. In healthcare, 80% are still turning to healthcare professionals, but 68% are searching online. Seventy-three percent use three or more sources to make a decision, and 52% of adults under 30 are getting information from social media. Look at the difference. That's more than half on social media. So if we're not on social media or we're not driving that audience to talk about us, then we're pretty much invisible. When we think about the generations, we might start thinking about things differently. How are we positioning ourselves on social media? It's not just about putting a social ad out there anymore. It's really about who's talking about us, who's out there and where our voice is. Having the right messenger on the right medium is so important, because any mismatch isn't going to work. That's why we're looking at this from a generational lens.
Again, I'm not saying you're going to tweak everything you do or do it differently because we're talking generations. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying think about things differently. Take what you're doing and listen. Listen to the insights and research and look at the generations. When you look at what you have planned, are you speaking to all the generations? Then really localize. Look at the generations and look at what your core message is. Can you or should you tweak some of how you're saying it in a way that will reach a different generation? You might not need to, but in some ways you may. Then just layer that on top of what you're doing. You're not really having to create a whole new campaign or do things differently. You're just making sure all of those pieces are there so you're reaching everyone across the generations.
[22:04 - 22:16]
Jason Mudd
I love that. That's good advice. That leads us into your fourth point, which I'm going to ask you about. How do you do all the things you're talking about while recognizing that being everywhere isn't the answer?
[22:16 - 24:03]
Mari Considine
Right. You're really looking at who you're trying to reach. In many cases, we're trying to reach a particular target audience, and that may be just one or two generations. But so often we default to our old ways or to what we prefer. If I'm a Gen Xer and I say, "Well, we need to be on TikTok," I may not be the right person to decide what our messaging should be on TikTok, because it has to be native. It can't be inauthentic, particularly if we're looking to reach those younger generations. It really has to have that authenticity. So it's not enough to just be on TikTok because we know we want to reach that generation. It's really looking at who they trust, who that messenger is and what kind of language they use and want to hear. They're not going to want that more formal tone. They're going to want more informal language. That's what they'll respond to. So it's really making sure we're considering those things and not defaulting to the old, scheduled way we typically do things. We never had four generations like this with the purchasing power they have. We're in a really different place right now. We could even open it up to Gen Alpha and talk about the Silent Generation. We really have a boatload of people we could be catering to. I always speak to the four core generations, but there's a lot of buying power within all four. If we're really looking at how to reach them, we need to think about the things that are very specific to each generation. Again, I'm not suggesting we ignore any other demographic information or anything else we're looking at. It's just something to be cognizant of, because, particularly with trust, it's just not transferable like some other things are.
[24:03 - 25:46]
Jason Mudd
Sure. That makes a lot of sense. Sometimes when I'm thinking about how we communicate something, I'm thinking less about the generations and more about how we make this appeal to both the heart and the mind of the audience. Some people are motivated by logic and facts, and other people are motivated by emotions and feelings. When your audience isn't one-to-one and you need to think of a broad communication, I'm always thinking about how to make this appeal logically to the audience without alienating the person who wants to think emotionally, but also make it emotional enough for the person who prefers that without alienating the person who just wants logic. I think there's a natural balance you have to find between those audiences when you're not speaking one-to-one. Then you need to be able to pivot and improvise when you are speaking one-to-one. You might have, again, a stereotype here: the CFO who's very logical and only wants to hear rational thoughts. Then you might have someone else who is more focused on emotion and wants to be motivated by a good story or a good anecdote. So I'm always looking at our content and asking: Does this strike a nice balance of both? Does it motivate the individual and tie them to an emotion we want them to see and feel after they consume this piece of content? But also, are we appealing to the rational decision-maker as well? That feels hard enough. And then we're layering in these tried-and-true opinions or preferences of the generations within it.
[25:46 - 26:20]
Mari Considine
Exactly, and that's a great example. That whole core message, and your goal to really reach the head and the heart of the consumer, would be the core message, and that would not change. It would just be looking at how you can localize that to reach that generation and then how you layer that on top of the work you've already planned. That's essentially how you can do it without having to pivot from your original plan, while making sure that, if you're trying to reach a multigenerational audience, you're able to do that in a successful way.
[26:20 - 26:29]
Jason Mudd
Right. So we want to talk about how generational differences should change our implementation, but not fragment the brand. How do we do that?
[26:29 - 28:33]
Mari Considine
Yeah, that's going to be the challenge. But I think it's looking at each generation. I'm going to use a telehealth example. We offer telehealth services, and telehealth services do reach all generations. Our Gen Z, who are digital-first natives, like telemedicine because they don't have to go into an office. If we look at our older generation, they might have challenges getting out, so they like the ease of a telemedicine visit. It really appeals to all generations. Our approach for Gen Z might be short-form video, peer storytelling, mobile-first and immediate access to scheduling or support. We talked about that earlier: Gen Z wants immediate access. They don't want to wait. So if we're promoting something, we'd better make sure they're going to have access to it immediately. That might be how we promote telehealth to the Gen Z audience.
Then we move to our millennial audience, and we're looking more at family-centered care. They want practical resources, guidance and digital tools. So we might focus more on the actual digital tool than on easy, immediate access. They like content that supports self and family. So if we're looking at a millennial audience to sell that telehealth service, we might really address their dual roles as patient and caregiver. For Gen X, it's direct, no nonsense: clear steps and support for caregiving and life balance. And for the baby boomer generation, it might be physician-led. We're still going to talk about the digital tools, but we're really going to talk about their safety. We're going to make it physician-led, make sure it becomes familiar and establish that trust a little differently than we might for the younger set. But we're promoting the same product and the same service, and we're going to use the same core messaging. We're just going to tweak how we tell the story a little bit and where we're going to appear.
[28:33 - 29:10]
Jason Mudd
Got it. Well, Mari, this has been a great episode. I've really enjoyed thinking through this with you, both intellectually and practically, and how we can apply it to our own individual practices. We've been living in the Chinese proverb "May you live in interesting times" for quite a while now, I think. In my opinion, it makes this profession and the work we do very rewarding and, simultaneously, very challenging. So I've really enjoyed this conversation with you, and I'm glad we were able to connect today and talk through it a little bit. Did you have any closing thoughts you wanted to share?
[29:10 - 29:34]
Mari Considine
Just that, as with everything else, some of what we're talking about today may change next year. We're really looking at a fast-moving target when we're talking about the generations and how to reach them. So make sure you're listening, and make sure you're always looking at the research so it's always relevant. Don't forget that piece, because it's so important. Things are changing rapidly.
[29:34 - 29:50]
Jason Mudd
Right, exactly. Well, again, Mari, I really enjoyed having you on the show today. I'm looking forward to connecting with you in a couple of weeks at ICON in Orlando for the Public Relations Society of America. If our audience wants to connect with you, is LinkedIn the best way to do that? How do they find you on LinkedIn?
[29:50 - 29:57]
Mari Considine
Absolutely. Mari Considine, M-A-R-I, Considine, on LinkedIn. I look forward to connecting with everyone.
[29:57 - END]
Jason Mudd
Yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to seeing you there as well. Well, this has been another episode of On Top of PR. Thank you for tuning in and joining us today. Thank you to our supporters who have left us an online review. If you haven't done that yet, take a moment to go to ratethispodcast.com/ontopofpr and give us a review on your favorite platform so we can attract an even bigger audience and help you and others stay on top of PR.
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