FIVE FOR 2025
Five ways to earn attention in 2025
Introduction
EMBRACING A NEW PHILOSOPHY
The meta-modernist mindset
Where modernism brought optimism, experimentation and innovation and postmodernism offered cynical and ironic societal observation, meta-modernism holds space for both. It’s all about creating something new with what was created before, while acknowledging the impermanence of the human condition.
Looking at life through this bigger picture lens helps us make sense of the time we’re living in and why certain ideas are taking hold right now. From the deeply unserious and chaotic to dystopian ideals and tech rejection, a meta-modernism mindset helps make sense of the madness.
Finding a way to unite seemingly opposing behaviours can create fresh and interesting work –but if you’re wondering where to start, don’t worry. The Weber Forecast has got your back.
We’ve delved through the data, read the reports and doomscrolled ‘til we dropped to find the five meta-trends set to shape culture in 2025.
@chappellroan
@asteroidcity
@banksy
@poptartsus
RISE OF THE MACHINES VS RAGE AT THE MACHINES
Zombie internet, AI slop, enshittification, Shrimp Jesus…try explaining that to a Victorian child!
2024 was the year AI took over the internet, pushing out real information and human perspectives in its wake. Amazon Web Services’ researchers found 57% of content on the internet today is either AI-generated or translated using an AI algorithm, and half of all LinkedIn posts are written by AI.
As culture writer Kyle Chayka put it; “Algorithmic recommendations dictate everything from the music, news and movies we consume, to the foods we eat and the places we go.”
He argues that all this machine-guided curation has made us docile consumers and flattened our likes and tastes (hence why all Instagram-era coffee shops look the same).
As machines become more sophisticated – and with the true extent of their abilities still unknown – a countertrend of people becoming more protective of their humanity is emerging.
It speaks volumes that the breakout tech of the year was the dumb phone, which frees people from the constrains of being always contactable.
Some are abandoning tech completely. Growing numbers of young people, desperate to escape social media, are identifying as Luddite Teens. At the extreme end of the scale, preppers are stocking up for an AI apocalypse, and the elite are investing in high end doomsday bunkers.
How to earn attention in 2025
USE AI TO RECLAIM HUMANITY
The currency of life today is time, not money. With this in mind, experts are making the case for what AI could be: a chance to reclaim our freedom by giving machines all the grunt work. Instead of competition think of AI as an assistant to help purposefully disconnect and reclaim time to find the joy in the world.
One example of this is the Meta and Ray-Ban smart sunglasses, which have in-built AI, headphones and a camera – meaning you can leave your phone at home and be more in the moment while exploring the world.
@raybanmeta
DYSTOPIAN NIGHTMARE VS UTOPIAN DREAM
Was 2024 an episode of Black Mirror? This year felt particularly dystopian.
The US turned its back on female rights, prompting women to turn to the 4B movement as an act of rebellion against an increasingly unequal society. Millions also flocked to Tanaland, an imaginary country reserved solely for women with a goal of fighting against online sexist and misogynistic comments.
AI companions like Character.ai saw users spend an average of 93 minutes a day talking to user-generated chatbots - 18 minutes longer than the average user spent on TikTok.
While you can argue the benefits for loneliness, relying on chatbots can cause devastating outcomes.
The ethics of AI companions got even more complicated as grief tech, like Eternos, allowed people to train chatbots to act like their lost loved one, then carry conversations as if they were the real thing.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla Cybertruck can be seen as a symbol of this dystopian year. Billed as a super EV for a post-apocalyptic world, it proved itself to be full of problems that wouldn’t hold up in reality.
Speaking of billionaires, some have altogether more lofty ambitions: living forever. Longevity is big business, with Bryan Johnson the poster boy for a utopian society where aging is slowed and health spans are increased.
A new breed of resort is emerging, promising not just relaxation but the potential for extended life – if you can afford it, that is. It’s not uncommon to see stem cell treatments and IV drips alongside Swedish massage on spa menus. However, as lifespans increase, birth rates are plummeting around the world, with potentially devastating outcomes.
While some are on a quest for personal betterment, others are focusing on the health of our planet. First made popular back in 2008, we saw a resurgence of interest in solar punk this year, which imagines ecological utopias where nature and technology grow in harmony.
This radical optimism is an act of rebellion in itself – against systems that aren’t fit for purpose and big corporations who have scaled back climate commitments
How to earn attention in 2025
ADOPT A “PROTOPIAN MENTALITY
Both dystopian doomscrolling and long-term utopian thinking can create a feeling of paralysis. On one hand, you think what’s the point, we’re screwed anyway. On the other, the task feels so ambitious that it’s hard to know where science fiction ends and reality begins.
Enter the protopian mentality. This is all about supporting a society to make gradual progress over time, rather than solving all its problems or descending into dysfunction.
Brands that celebrate the little wins or make big changes less daunting will energise weary audiences in 2025.
@protopiafutures
A CASE OF NOSTALGIA VS BRAVE NEW WORLD
Nostalgia has us in a choke-hold right now –we’re buying physical music like CDs in our droves, fashion brands are bringing back print catalogues and the big headline gig of next year is a band from the ‘90s. According to Zillow, “2025 is set to go full granny,” with mentions of “nostalgia” up 14% from 2023, and “vintage” up 9%.
But this isn’t necessarily a good thing. Culture commentators like Matt Klein have suggested that our nostalgia obsession is leading us to creative stagnation.
When you look at the majority of cinema and TV hits this year, there’s a lack of original content. It’s truly been the year of the remake, with sequels accounting for all Top 10 highest grossing films of the year. While relying on tried-and-tested formats might be a quick-win formula, creating opportunities for fresh talent and perspectives will push culture forward.
When brands do try to throw out the rule book and unshackle themselves from the past, people aren’t pleased – just look at the backlash against the Jaguar rebrand.
Between the (probably justified) fear surrounding Elon’s Neuralink brain chip and Google’s bold statement that its Willow chip can process information that would otherwise take 10 septillion years (take that with a pinch of salt) –the rapid advancement of the world is enough to make the mind boggle.
And (sorry), we have to mention space here. As well as numerous space missions set for take-off in 2025, according to NASA, we might also get proof that Alien life exists. The question is, are we ready?
Pexels
@oasis
Matt Klein
How to earn attention in 2025
NEWSTALGIA REIGNS SUPREME
Newstalgia offers a balance between old and new – the ability to anchor in the familiar but in a forward looking way, showing people what the future could look like by taking elements of what they already know.
Take the Barbie phone. It’s old tech but presented in a fresh way to a new generation. It’s not your mum’s old phone, it’s the new Barbie phone, which helps to course correct the dark road we’re on with teens and smartphones.
Brands should help the familiar feel fresh in 2025.
@lunaweerman
COMFORT BLANKET VS ABSOLUTE CHAOS
Outside stressors have left people turning inward, entering nesting mode as a coping mechanism.
Gen Z has been dubbed Generation Homebody, swapping late night partying for book clubs, cosy gaming and bed rotting. So much so that a nightclub boss just declared 3pm the new 9pm
Lifestyle trends like Strega Nona Fall and hopecore capture the comfort core mood perfectly, with this season’s must-have item a massively oversized blanket.
Some are opting to check out from the real world completely, as time spent in gaming worlds like those hosted by Roblox is predicted to grow in the next few years.
But while the world becomes more insular, loneliness levels are rising. So much so that the WHO declared loneliness a global public health concern.
While some are hiding under the covers from the bin fire that has been 2024, others have embraced anything goes chaos.
We couldn’t not reference the cultural behemoth that was Brat in our end of year report. It’s messy, it’s OTT and it’s not taking itself too seriously.
Brainrot was announced as Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year, and even educators are taking inspiration from the chaotic nature of it, turning study materials into brainrot slang. Did Romeo have rizz or was he a Sigma male?
Brands aren’t staying in their lane either, taking a chaotic approach to product packaging. This year we saw tampons in ice cream tubs, suncream in whipped cream cans and gin in motor oil cans. The rule book was well and truly ripped up.
@coperni
Guardian
Betches
Vacationinc
Byrdie
NBC
How to earn attention in 2025
SNAFU: SITUATION NORMAL, ALL F*CKED UP
Dare we say it, but 2025 will finally be the year of precedented times. Where we accept chaos as our reality and disorder as normal.
It’s not a wait-it-out situation, this is the situation. We can’t hide away under our (albeit huge and cosy) blankets or live in chaos forever.
Brands that help consumers positively navigate life with SNAFU as our backdrop will cut through in 2025.
I’M WITH STUPID VS WHY SO SERIOUS?
Unhinged, chronically online marketing truly had a moment this year.
Pre-2024 brands were trying to avoid confusing people, now they are actively courting it – why? Because when people are confused, they want to talk to other people (or ruminate on LinkedIn) about it.
Take Nutter Butter’s trippy bizarre social media presence that has got everyone talking, Marc Jacobs working with trad wife influencer Nara Smith to produce ‘a tote bag from scratch’ and KFC Spain’s fried chicken pet.
It’s silly, but calculated.
On the other hand, some organisations have battened the hatches and opted for a “don’t upset the status quo”, deeply serious approach to comms.
Organisations are scaling back DEI commitments for fear of being cancelled, and every second B2B video looks the same (just ask Midjourney like we did…).
But boredom is dangerous. A recent study found 75% of B2B comms pros are bored of the campaigns they work on. At a time when 90% of global toolkits aren’t actioned, being risk averse is a risk in itself.
Midjourney
How to earn attention in 2025
BE SERIOUSLY STUPID
To be stupid, you need to be smart.
Taking stupidity seriously can result in unexpected work that breaks all the marketing rules yet leaves a lasting impression on the consumer.
But be careful – always, always do your research and understand your brand’s audience and what makes them tick. Take risks on the execution, not the strategy.
Rotten Tomatoes
EARNING ATTENTION IN 2025
Use AI to reclaim humanity
Adopt a protopian mentality Newstalgia reigns supreme
Situation normal: all f*cked up Be seriously stupid
