#BizTrends2025: Break free from brain rot, enshittification, move from digital sameness and embrace culture movements

Source: © 123rf 123rf In a world of sameness, humans are not thinking, not applying themselves and not adding anything new, just melting into whatever the digital algorithm is feeds us

Presenting the trends, Lesego Kotane, MD of Yellowwood and TBWA chief strategist, explains that cultural movements are not about chasing the latest fad, trending topic, or buzzword.

“Culture is substantial and long term and there is a distinction between cultural moments and movements,” he says.

“If you type cultural movements into Google, it auto-corrects it to cultural moments.

“This is telling as it shows how cultural movements and substantial ideas have devolved into short-lived experiences that keep us glued to our screens.”

Everything looks the same

It is no wonder he says that Oxford's 2024 word of the year was brain rot.

“It symbolises what we've become - we are not thinking, not applying ourselves and not adding anything new. We are just melting into whatever the digital algorithm is feeds us.”

Slop is another word, as is enshittification, which describes the beginning of AI, when we saw weird images like the shrimp Jesus.

In the end, these words all mean the same thing: uninteresting content that all looks the same.

“If we look at how these manifest in branding, marketing, design, we see that everything looks the same.

“This is a real moment for us as brand owners, and we need to respond,” Kotane says.

A backlash against the sameness

What is encouraging, though, is that there is an acknowledgement of this.

He quotes the New York Times journalist Kyle Chayka, who wrote Filterworld, a perspective on just how algorithms have fundamentally flattened culture into the way that the world looks.

In response to this, patterns are starting to develop, such as the overwhelming message from TikTok influencers to sell, sell, sell, which has led to consumers embracing underconsumption.

Another of these emerging patterns is hacks around how to break the Spotify algorithm so you can discover the joy of music again.

These slow movements against this digital sameness are leading to a digital detoxification, giving rise to the dynamic of real-world engagements.

“This pushback is an opportunity for brands to go beyond this shallow algorithm-driven, digital distraction world that we are living in towards real cultural substance; it is a roadmap out of this cultural rot," he says.

Real cultural movements

Kotane says that at TBWA, they define this real cultural substance and the opportunities through their global cultural intelligence unit’s 2025 Edges report.

An edge, he explains, is a meaningful cultural shift with the scale and longevity to propel a brand towards a greater share of the future rooted in human values and behaviours that have long-term business implications and sustained relevance.

Edges covers a host of areas, and TBWA has identified 39 significant cultural shifts poised to reshape the global landscape. At the presentation, Kotane went through seven of these.

7 cultural movements

Across three themes of mind/body, inclusivity and empowerment, TBWA has identified seven edges.

Maturity paradox

The concepts of age and maturity are not as directly correlated and connected as they seem to be. Kids are growing up faster, young people are staying younger for longer and older people are living longer.

This is the age of fluid ageing, which gives people new freedoms, enabling them to break free from potentially historical constraints and see the world through a different value lens; for example, South Africans over 55 are reimagining what it means to grow old.

Life no longer stops at retirement age; rather, it is your second life, your second opportunity. When does old age stop, and what does it look like?

On the flip side, kids are moving into an adult world, with brands like Sephora, while adults are permitting themselves to play. With this maturity paradox, the age blueprints are completely being thrown out. Brands need to break the age silos, and rather than designing for age groups, think about common values, behaviours, and the mindsets of their audience.

Mind maintenance

Over the past few years and particularly in a post-Covid world, mental health and mental health struggles have come to the fore.

The conversation is moving from reactive to proactive as the conversation around this has normalised. South Africa ranks amongst the world's most stressed nations that are battling with mental health, and there is an increasing need to acknowledge the state of our health.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of South Africans think that mental health is important, and 31% would switch brands to a brand that will help them take care of their mental health.

While South Africans think of themselves as a resilient nation, and one of the magical things about South Africans is that we tend to laugh at our problems, the reality is that we are confronted with a lot all the time, and it does start to take a toll.

Safe spaces are turning up in unexpected places, such as hairdressers in West Africa, so NPOs are training hairdressers and equipping them to manage these types of conversations with women.

Brands are responding as well, such as Spotify, by intentionally designing playlists based on your mood kind, while Apple lets you track and check in on your mood daily.

The brand Calm’s ad during the US elections was 30 seconds of silence, while the Asics ad tells you to move away from your desk. Brands can also contribute to mental health through mindful design and avoiding unhealthy extremes.

Money out loud

Discussion around money has always been taboo, but today we are in a new reality in a world where society, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, wants to get a bit more candid about money conversations.

There is an increasing willingness and an increasing appetite to talk about and have an open, healthy and honest relationship with their finances.

Liferest with Bonnie is changing this as she exposes salaries and industries.

Another one is the Sanlam F-show that uses humour to tackle financial education.



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Gap collapse

The fight against inequality is growing more nuanced and is no longer just a wealth gap, it includes the climate, health, education and digital gap as it exposes the very real inequality gap.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of South Africans will switch to brands that unlock access to equality. Unlocking access is the next big market opportunity, and brands need to step in.

Inclusion by design

This is not a tick box but a form of design thinking and goes beyond tokenism, with 31% of South Africans supporting diversity and inclusion efforts.

Genuine inclusion requires an entirely new blueprint and brands can do this by designing for or one and scaling for many and starting small but asking first (do not assume).



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Crisis hacking

The world is in a state of permacrisis, and we are looking for ways out of this.

People want a light at the end of the tunnel - 73% of people try to be optimistic despite the ongoing global crisis.

Crisis hacking allows people to make lifestyle adjustments within this space. Brands can play within the constraints of these by unlocking DIY solutions and enabling aid.

AI intimate

AI is getting personal, and the next step is for us to normalise its role as a sidekick in our lives. 50% of knowledge workers use a virtual assistant. In the next wave, AI will also get emotional with personalised AI to grow 150%.

This is closer than we think. Brands need to go deeper with AI and expose new ways to stand out but stay human.