We read loads of trend reports so you don't have to

Key takeaways for 2025

By now you’ve probably seen it. The Google Drive filled with more than 230 trend reports for 2025. Compiled by strategists across Asia and Europe – Amy Daroukakis, Ci En Lee, Gonzalo Gregori, and Iolanda Carvalho – it covers everything from Amundi’s investment outlook (high volatility in bonds, rising concentration risk in equities) to Bacardi’s cocktail trends. Apparently, the mojito is back and number one on the serves for 2025. Which does seem somewhat suspicious when you see who wrote it…

There’s no doubt you’ve got to be careful when reading trend reports. As Daroukakis says in Design Week, you’ve always got to “kick the tires” to assess the methodology. (When Design Hotels’ report tells you 84% of people believe hotels provide a sense of community, you do have to question how they got there.) And as a brand strategist working on things like positioning, design or tone of voice, it’s true – chasing the most popular trends won’t help you stand out or stand the test of time.

But cynicism isn’t the answer either. For brand strategists, understanding the bigger cultural shifts, forces and dynamics at play is a crucial part of the job. Knowing those you can trust (insight and trend specialists) and who might have ulterior motives (brands using it as PR) is too. And it pays to know what’s happening. “I’ve made businesses millions of dollars by understanding the zeitgeist and I’ve seen brands lose millions of dollars by failing to understand it,” says Daroukakis.

We’re working with an insight and trend specialist at the moment and they’ve helped us see that trend reports aren’t about blindly ticking off, but seeing trends both as creative jumping-off points and a temperature check on the current mood. You don’t need to adopt Pantone’s 2025 colour of the year – Mocha Mousse – but understanding the why behind the trend (a collective craving for warmth, comfort and simple pleasures) helps us understand how people are feeling going into this year.

So in the spirit of not losing millions of dollars, and also not spending millions of hours reading every single trend report, we’ve put together a list of some of the most interesting insights from *that* Google Drive. Please add your favourites in the comments and we can start a little hive mind.

Social rewilding

Admittedly this one caught our attention in the Accenture Life Trends for the name…because how lovely does social rewilding sound? It’s all about rediscovering our “wild” untamed selves and breaking free from over-digitalisation and superficial interactions. For brands that would mean creating richer, more tactile experiences and reconnecting with nature, traditions and people through meaningful offline experiences like nature retreats, communal gatherings and gardening.

Positive Friction

So what does the shift from dating apps to meeting people at run clubs tell us? Effort is in. Positive friction in Foresight Factory’s report is a trend that celebrates the value of challenge, effort, slowdown and intentional complexity in a world that often prioritizes convenience and ease. For brands that could mean showing the work, skill, time and energy that’s gone into creating something or encouraging your customers to put in the effort to get the results they want. It reminds us of the brand we did for Cambly – a language learning app that celebrates the hard work it takes to learn a language through real conversation vs a gamified app like Duolingo.

The Good Enough Life (Dentsu Creative)

When traditional milestones like homeownership are out of reach, you start to redefine success. When you can’t picture 30 years from now you start to re-evaluate priorities and focus on what’s in front of you. This is all about embracing simpler, more achievable joys, prioritising well-being, personal fulfilment and independence in our jobs over material achievements like wealth or status. But for brands, it also means leaning into attainable aspiration and over-claiming less. Our client Bare Biology just launched Magnesium and said “we won’t pretend a supplement can solve all sleep issues” and instead focused on the attainable goal of rest.

Generational Blur

Granfluencers are resonating with younger audiences, younger colleagues are mentoring older ones in the workplace, boomers are embracing reinvention while younger generations are into tradwives. What does it mean? The dissolve of generational boundaries (and maybe less “how to engage with gen z reports, but probably not). What does it mean? Focusing on people’s interests, mindsets and values over age (something we’re always banging on about when we talk about defining your hero mindset).

Trust Issues

Most of the trend reports we read referenced digital insecurity and trust issues as a result of AI, misinformation and hyper-personalised fraud. (We particularly liked hearing the phrase “slop culture” from Accenture Life Trends which is a term being used to describe the flood of low-quality, AI-generated content on the internet.) Consumers are questioning the authenticity of content, reviews, product claims and even brand identities which means brands have to rebuild trust, show accountability, and “create visible markets of trustworthiness such as traceable sourcing or user-led reviews” (Accenture).

Fisherman Aesthetic / Castlecore / Nesting Parties

Because the other ones are quite heavy, a special shout out to Pinterest’s trend report for keeping it light. Definitely not the ones to go all in on in your very serious research presentation for a global brand positioning but great for planning campaigns, fun social activations and events. Particularly into 1. fisherman aesthetic: a laidback maritime attitude and nautical vibes. 2. castlecore : all things medieval and 3. Nesting parties: a rethink of the traditional baby shower where instead of presents and pin the tail on the baby you help parents prep their home for baby’s arrival. Much more useful.

The Advice

"It is far better to foresee even without certainty than not to foresee at all."

– Henri Poincaré

The Vortex

The google drive of trend reports.

Design Week asks are trend reports a useful design tool?

Astrology says 2025 is going to be the wildest ride of your life.

Bare Biology being real about their Magnesium product and building trust as they go.

Co-founder of Fashion Snoops (a leading player in cultural, consumer, product, and colour insights is hosting a webinar on the 28th of Jan for curious creators – exploring the power of community in unlocking your creative potential.)

Trendwatching’s content director is hosting a webinar to talk through their 2025 trends on the 21 Jan. They also have a daily free feed of insights, trends and innovations that’s worth following.