A lot can change in 52 weeks and writing our weekly Sunday Strategy newsletter, we’ve seen a lot of new news, behavior, technology and trends.
Here are six of the largest shifts we saw in 2025:
1.) The Connection Crisis & Synthetic Socialization
“Everything is TikTok Now” as social media moved from connecting with friends to connecting with content. Despite threats of a TikTok ban, 2025 saw social media become an infinite feed of parasocial relationships & matched content over friends. As social media became less social, AI friendships rose.
An early 2025 study showed 1 in 4 young adults believed AI could replace a real partner and as we formed deeper artificial relationships – the threat of where it could lead us (from scams to reinforced delusions) became tangible. 40% of Americans said they wished they were closer to friends creating an AI intimacy opportunity.
The shift also gave brands who champion humanity & connection a new villain, as the rest of us contemplated what AI can be to us. From Kodak’s ‘Anti-AI billboards’ to Friend’s defaced ads, while we may want connection, and begrudgingly turn to AI to find it, we aren’t ready to publicly embrace it.
Keep Reading / Source: November 9th, 2025 Sunday Strategy
2.) Brands Seeking Friction or It Finds Them
Oxford Dictionary’s 2025 word of the year was ‘Rage Bait’ providing a counterpoint for brands struggling to break through and stand out in a cluttered messaging landscape. However, was tension necessary for growth in 2025? Or was it unavoidable?
The August rebrand of US restaurant chain Cracker Barrel didn’t just serve as a warning about brand heritage, it may have shown how brands can be unintentionally pulled into cultural conflict.
A study has found that 49% of X posts about the rebrand in the 24 hours after launch were likely from bots stoking outrage. Bots can create brand conflict where none would otherwise exist and show that in 2025 you either sought out friction, or faced the risk of it finding you.
While Cracker Barrel would rather have avoided its rebrand conflict and retreat, outdoor brand Columbia is a great example of a brand seeking friction. In a 2025 campaign they challenged flat earthers to explore the planet and prove the Earth is flat, winning the company in the process.
Keep Reading / Source: October 5th, 2025 Sunday Strategy
3.) Our Nostalgic Safety Net
The past wasn’t just a ‘foreign country’ in 2025, it was increasingly our idealized vacation destination. Amongst economic uncertainty, political chaos and AI worry, nostalgia became a safety net for consumers and an opportunity for brands.
From Instacart’s 90s themed ads and promotions targeting millennial parents, to retro gaming partnerships, Y2K celebrities, musical classics (Journeys brought back the New Radicals) and retro directors, the past came to life in 2025.
We didn’t see a faithful recreation of our past as well, as idealized memories and cluttered moments combined to create a jumble of nostalgic fantasy we could engage with for comfort. You didn’t even have to be there (as GenZ engagement showed) to want to reminisce.
Keep Reading / Source: September 9th, 2025 Sunday Strategy
4.) Everything Became Gambling
2025 saw the growth of ‘everything as gambling’ with brands like Draft Kings and Coinbase entering prediction markets, continued engagement amongst under 30s with cryptocurrency and, as the New York Times claimed, investing becoming a gamble.
In the face of rising home ownership, cost of living and employment uncertainty – risk became a trading strategy in 2025 and trying to make sense of the chaos emerged as the most prominent path to success. Even brands got into the game, as Red Lobster featuring a ‘Lobsttery’ holiday lottery promotion.
Entering 2026, the wider question is if fatigue sets in, limiting our appetite to potentially profit from chaos and giving way to nihilism?
Keep Reading / Source: December 22nd, 2025 Sunday Strategy
5.) AI vs. Authenticity Signaling
2025 saw the discussion around AI and authenticity continue to evolve – with ‘AI slop’ cries sitting alongside hype for AI refinement and agentic marketing. Brands increasingly chose a philosophy to optimize towards automation, availability and innovation – while others focused down on the counterintuitive or human as a strategy.
AI ads from Coca-Cola, McDonalds, H&M and others saw brands experiment with technology and incur anti-AI blowback – investing in what could be next.
In contrast Apple championed craft with ‘human made’ TV idents and puppets – while brands like Britbox and John Lewis reveled in one take ads.
With AI generated content set to make up over 50% of the internet in 2026, will we see ‘AI slop’ put to bed by innovation or continued signaling of the ‘human made’?
Keep Reading / Source: August 18th, 2025 Sunday Strategy
6.) No More ‘Side’, Just Hustle for Workers
Lay-offs, consolidation and a lack of career progression or promotions continued to change what employment and work look like in 2025. The ‘security’ of full time, big company employment has continued to erode, leaving workers to consider self-employment, freelance and ‘side’ hustles differently.
A June US Dept. of Labor study showed 8.9m Americans were in multiple full or part time jobs – the highest amount since tracking started. In the face of ‘polywork’ brands took a different approach towards professional aspiration and on recognizing multiple jobs or non-traditional career paths.
HR Block encouraged gig workers to turn their side hustles into legit careers, while Young Capital offered an energy drink to boomers with the ‘enthusiasm and essence’ of young workers.
In 2026, we can only expect ‘career’ to become a more diverse and varied term, with workers seeking security in different ways.
Keep Reading / Source: June 8th, 2025 Sunday Strategy
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