AI is starting to sit between consumers and brands, helping people search, compare and decide what to buy. John Lewis says AI-agent-driven shopping already represents 2.5% of its product searches, up from 0.3% a year earlier.

Instead of winning a consumer scrolling through ten products, brands increasingly need to be understood and recommended by an AI acting on that consumer's behalf.

Brand preference could increasingly be shaped before someone ever reaches a website, store or ad - changing what visibility, differentiation and even brand loyalty mean.

After years of increasingly digital lives, younger consumers are seeking more opportunities to meet around shared interests, the “third place” can vary from running clubs and cafés to workshops, fitness spaces and other community-led experiences. With the “first place” (home) “second place” (work), people are craving environments to socialise in real life with shared interests.

Connection is moving from followers and group chats towards participation, shared interests and being physically present.

Brands have spent years building digital communities. There is now an opportunity to give those communities somewhere to actually exist.

White Claw stepped beyond the drinks category through its collaboration with TOMBOGO, transforming recycled can tabs into the “CLAW Bag” and later a full fashion collection of clothing and jewellery.

Sustainability is moving beyond simply using less towards finding creative ways to reuse what already exists, with circular design turning waste and surplus materials into part of the product story.

Repurposing recognisable brand materials can make sustainability tangible rather than just another claim. It gives waste a second life while creating distinctive products that extend a brand into unexpected cultural spaces.

Hulah puts a different spin on online dating: men need to be endorsed by women to join and remain active, using the power of sisterhood to help filter potential matches.

Dating apps have spent years adding safety features, but Hulah moves trust to the centre of the experience - giving women greater control over who enters their dating pool.

Hulah's approach addresses the concerning statistic that 33% of dating app users aged 18-35 have faced harassment or abuse by someone they met on a dating app (Source BBC).

With harassment and safety still major concerns in online dating, community-led curation offers something algorithms can't always provide: personal accountability and a sense of quality assurance.

To celebrate The Sopranos’ 25th anniversary, HBO condensed every episode into 25-second TikTok edits — turning 86 hours of the iconic series into just 36 minutes of bite-sized content.

As attention becomes harder to earn, nostalgia is evolving into “nowstalgia” - familiar cultural references reimagined through today’s platforms, behaviours and rituals.

Nostalgia already carries an emotional connection, but adapting it for the present can introduce much-loved brands and stories to entirely new audiences - without relying on them having experienced the original.

Paris 2024 named Corona Cero its official beer, marking the first global beer sponsorship of the Olympics and putting an alcohol-free product on one of sport’s biggest stages.

Non-alcoholic beer is moving into the mainstream, giving brands a way to participate in major sporting and social occasions while appealing to a much broader audience.

Unlike traditional alcohol sponsorships, 0% products can be accessible to more people and more occasions. That opens the door for beer brands to connect with sport, wellbeing and performance — and rethink what a beer can actually offer.

Burt’s Bees and Hidden Valley Ranch collaborated on a limited-edition range of savoury lip balms inspired by a basket of wings - including Ranch, Buffalo Sauce, Celery and Carrot - which quickly sold out.

Beauty is becoming more experimental and multisensory, borrowing unexpected cues from food and other categories to make everyday routines feel more entertaining and indulgent.

Consumers already know what a lip balm is supposed to taste like. Breaking those familiar category rules gives brands an opportunity to stand out, spark conversation and turn even the most ordinary product into an experience.