How will the cultural events of 2024 define your 2025?

From the cultural phenomenon that was ‘Brat’ summer, the widespread protests for justice and peace in the face of growing strife, war and inequality to a record-breaking year for elections and climate change alike, it feels like we have seen it all. Consumers have been navigating the changing tides and a constantly shifting cultural and societal landscape. As brands and advertisers, we exist in these powerful forces and the changes they cause, making it more important to cultivate a deep understanding of our consumers – from their needs to values and aspirations as well as the zeitgeist that informs them. In looking back on 2024 to learn and move forwards, here are four key cultural opportunities for brands to strategically disrupt categories, create engaging, authentic and inclusive creative work for those invested in marketing as a force for good and growth in 2025

AI brings threats and opportunities

AI is a transformative force shaping our zeitgeist. While AI is lauded for its potential in combating the climate crisis, AI still exacerbates environmental crises and social issues including misinformation and polarisation. Another key concern is bias – far from being just a ‘glitch’ in the system, it is an inherent and inextricable part of the AI system’s design.

AI’s cost-efficiency has led to widespread adoption at a rate that outpaces efforts to address its negative impact. The rise of AI influencers will be part of the landscape, but their creation risks perpetuating existing inequalities and harm, like Puma’s Moroccan AI influencer, Laila Khadra. This underlies the importance of training the ‘human’ in the loop to critically evaluate both input and output to make sure that decisions around AI and content created supports content that reflects today's reality and doesn't reinforce unhelpful stereotypes. IP and the ethics around it have yet to be fully understood, which leaves its adoption as an area of risk, particularly around voice, image likeness, creative and content IP.

By addressing these challenges in 2025, AI can offer opportunities for innovative and inclusive marketing, but its use demands vigilance, critical thinking, an understanding of the cultural context, accountability, and a commitment to equity.

Humour fluctuates, inclusion stabilises

Humour and purpose marketing are often seen as in opposition to one another, influenced by global events and cultural shifts. The decline in humorous ads from 2018 onwards coincided with the rise of purpose-driven marketing, reflecting an increased societal awareness of inequality. However, “purpose-fatigue” and authenticity concerns have in turn led to a resurgence of humour in 2024.

The demands for laughter and sincerity are bound to fluctuate depending on what is happening in the world. But the consumer demand for joy and inclusion remains constant. Brands that are able to balance bringing joy to people’s lives while also authentically representing the diversity of their audience are poised for success in 2025 and beyond. One of the most applauded ads at this year’s superbowl was CeraVe’s spot featuring Michael Cera, which proved an ad can make audiences smile while simultaneously challenging conventions and breaking boundaries with ideals of masculinity - and in the beauty sector.

Sport is a catalyst for inclusion

Sports absorb and reflect cultural shifts, offering brands a unique way to align with inclusion and progress. The 2024 Paris Olympics set milestones in gender parity while the Paralympics saw unprecedented global interest. Consumer demand for fairness and inclusivity creates untapped potential for brands to innovate and invest in transformative narratives, such as disability inclusion, women’s sports, and healthy masculinity.

However, we saw this year how sports fed into preexisting societal debates on issues like gender, racism, cultural appropriation, and women’s safety, exposing areas where inclusivity remains a challenge. Women’s sports, while gaining recognition, still face harmful stereotypes in coverage, from regressive commentary to problematic camera angles. These highlight the journey ahead for the sports industry to become fully inclusive.

With key women’s tournaments like the Women’s Cricket and Rugby World Cups in 2025, brands have opportunities to catalyse change and leave a meaningful impact on the future of sports, hoping that we see more best-in-class in the world of sports marketing with examples like Orange’s La compil' des Bleues which won three Grand Prix Eurobest in 2023.

The genders are increasingly divided

Society is experiencing an unprecedented ideological divide between young men and women globally. Fueled by decades of social, political and cultural shifts, men are becoming more conservative while women are becoming more progressive. The rise of the 4B movement signifies a future where women are rejecting the confines of traditional life paths and gendered expectations… a future that many young men feel unprepared for and ultimately threatened by.

The divide’s impacts are detrimental and extensive, from the wellbeing and safety of both genders to wider societal and economic implications of declining birth rates. Marketers must recognise their collective responsibility and power to contribute to bridging this gap. Brands have the opportunity to challenge stereotypes, promote progressive gender portrayals, and foster nuanced representations of both masculinity and femininity.

What should you be thinking about?

It is likely that 2025 will see brands operating in a polarised environment, which brings its challenges. However, it will present opportunities for brands who are correctly positioning themselves to understand the cultural zeitgeist and in some cases, even shape it through their marketing. In 2024, we saw irrefutable proof come about around the business case for progressive advertising from the Unstereotype Alliance’s research with Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. Progressive advertising pays off in both the short term and the long term seeing short-term sales uplift of 3.46% and 16.26% greater direct long-term sales versus unprogressive advertising. Ultimately, inclusion is a driver for growth because an inclusion lens can help you connect with your consumer more effectively. This year, our own research revealed Effie UK 69% of award winners had DEI embedded in their campaigns, which shows how brands who lead with inclusive marketing will win on all fronts in 2025.

With this inclusion lens in mind, here are some takeaway questions to help build your brand growth strategy:

1. Growth Audience: Who am I not thinking about?
2. Growth Opportunity: Who do I not know enough about?
3. Growth through Insights: Who am I making assumptions about?
4. Growth through Cultural Understanding: Whose cultural context do I need to know more about?