2025 Cultural Trends
9 January 2025
See us in Campaign
Jamie's been been featured in Campaign alongside Hamid Habib (Havas Entertainment) and Sophie Kitchen (160over90), discussing the cultural trends shaping 2025.
From the erosion of cultural integrity to the impact of Trump’s return on youth culture, Jamie explores why brands need to rethink traditional strategies and lean into disruptive thinking.
Jamie Williams, Managing partner, isobel
Trump, trends and beyond
It’s a new year, and America is soon to have a new president. Election aftermaths are unique moments when society speaks, and reality replaces hypothesis. So, with a clearer picture of the cultural and consumer landscape in America, what trends could arise from Trump’s second election win and return to the White House?
More questioning of the traditional "right way"
The Harris campaign followed conventional wisdom: massive fundraising, high ad spending, extensive door-knocking, superior voter mobilisation, and Hollywood endorsements. Yet, despite these efforts, and to the disappointment of many in this country, Trump’s unconventional strategy prevailed. His campaign bypassed a lot of traditional media, utilising platforms like podcasts and YouTube to connect with younger audiences, all handily amplified by Elon Musk’s X algorithm. His podcast interview with Joe Rogan, for example, racked up 25 million views within 24 hours.
This all highlights that good communication isn’t about ticking boxes or sheer media spend; it’s about disruption and being part of the conversation. The Republican campaign broke the traditional playbook. And for Democrats, outspending competitors didn’t work. New media outperformed old media, and A list celebrity endorsements failed to resonate with everyday Americans. Brands may well take note, consciously or subconsciously, learning to value disruption over convention.
Rethinking assumptions about Gen Z
The Republican Party won over a huge number of young voters, whilst rejecting many progressive social trends. Gender identity was a pivotal campaign issue for the right, resonating with audiences outside America’s liberal hubs. Young men, in particular, rallied behind Trump, which some media have interpreted as “a rejection of woke politics.”
The outcome was a wake-up call for Democrats but also a watch out for brands that naturally align with progressive social trends. No matter how well intended, it’s lazy to assume progressive messaging or diversity celebrations automatically connect with Gen Z. In the US, there’s a notable divide between young men and women on social and political issues. And last year's IPA Gen Z Values report in the UK suggests the same divide here.
Navigating these divisions presents challenges for well-meaning brands, possibly deterring some from engaging with future social and political issues.
A dose of blind optimism?
People's views of the economy often align with political loyalties rather than reality. Existing economic pessimism was amplified by successful opposition parties in the US and UK last year, helping to cement already low consumer sentiment (actually, despite relatively positive US economic data). A shift towards optimism, however shallow, could have tangible effects.
One undeniable trait of Trump, irrespective of his controversies and personality, is his ability to inject energy and enthusiasm. So, could his return spark much-needed economic optimism? Global markets initially reacted positively to his win, and his administration’s certain cheerleading for the economy (regardless of actual economic performance) could boost consumer confidence.
Even if Trump’s return is treated with extreme trepidation here, if optimism from the US fosters an entrepreneurial spirit, leading to greater confidence, innovation, and investment, brands could benefit significantly. Here’s to hoping, anyway.
Hamid Habib, Managing director, Havas Entertainment, and chief experience officer, HMN, Havas Entertainment
Mass redundancies in gaming will hit in 2025. We’ll hit peak OTT streaming, and change is inevitable when growth stalls. The film industry looks healthy, except for smaller indies. The outlook for the latter – arguably, the filmmakers legitimately reflective of actual culture – is bleak. I could go on… However, unusually for me, because I am ever the optimist, there is a more serious side around the erosion of culture I’ve been thinking about.
We talk about fake news, about mis-, dis- and malinformation. We exist in a time of alternative facts, where opinions are unchecked, where truth becomes a concept. Politics bleeds into culture and fractures society and family. I wake up some mornings, look at the news and wonder WTAF is going on. Is there a glitch in the matrix?
Today, I’d like to take it down a notch or two into popular culture – the mirror and driver of trends behind fashion, music, film, TV, food, health and more. I hold my hand up here to say I may have this wrong, but I believe for strong culture to exist, we need quality journalism. The definitions of "quality" and "journalism" may shift over time, but surely a degree of expertise delivers a better experience, and, crucially, some form of (editorial) oversight keeps content integrity in check. Without it we exist in a melée of unchecked opinion and, at worst, falsehoods.
For oversight to exist, we need media owners willing to invest in teams, in experience. When there is only a proliferation of unscrupulous content – MFAs (made for advertising sites) and plagiarised clickbait headlines – adspend flows away from trusted sources. "Quality journalism" ends. Maybe that’s the future – survival of the fittest. It feels bleak.
If someone is critiquing a song or film, it doesn’t matter. Or does it? What if they’re making something up about an artist or actor? What about the latest health fad? What if their recommendations are dangerous? Remember the U.S. Food and Drug Administration taking a federal injunction against The Genesis II Church for selling bleach on social media as a miracle cure for Covid? It beggars belief, but it happens. Tide Pod Challenge , anyone?
Now we get to the nub of it – our role in this. We talk about brand safety, but we don’t talk enough about cultural responsibility. There’s tech stuff happening in the background. I’m saying, bring this to the foreground. Media agencies should push this agenda, push towards quality journalism, and push culture-supporting tech platforms.
But here we have the final challenge… talking is one thing, but who are the custodians of truth, the arbiters of what is culturally responsible? Is this about policing the internet? It's a question with awful 1984-esque connotations… The impossible conundrum is neverending. I have more questions than answers, but perhaps 2025 is the year when we take our role as supporters of cultural responsibility more seriously.
Sophie Kitchen, Senior strategist, 160over90
You are the media now. Musk’s declaration in November 2024 wasn’t a prophecy, it underscores the ongoing battle faced by news media in an influencer-driven, algorithm-fed ecosystem. This isn’t new. In 2020, the magazine 8Ball said: “Today we live in a culture of personality: subjective, exaggerated, and – arguably – fictionalised. It’s not so much a question of whether you make media or perform media, so much as you become media.”
2025 is the year where this shift goes from disruptive to existential. Media’s traditional pillars – creator, content and audience – have collapsed into one. For brands, audiences are no longer passive consumers; they’re the creators and the content all at once. But when everyone is a media outlet, where do you fit in? Here are three places to start:
From transparency to radical self-awareness
Transparency used to mean airing sustainability goals or sharing the origin story of your supply chain. But in a world where platforms like Reddit debunk corporate myths in real-time, the real calling for brands is radical self-awareness. Know your place in the broader social ecosystem before your audience does. Oatly and Surreal do this well. Ganni does this exceptionally. Rather than waiting for consumers to ask tough questions, brands can get ahead of the conversation by turning the tables, hosting debates and encouraging conversations, therefore leaning into the messiness. This shifts the narrative from reactionary damage control to proactive engagement.
Talent as arbiters of truth
Talent – whether influencers, creators, or outspoken personalities – are the new arbiters of truth. Since the parasocial relationships formed with creators feel more trustworthy to many than institutional reporting, it is more important than ever for brands to be mindful who they partner. But that doesn’t mean using them as bulletin boards for brand messages. Find collaborators with a shared ethos, hand them the reins and let them cook.
From tastemaking to tastecurating
In a fragmented media ecosystem, brands find it harder to show up as tastemakers. Yet the next power move is tastecurating: connecting disparate echo chambers through shared aesthetics, values or experiences. Cue: Ssense , which masters poignant cultural commentary with taste. Some of the best avenues for taste-curating happen when a brand shows up IRL. Run clubs , gaming pop-ups , or artisanal exhibitions all create the community ties that filter bubbles can’t.
Final word
The idea that you (yes, even you) are now the media is double-edged. It feels empowering to participate, but it’s also confusing our shared sense of reality. In 2025, I’ll be looking to see which brands foster open conversations with grace for the complexity of this new landscape – amplifying individual voices without dividing universal human truths.
