What does it mean to be authentic?
Real? Truthful? Factual?
It can be hard to embrace your authentic self when you’re guided almost every second of every day by the expectations of others, by deadlines, by societal standards.
But, if given the freedom, a get-out-of-jail-free card (if you will), what does your real, honest, truthful self look like?
Do they adore clutter?
Are they bold?
Do they hate running even though you’ve tried becoming a runner for the last 5 years?
The same thought process can be applied to your brand and your audience.
Share your authentic self with your audience by incorporating branded products into your marketing strategy. With printed gifts, innovative new ideas and bespoke favourites, check out what’s hot in the world of promotional merchandise now.
Or, why not explore how incorporating certain products into your marketing strategy can not only elevate your brand image and deliver on your budget, but also contribute positively to our planet's well-being? Download our Lasting Merchandise brochure now for all these useful insights and more!
We are done with minimalism.
Gone are the days of empty spaces and empty shelves (bye, bye Marie Kondo). It’s considered too faceless, too bland, too boring.
Gen Z is all about personality. Loud and proud. They reject sterility.
Cluttercore and embracing home comforts make Gen Z’s definition of ‘home’ transgress from ‘places’ to ‘people’.
It’s the memories and stories, and how a space/person makes them feel, that’s what’s most important to them.
Read more: Why are plants so popular with Gen Z?
As you might have guessed, a big part of Cluttercore is clutter.
Anything from quirky picture frames to travel souvenirs, it’s all about clutter and products that have personality.
The Cluttercore aesthetic is that of eclectic colour combinations and erratic textures, think of soft furnishings, throws, blankets, and plants.
Anything and everything. The weirder, the better.
This trend fits nicely into the ongoing genres of nostalgia, maximalism and vintage eclecticism.
Read more: Do you remember these games from your childhood?
A term that was first used by Elizabeth Freeman in Time Binds: Queer Temporalities, Queer Histories, chrononormativity is all about saying a big fat no to those fake timelines we enforce on our measure of what ‘success’ looks like in our everyday lives.
The promise of a bright future, if we only follow the status quo of timelines.
The constant social comparison: “Mary’s successful as she was a CEO by 30. I’m a failure because I am not the same as Mary”.
The good stuff is held to ransom.
Haven’t got your dream job by the age of 25? So what?
Applying for a university degree in your 50s? Go, you!
Writing your first book in your 70s? Adding it to our TBR pile.
There are goal posts that are complete societal fabrications of what the “right time” to do something is, but 2025 and beyond is all about turning these on their heads.
Of course, these timings are dictated by our society, our culture, our religion, our gender, and our sex.
2025 will be all about breaking these societal norms enforced on us with disruptive marketing tactics and shock approaches.
You’ll want to challenge what you see as the ‘norm’ when it comes to your brand in 2025 and beyond.
Question: What is your authentic self when all of society's expectations are stripped away?
Read more: The most popular wellness & self-care trend predictions for 2025
A combination of different trends, whatever your next idea, it needs to be BOLD.
Right now, everything is chaotic. There’s digital noise everywhere. From our emails, socials, TVS to phones, there’s no escaping the bombardment of ads and brands.
That’s why you’ve got to be bolder than ever to have a chance of cutting through the noise.
You’ve got to be a golden pigeon in a sea of grey.
A red apple in a tree of green.
A Purple Cow.
Seth Godin’s ‘Purple Cow’ theory is all about standing out, demanding attention, and getting people talking. You don’t want your brand to be forgotten about because they were an average cow, do you? We don’t want any sad cows around here!
The takeaway from this? Never, EVER play it safe.
This year and the next are for embracing danger (in your marketing!).
It’s the wild west of marketing out there.
You need to be iconic to retain talent and attract (and maintain) your audience.
You need to be bold, like your life depends on it (because it does).
Read more: Maximise your marketing budget with this foolproof ROI strategy
We all do it. You’re on your favourite online retailer's store and you want to make a purchase, but before you do, you check the reviews. You trust the reviews. You trust the comments from (hopefully) real-life people with real-life experiences with whatever you’re looking to purchase.
Trust. Real. Experiences.
That’s the crux of UGC, or User-Generated Content, and what will be all over our TikTok feeds from brands.
And that’s because 83% of consumers trust personal recommendations over traditional advertising.
By organically integrating consumers' needs, desires and opinions into your brand strategy, you immediately capture that authentic essence from real, lived-in experiences.
It’s content that’ll resonate with your audience as your audience creates it.
Incredibly simple, right?
And brands are really embracing this:
UGC helps to grow an inclusive community with real-time engagement and connections. They aren’t a celebrity face for the brand. They aren’t the Founder or CEO.
They aren’t unrealistic and unattainable, and that’s what makes them so powerful.
And one aspect of UGC that can’t be overlooked is connecting through comments. 68% of users have said that brands should interact more through comments on their social platforms to better understand their audience. This connection isn’t only building your brand, though; it’s also helping to bond your community with each other. It creates brand advocacy and trust, creating close-knit niche communities.
Read more: 5 Easy TikTok trends you should include in your 2025 marketing strategy
What’s your story?
People are bored with the corporate approach. Your clients, your readers, and your audience. Everyone would much rather get to know you and the real story behind your brand.
And the best way to do this? Through authentic storytelling.
Authenticity online has so many benefits for your brand. From accelerating business growth, shaping ideas and connecting with your community. With 40% of TikTok users engaging more with a brand that shows a personality, authentic storytelling is set to be all over your social feeds this year.
It’s about meeting your community where they’re at. You don’t want to alienate potential customers or miss out on great opportunities because your ‘vibe’ just wasn’t ‘vibing’. 45% of social media users feel more understood by a more authentic brand.
Think about changing up your social strategy by flooding your feed with unfiltered content, street interviews, behind-the-scenes, hopping on hilarious trends that play to your brand’s strengths… the list goes on. Ultimately, you need to build that all-important trust in your community that only comes from being authentic.
If you’re struggling with ideas on how to incorporate authentic storytelling into your strategy, there are a few different techniques you can use. From episodic tales (a plot that’s spread across several clips) to the fairytale technique (once upon a time...), to even the classic monomyth. You can vary your content to make it as interesting as possible for your audience and to capture their attention for longer.
Stories bring communities together; they always have and they always will.
Just how we’re sharing these stories is changing.
Make sure you share yours this year.
Read more: Currently trending: long live longevity
It’s time to share your authentic self with your audience with promotional merchandise!
Check out what’s hot in the world of promotional merchandise now.
Or, why not explore how incorporating certain products into your marketing strategy can not only elevate your brand image and deliver on your budget, but also contribute positively to our planet's well-being? Download our Lasting Merchandise brochure now for all these useful insights and more!