As we welcome 2025, marketers must prioritise understanding the key trends and consumer insights that will shape the year ahead.
Drawing from leading industry reports by Gartner, Accenture, and Kantar, I have compiled essential findings into this blog to provide a roadmap for navigating the complexities of the upcoming year.
By anticipating and addressing the challenges of the new year, marketers can quickly adapt and stay at the forefront of emerging trends and evolving consumer behaviours. Thus, allowing them to capitalise on new opportunities as they arise, laying a strong foundation for success in 2025.
Let’s explore the top trends, shifts in consumer behaviour, and actionable solutions to help you stay ahead in this ever-evolving field.
Top Marketing Trends in 2025
Gartner leadership vision for CMOs Insights
Starting with Gartner’s insights from the Leadership Vision For CMOs, which captures the current state of marketing as we approach the new year, three key insights have emerged. These insights highlight the priorities CMOs must focus on to achieve marketing excellence in 2025:
- Bridge Marketing Strategy and Operations
- Lead Marketing to Deliver Differentiation
- Prioritise Customer Journey Investment
What Does This Mean for Marketers?
- Bridging Marketing Strategy and Operations
In 2025, the gap between strategic planning and operational execution must be bridged to ensure seamless delivery of marketing initiatives. This means that CMOs need to align their teams and resources to execute strategies effectively. By doing so, they can ensure that their marketing efforts are not only well-planned but also well-executed, leading to more consistent and impactful results.
This can be achieved through focusing on:
- Alignment: Ensuring that marketing strategies align closely with the overall business goals and operational capabilities.
- Communication: Facilitating clear communication between strategic planners and operational teams to ensure everyone understands the objectives and their roles.
At Content Creatures, we recognise the importance of organisational synergy. Our expertise in creating internal communication videos is crucial for this. These videos are crafted to ensure clear and effective communication within your organisation, aligning everyone with the company’s goals.
By presenting complex strategies in an engaging and easily understandable format, we not only enhance alignment with business objectives, but also promote a collaborative environment where teamwork thrives.
- Leading Marketing to Deliver Differentiation
In a crowded marketplace, differentiation is crucial. CMOs must focus on creating unique value propositions that set their brands apart from competitors. This involves innovative thinking and a deep understanding of market dynamics to deliver distinctive and memorable brand experiences.
As an ideas-led video production company, we specialise in brainstorming and developing creative concepts that resonate with your audience. Our team can help you generate innovative ideas and transform them into engaging video content that sets your brand apart.
- Prioritising Customer Journey Investment
Gartner discovered that 58% of customers believe most companies fail to understand their needs and preferences. To address this, investing in the customer journey is essential.
This involves understanding and enhancing every interaction a customer has with the brand. CMOs should focus on creating seamless and engaging experiences across all channels, from initial awareness to post-purchase support.
By focusing on the customer journey, marketers can build stronger relationships and drive higher lifetime value.
From Skepticism to Confidence: Rebuilding Digital Trust
According to Accenture’s Life Trends 2025 report, the innate trustworthiness of digital technology is under threat. Generative AI, while a powerful tool for innovation, also poses significant challenges by blurring the lines between authentic and fabricated content. This duality is creating an era of confusion and concern, altering how consumers perceive and interact with digital platforms.
Consumers are now questioning the very essence of their digital interactions:
- Is this information real?
- Is this product real?
- Is this brand real?
- Is this website real?
- Is this review real?
The difficulty in distinguishing fact from fiction is underscored by Accenture’s Life Trends 2025 report for Emerging Trends in Business, which highlights that in 2022 TripAdvisor identified 1.3 million fake reviews and that 48.6% of people often or always question the authenticity of the news they consume.
This skepticism among consumers has significant implications for businesses, especially considering the growing importance of brand trust.
The Accenture Life Trends survey reveals that 62% of respondents consider trust a crucial factor when choosing to engage with a brand, up from 56% last year. This growing emphasis on trust signals a pivotal shift for marketers.
What does this mean for marketers?
In 2025, the focus must be on fostering trust and authenticity within marketing strategies.
Accenture emphasises: “The most important move now is for every brand, platform, business, and government to prioritise trust in channels and digital experiences. Leaders’ goal should be to make it easy for people to trust in their brand, such that engaging with it is a hesitation-free choice.”
We can help you prioritise trust in 2025, drawing on our extensive experience in creating videos with authentic storytelling for brands since 2014.
By focusing on genuine narratives and transparent communication, we can help rebuild digital trust and create meaningful connections with your audience. Authentic storytelling not only enhances credibility but also fosters a deeper emotional bond with viewers, making it easier for them to trust and engage with your content.
For example, we created this animated explainer video for Brooks MacDonald to reassure vulnerable clients that they could be trusted to manage their money.
Social Media Needs to Up Its Game
According to the Kantor 2025 Marketing Report there is a significant decline in the effectiveness of social media ads: in 2023, 43% of people reported that ads on social channels captured their attention, but this figure dropped to 31% in 2024. This trend underscores a growing challenge for marketers.
What does this mean for marketers?
People have become increasingly accustomed to the dynamic nature of social media, raising the bar for what captures their interest. In 2025, earning and maintaining attention on social media will require continuous and consistent effort.
Content Creatures is an award-winning creative content agency that connects businesses with their target audiences through original films and animations. We excel in crafting captivating stories and producing high-quality graphics and animations.
Our strategic consulting services ensure a deep understanding of your audience, enabling us to create bespoke videos that not only capture but also sustain their attention.
Sustainability and Marketing must merge
Sustainability remains a central focus in consumer behaviour, with an impressive 93% of consumers globally expressing a desire to lead more sustainable lifestyles. This growing trend presents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers.
What does this mean for marketers?
Consumers are increasingly adept at identifying greenwashing. Therefore, brands must ensure their sustainability efforts are both genuine and impactful. This involves adopting eco-friendly practices throughout the supply chain, reducing carbon footprints, and supporting environmental causes. Transparency in these efforts is essential.
When brands are authentic in their sustainability initiatives, it pays off significantly. Genuine efforts can enhance brand reputation, build consumer trust, and drive loyalty. However, if brands fail to implement authentic practices or engage in greenwashing, they face substantial challenges, including reputational damage and loss of consumer trust.
Inclusive Practices: Key to Long-Term Brand Success
In today’s market, inclusion and diversity are not just buzzwords—they are critical factors influencing consumer behaviour.
What Does This Mean For Marketers?
For marketers, this means prioritising inclusive practices in all aspects of their operations, from product development to advertising. By authentically embracing diversity and fostering an inclusive brand image, companies can build stronger connections with their audience, enhance brand loyalty, and drive long-term success.
At Content Creatures, we specialise in creating compelling ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) videos that persuade and engage. These videos highlight your brand’s genuine sustainability efforts and inclusive practices, helping you build trust and loyalty with your audience.
By showcasing your commitment to these values, we help you connect with consumers who prioritise sustainability and inclusivity.
For example, we created this ESG Internal Training Video for ZSL.
The Not-So-Far Future: Declining Population Growth and Its Impact on Marketing
A trends that could significantly shape the future of marketing is the declining rate of population growth. Although this trend might not impact your business immediately, it’s crucial to understand and prepare for its long-term effects.
Population Growth Decline
Global population growth is now under one percent annually, and predicted to keep declining. Projections indicate that growth will slow to 0.5% by mid-century and could turn negative by the end of this century.
Fewer people mean fewer shoppers, which directly affects consumer markets.
Preparing for the Future
Brands need to start strategising now to mitigate the potential impacts of this demographic shift. Here are some steps they can take:
- Focus on Retention: With fewer new customers entering the market, retaining existing customers becomes even more critical.
- Innovate Products and Services: Adapt your offerings to meet consumers’ needs rather than focusing solely on business interests.
Summary
With insights into the marketing trends for 2025, you can navigate the future and stay at the forefront of emerging trends and evolving consumer behaviours.
Key takeaways: Top Strategies for Marketing Success in 2025
- Bridge Marketing Strategy and Operations
- Focus on Differentiation
- Prioritise Customer Journey
- Build Trust
- Understand and Address Customer Needs and Preferences
- Adopt Authentic Sustainability Initiatives
- Implement Inclusive Practices
- Focus on Customer Retention
At Content Creatures, we have been connecting businesses with their target audiences through innovative film and animation, since 2014. As an award-winning creative content agency, we offer a wide range of services, including:
- Explainer videos
- Brand films
- Events Content
- Motion Branding
- Corporate Videos
- Marketing Consulting Services
If you’re interested in exploring how we can enhance your marketing efforts with our creative solutions, book a free consultation call here.
You can also explore our past work and happy client.
