There's a lot of 2025 trend reports out there – we've read many of them so you don't have to. See our favourite 2025 insights here...
It's that time of year again as we all look ahead to what the next 12 months holds. Trend Reports are a great way to explore how we can reach customers better in a rapidly changing world . A big thanks to @Amy Daroukakis for the incredible compilation of 100+ of these trend reports she and her team make available each year. You can follow her and see the links here.
We took out 30+ of the most relevant Trend Reports for creative agencies and marketing professionals and have given our favourite 8 insights below.
Big thanks to Adobe, YouTube, Accenture, Google, Hootsuite, Instagram, Publicis Sapient, Webby and Creator IQ in particular for their reports.
1 - ‘The value we put on trust will increase’
"It’s now incredibly easy to create all kinds of digital content, and subsequently a flood of scams is blurring the lines between the authentic and the deceptive. Even on once-trustworthy platforms, it’s harder for people to tell what’s real, seeding hesitation into their digital interactions. 2025 will see the increased value in trust and authenticity across all brands." From ACCENTURE SONG - Accenture’s Creative Division
OUR THOUGHTS:
With increasing AI generated content, users are going to question the authenticity of content more, meaning authentic interviews, live action footage, user generated content including real people and real opinions will become even more powerful and ultimately required to sell authenticity and trust. People buy from (REAL) people. How can you harness authenticity and human-to-human connection more in your marketing content?
2 - ‘We need more levity and laughter'
"Brands are increasingly using humour to tackle serious topics in a light-hearted way, making complex issues more approachable. Brands like Duolingo have successfully engaged large audiences by leveraging memes and trending jokes - showcasing their human side while also driving interaction. Humour in advertising continues to be prioritised among consumers, with 90% saying they’re more likely to remember a funny ad and 72% citing humour as a reason they’d choose a brand over a competitor, according to research from Oracle." From ADOBE - Global Creativity Software Powerhouse
OUR THOUGHTS:
Humour has long been one of the most powerful ways to connect with potential customers and ensure cut-through in a crowded online marketplace. The evidence of social content with humour winning over more practical information-led content is unquestionable. But it doesn't have to be silly. It can just be a more witty way of seeing the world if that suits your brand character better. Consumer’s are drawn to brands with more distinct character - and humour can show this brilliantly. The Marketing Week advert of the year from Hallam Digital displays the use of humour well (see above).
This dunkin' donuts advert was one of our favourite adverts of the year and it's humour is brilliantly executed:
3 - ‘Creative frontiers will be expanded’
"Generative AI technology is revolutionising the creative landscape, enabling people to effortlessly bring surreal and imaginative concepts to life. By redefining the limits of traditional creativity, this technology has sparked a wave of enhanced fantasy environments and hyper-realistic visuals across diverse forms of media." From ADOBE - Global Creativity Software Powerhouse
Examples below of commercial AI projects:
These adverts from Coca-cola and Starburst combine AI and live action footage
OUR THOUGHTS: A much wider range of creative content will start embracing the positive possibilities that AI generated content can bring. However it will still take skill and understanding of customer’s opinion of AI-generated imagery and video to make successful AI content that doesn't put people off or feel cheap and synthetic. In 2025 hybrid design processes will go from being an area to explore, to becoming the new norm.
4 - ‘We'll see a future re-imagined’
"In recent years, an interest in past cultures and vintage styles has permeated the mainstream at every level. The growth in generative AI, alongside rapid advancements in fields such as space exploration, has taken the style of ‘retro-futurism’ from niche to mainstream across fashion, cinema, and advertising. 2025 will see more of this creative styling across marketing and social media content. People like nostalgia that they haven’t experienced before. The way they want to explore reality can be a mash-up of different times, but also different types of realities, whether it’s analog, digital, physical, so on and so forth." From ADOBE - Global Creativity Software Powerhouse
OUR THOUGHTS:
We all love a bit of nostalgia and the familiarity of some visual themes when mashed with another ‘out-of-time’ reference makes for a really engaging style. It’s tricky to predict visual trends but this one already seems to be gathering momentum and we expect it to grow in popularity in the year ahead.
5 - ‘Creativity will see an emotional comeback’
“As AI continues to transform the creative landscape, a powerful counter trend is emerging that emphasises the rise of Human Intelligence (HI). This movement champions the human capacity for nuanced creativity and emotional depth. Despite technological advances, we’re seeing a return to authentic creative thinking and thoughtful processes, showcasing humanity’s irreplaceable ingenuity and understanding of what it means to really connect.” From ARTLIST - Royalty Free Asset Provider
This video from Powerade brilliantly shows the human thinking behind a disciplined, elite performance.
OUR THOUGHTS: AI was never going to fully usurp human creativity but it’s interesting to see this emphasis on ‘Human Intelligence’ coming back into the fore as a counter swing against the progress that automation and AI-gen content has made. This ‘right-sizing’ of AI within the creative world reminds us that the empathy, nuanced perception and the social understanding humans have is something we should exploit in 2025. After all our individual uniqueness, our stories and our personal experiences as humans is what helps us connect with others.
This video below from Dove shows a deep understanding of what it means to be human and the pressures facing young girls in particular in the face of social media. WARNING - distressing content.
6 - ‘We'll want more story behind the content’
“Audiences are increasingly curious about understanding how things are made, the inspiration behind them, and the human effort involved. Highlighting the value of sharing the creative journey. Itzik Elbaz, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Artlist, says, “We can expect the story behind the content to be as important as the content itself. By sharing insights into the process, brands and creators can build deeper connections with their audience, adding layers of meaning and context that enhance the overall impact of their work.” From ARTLIST - Royalty Free Asset Provider
This example from the Wind Collective is a great example of BTS:
OUR THOUGHTS: As creatives we’ve always LOVED behind-the-scene (BTS) materials and in some instances BTS content we have shared has demonstrably been viewed more than the final polished pieces themselves! Showing the story behind your product, the craft, quality, professional team and attention to detail builds in additional value to the final piece itself.
7 - ‘Video Quality = Emotion x Technical’
"A study with 12,000 video viewers conducted for this report shows that emotional aspects are, in fact, valued even more than technical markers. But the overwhelming majority expect the content they watch to exhibit both, with over 90% of respondents saying that high-quality content needs to deliver on both a technical and
emotional level." From YOUTUBE – Global leader in online video content
OUR THOUGHTS:
With the ubiquity of smartphone-filmed video content in marketing now you could be forgiven for thinking it really doesn’t matter now how rough and ready your video content looks these days. And in some instances that unpolished look could be beneficial to your message of authenticity. However, YouTube’s recent report clearly underlines that the most impactful content nails both. Viewers are drawn to content that both nails the emotive content and the technical side.
8 - ‘Keep people happy, inspired and feeling informed’
“YouTube research team undertook a brain-imaging study with over a hundred participants from the UK and Germany, led by Neuro-Insight, a leading neuroscience consultancy. With their help, we measured second-by-second, non-conscious neurological responses to video content using a technique known as Steady State Topography (SST™). The result proved that media content that sparks emotion and creates a sense of relevance is ultimately more likely to be remembered. This is critical both for creators trying to build a dependable audience and for advertisers seeking to influence product choices. The emotions consistently reported by participants after watching creator content were: happiness, inspiration, relaxation, and feeling informed."
OUR THOUGHTS: We all remember content that gave something back to us. Whether it was a clever tagline, an arresting visual or content that was so empathetic it felt like it was made just for you.
As marketing content creators we need to start being willing to engage emotions more powerfully and work that into our brand values. From a B2B point of view 'Corporate' doesn't need to mean emotionally restrained.
Conclusion
There is so much more we could say around exciting marketing and design trends that will be emerging in 2025, but hopefully these 8 key themes have provided you with some useful food for thought as you consider your creative marketing content in the year ahead.
If you want to chat about any upcoming marketing campaigns we can help you with, please feel free to drop us a message at hello@tubinecreative.co.uk or visit our contact us page here.
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