2025 Predictions Wrap-up

Every December, the consulting titans drop their ‘must-know’ trends for the year ahead. And, like clockwork, we squint at the graphs, nod at buzzwords and quietly think, “Didn’t they say this last year?”

But let’s face it: we can’t resist a good prediction. So, as your end-of-year gift, I’ve waded through the flood of reports to distil the trends, cut through the jargon, and sprinkle in some perspective (and perhaps a dash of philosophy). Grab a mince pie and settle in as we look at 2025 through the lenses of branding, retail, and why humans just can’t resist predicting the future.

Trend 1: AI Will Save Us/Replace Us/Confuse Us

If AI were a party guest, it’d be the one you can’t decide whether to toast or tase. Brilliant, unnervingly capable, and possibly plotting to enslave us on Mars.

What the Reports Say:

• Accenture & Gartner: Accenture sees AI blending with human ingenuity to tackle big problems, while Gartner envisions "agentic AI" systems making decisions for us, like a friendlier Skynet.
• Deloitte: Generative AI will revolutionise creativity but comes with a hefty energy bill. Translation? It’ll write your blog, but your electricity usage might hit the roof.
• Benedict Evans: Argues that AI doesn’t create new demand: it simply reorganises who gets to be creative and who makes decisions. AI might generate snappy product descriptions and manage customer service chats, but it doesn’t make us buy more socks. It simply funnels demand to brands adopting AI faster and smarter.
• MIT’s Centre for Collective Intelligence (CCI): Finds that AI shines in creative collaborations, like content generation, but often outperforms humans in decision-making tasks. Essentially, it’s great at brainstorming, but if you need to spot a deep fake, leave it to the machine.

AI promises hyper-personalisation at scale. But here’s the rub: How “human” do we want AI to feel? Brands adopting AI must decide where it amplifies human creativity and where it simply takes over. MIT researchers offer a practical approach: let AI do the heavy lifting (pattern recognition, predictions, and analysis) while humans provide the intuition, context, and trust. After all, if a tool starts making all the decisions, is it still a tool?

Trend 2: Sustainability is already here: it's just unevenly distributed

Sustainability has been the perennial guest of honour at corporate parties: admired, applauded, and awkwardly avoided when it’s time to dance. But in 2025, brands are finally waking up to the reality that sustainability isn’t just good ethics, it’s how they’ll survive.

What the Reports Say:

• Euromonitor & PwC: Highlight the “eco-anxiety” paradox. 67% of consumers say they care about sustainability, but only a fraction act on it. Niche and premium players are leading the way, while mass-market brands struggle to keep up.
• Deloitte: Champions circular economy models, noting that zero-waste packaging, recycling initiatives, and rental models resonate particularly with younger consumers.
• GWI: Finds that influencers are reframing sustainability as aspirational. TikTok has propelled eco-friendly beauty brands by making sustainability trendy and desirable.

Sustainability appeals to the head, (logic, ethics) but not always the heart, which craves status and emotion. Behavioural science shows that people don’t act on ideals; they act on desire. Take electric trucks: they’re not just about being eco-friendly. They’re about cutting-edge tech, adventurous design, and exclusivity. Similarly, Veja’s success in fashion isn’t because it’s sustainable. It’s because it makes sustainability aspirational.

IKEA’s Buy Back & Resell programme is a great example of how to make sustainability work. By offering store credit for returned furniture, IKEA makes sustainability feel personal and rewarding. Contrast this with vague promises like “carbon-neutral by 2050,” which feel distant and abstract.

The real opportunity lies in embedding sustainability into what people already value (status, self-expression, and convenience) rather than expecting them to put the planet above their own needs. Will brands make “less” desirable? Or will sustainability’s future belong to those who frame it as a premium reason to believe?

Trend 3: Hybrid Everything

From work to workouts, hybrid living has made “halfway” the new normal. Half in-person, half-virtual, and 100% complicated.

What the Reports Say:

• Accenture & Euromonitor: Hybrid is now the default, blending online and offline in work, retail, and daily life.
• PwC & KPMG: Warn of fractures. Some worry about digital divides and uneven access, while many CEOs still expect a return to office-based work within three years.
• Harvard Business School: Finds the sweet spot is moderation. A carefully calibrated mix of in-office and remote work fosters collaboration while allowing for focused, independent tasks.

Hybrid models promise flexibility, but without clear design, they risk alienating employees and customers alike. Hybrid isn’t about being half here and half there. It’s about knowing when to show up in person and when to log on.

Retail offers a glimpse of how to get hybrid right. Amazon Go stores blend in-person convenience with digital efficiency, showing how physical and digital can work in harmony rather than competition. For hybrid work models to succeed, businesses need that same intentional design: digital tools and in-person connections complementing each other seamlessly.

But as our lives become more digital, hybrid raises a deeper question: Are we unintentionally fuelling the loneliness epidemic? Without serendipitous connections and shared in-person experiences, hybrid living risks isolating us behind our screens. Brands and businesses must design not just for efficiency but for human connection.

Trend 4: The Much Exaggerated Death of Brand Purpose

Brand purpose is the cat of marketing trends. Declared dead at least nine times, yet somehow still landing on its feet. For years, brands have promised to save the planet, heal society, and inspire greatness - all while selling us gym shoes or cleaning products. But 2025 marks a reckoning. Consumers are tired of grand proclamations that lead nowhere, and many wonder: Is brand purpose even necessary anymore, or is it just a relic of loftier times?

What the Reports Say:

• Edelman: Notes growing distrust, with consumers sceptical of brands making big claims but offering little proof, especially around environmental or social impact.
• Forrester & Accenture: Argue that purpose still matters but only if it’s backed by measurable outcomes. People want transparency, not platitudes.
• Deloitte & McKinsey: Push for operationalising purpose—embedding it into supply chains, product development, and tangible metrics.
• BCG: Finds that brands with purpose aligned to systems outperform their peers in market share and loyalty, but warns against shallow efforts that can backfire.

For years, brands focused on the storytelling side of purpose: crafting promises that inspired aspiration and loyalty. But Walter Landor’s timeless insight still rings true: “A brand is a promise made. A great brand is a promise kept.” The problem isn’t purpose itself; it’s the gap between promises and delivery.

Overpromising is a well-worn trap, with the hype curve inflating expectations before reality sets in. Think greenwashing initiatives or tech products that never live up to their press releases. But the answer isn’t to stop making promises altogether. It’s to make promises you can deliver and back them with systems that make you harder and harder to copy over time.

Take Patagonia: it isn’t celebrated because of clever marketing; it’s admired because its systems, like repair programs and sustainable sourcing, match its promises. IKEA’s flatpack furniture isn’t just a product innovation; it’s a system that supports its mission of democratising design. And Walmart’s everyday low prices? Backed by a logistics empire built to pass savings on to customers.

The brands that survive the “death of purpose” will be the ones that move beyond storytelling to system building. They’ll deliver on their promises and embed them into their DNA, creating value that customers can see, feel, and trust.

Trend 5: Community Beyond Counting

Follower counts are the marketing equivalent of notches on a bedpost: outdated and, frankly, a little embarrassing to boast about. True communities aren’t about the numbers; they’re about shared passions, meaningful connections, and long-term loyalty.

What the Reports Say:

• Forrester & Sprout Social: Emphasise that authentic community engagement drives retention and advocacy. Sprout Social’s 2023 Index found that 53% of consumers are more loyal to brands fostering real communities.
• Nielsen: Finds that recommendations from peer networks rank among the most trusted sources of brand information. Real connections outperform traditional marketing.
• McKinsey: Notes that active communities transform brands from sellers to problem-solvers and co-creators.

But here’s the catch: building community isn’t about creating a platform and calling it a day. Too many brands mistake participation for connection, building transactional spaces that fail to inspire. Real communities demand shared passions, playful experiences, and value that flows both ways.

Sephora’s Beauty Insider Community creates spaces where members swap tips, share reviews, and deepen their connection to the brand and each other. And Hermès proves that even luxury brands can embrace community, using playful pop-ups like laundromats and diners to bring people together in unexpected, joyful ways.

The secret sauce? Fun. Research shows that when brands weave playfulness into their community experiences, loyalty skyrockets. Think Yeti, which has cultivated a die-hard fan base by celebrating outdoor adventures with storytelling, meetups, and events that reflect its rugged ethos.

The rise of community signals a shift in what consumers want from brands: less noise, more substance. It’s not about broadcasting to the masses; it’s about connecting with cohorts who care. The challenge isn’t just to gather people, it’s to inspire them to stay, engage, and grow together.

Wrapping up the wrap-up...

So, here’s the shorthand for 2025:

• Embrace AI with an open mind and a steady hand. Let it amplify human ingenuity and let it make decisions for known problems on it's own.
• Make sustainability tangible. Stop talking about what you’ll do by 2050 and start showing what you’re doing now.
• Design hybrid models that feel intentional and human, not halfway solutions that fail to please managers and teams alike.
• Anchor your purpose in systems that back it up. Measure any gaps between promise and delivery and close them one way or another.
• Build communities that inspire connection and fun, not just clicks and comments.

In other words, stay human, stay honest, and stay playful. If you can do all that, you might just build a brand that thrives in the most unpredictable of futures. See you next year!