This year's Creative advantage lies in the tipping point

If you’re like me, you spent the first day of 2025 thumbing through a slew of social media posts declaring what’s ‘in’ and what’s ‘out’ for the year. At Edelman, we do it a bit differently: less by following trends than building brands by understanding the deeper cultural shifts shaping the world.

This is why we chose ‘Tipping Points’ as the theme for our Perspective on 2025, because as much as many would like some stability in the world we aren’t getting it any time soon. That makes it harder for creative professionals to find those nuggets of truth from which to develop a brilliant new idea.

In dynamic, even volatile times, creative advantage therefore comes judging where an action or an idea gives the brand or business behind it the most leverage. But to make these calls effectively, creative professionals must be more than just antennae for short-term trends. We need to look beyond to the larger forces that are, as Merriam Webster defines it, approaching “a critical juncture at which unstoppable change takes place”.

Tipping Point 1: The Power and Value of Boredom

If you’re rolling your eyes at the idea of boredom as a luxury stick with me. When everyone is hyper-connected and overstimulated all the time, the ability and discipline to do…nothing is a huge social flex.

The sensation for ‘rawdogging’ flights which trended on TikTok last summer illustrates this perfectly. Faced with long-haul journeys, many (mainly young men) ditched entertainment altogether to test their own mental stamina. It might have been ironic that the first thing they did afterwards was share it online. But the fact they tested themselves at all is a sign that many people – men especially – need ways to demonstrate the strength of their minds that don’t fit into current ideas of what wellbeing is.

Meanwhile, the world of wellness itself is also embracing the idea that doing nothing a healthy, even virtuous activity. Dopamine fasting and extreme meditation programmes that ‘detox’ people from the effects of junk stimulation are catching on. While the science behind them is shaky, their popularity among those who increasingly shape wellness practices captures a yearning to reset our relationship with stimulation and pleasure.

What does this mean for creative communications in 2025? However absurd they look on a Reel, these are signs that people need help to force close some of the tabs perpetually open in their minds. Brands that veer away from this more-more-more mentality to embrace less-less-less, can lap up attention, trust and advocacy.

Tipping Point 2 – Into the 'Meataverse'

Remember how in early 2021 tech companies told us humanity was ready to live life in the metaverse? It didn’t quite turn out that way, but that doesn’t mean that the online and offline aren’t converging. Things are just going the other way. Digital culture is increasingly making the journey into ‘meatspace’, where the joys and pleasures of online life can be explored with a full range of sensory experiences.

Taking the online offline is, we think, a path to making creative work distinctive in 2025. While brands march online to the point where Fortnite looks positively cluttered, there’s power in taking a different course. Take the phenomenal success of Super Nintendo World for example If you’ grew up in gaming platforms, there’s nothing more fun than a real-world place where you can collect coins and ride a Mario Kart.

For brands that want to tap gaming’s cultural power this year, the smart approach might not lie in interrupting or complicating gameplay. Instead, consider bringing what’s joyful and absorbing about Roblox or League of Legends to another, less stimulating part of life.

Tipping Point - AI Influencing Human Creativity

The debate as to how far AI can or should replace human creative production continues. Yet if we look beyond the philosophy to how some of the world’s most creative people are already using the technology, it’s possible to see a more dynamic, even playful relationship between human and machine than many expected.

Here high-end fashion, rather than tech or even FMCG, leads the way. Just look at how designers are remixing and reinventing garments from their own archives. The results, which range from JW Anderson’s clown brogues for Loewe, to the impossible garments that Miuccia Prada created for her brand’s SS25 collection, blur the boundaries between human creation and AI hallucination.

Away from the catwalk, fashion brands are beginning to use AI in immersive, enchanting ways. For example, last Christmas, Polo Ralph used AI to make its beloved Polo Bear character interact with the sights and sounds of shoppers in real-time. Such applications of AI are far cleverer and more engaging than the ‘your face here’ brand of personalisation we’ve seen in other categories. They also suggests that, beyond automation, AI’s true potential might lie in helping people to achieve something what human hands cannot.

What Does It All Mean For The Year?

Beyond yet more uncertainty there is one thing we can predict for 2025. It’s a year to let go of many of marketing’s received wisdoms. When people are so tired of stimulation they’re actively seeking out boredom, it’s time to handle ideas that add to the sensory overload of modern life with care.

If the most obvious answer to reaching consumers who love their online lives lies in interrupting them, maybe it’s time to think about a solution that’s less obvious – and more joyful. And lastly, while not all of us are quite ready to welcome our new robot overlords, there are signs that they can extend the reach and ambition of human creativity in new and liberating ways. By navigating the forces approaching their tipping point, creative business has an opportunity to make work that stands out and solves the problems of our times.

The full report is available to download now on the Edelman website.