With digital nostalgia gripping entertainment audiences seeking pre-Internet/social media-era joys and early-tech aesthetics (see Trend Drop), expect retro gaming (playing reboots or reissues of games from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s) to go stratospheric. Fuelled by soaring internet culture clout, key developments include emulator software (which imitate classic gaming consoles on modern devices), retro game subscription apps, and Y2K-heavy rereleases.

Hyper-realistic and responsive AI influencers will usher in a new era of non-human (human meets machine) social media for 2025, from AI-powered brand ambassadors redrawing influencing dynamics to netizen-designed avatars who generate their own content. With audience opinion on virtual influencers divided (and sometimes contradictory; see Key Stats), there are several key routes for future-facing brands to consider.

As subscription fatigue pushes audiences away, in 2025 expect disruptive streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms to both win viewers and demonstrate to more traditional players how to keep fans engaged. They’ll succeed by supporting minority creatives, and reviving cult-favourite programming, offering bitesize formats, crowd-consulted commissioning, and a focus on regional homegrown content.

From trad wives (see Internet-Trends 101: Anti-Ambition) to the re-energisation of ultra-toxic masculinity, online content championing retrogressive gender ideals is gaining increasingly prominent ground, fuelled by a complicated maelstrom of diverging values between genders (see Gen Zalpha Futurescapes). In 2025, brands will need to step up and support the positive role models cutting through the clamour (in TV, film and advertising/marketing) to navigate these choppy waters.

Increasingly accustomed to AI/XR upgrades to their retail and TV experiences, the 2025 sports fan will be hungry for wraparound sports entertainment that deepens their engagement beyond live broadcasts. Opportunities include AI-powered insights, vertical highlight reels, sports docs and audio content giving women’s sports (a huge growth area – see Key Stats) an entertainment-forward status boost.

A romance-quake is underway. Swathes of Gen Z and millennials (mostly women) are devouring romance and “romantasy” (romance/ fantasy blends) publishing, promoted by the fans behind #BookTok and pushing mega global sales. This appetite will help fan-fuelled romantic entertainment dominate in 2025, providing ample storytelling touchpoints for brands looking to key into young people’s imaginations. 

As legacy social media (e.g. Instagram, TikTok) pursues ‘super-app’ status (putting entertainment and commerce ahead of social connections) expect success from alternatives delivering a friends-first algorithm-second approach. With users wistful for single-purpose spaces recalling mid-00s platforms like MySpace, see Gen-Z-built nowstalgia-heavy NoPlace (US), Amo’s (France) suite of single-use socialising apps, and lo-fi, friendly recommendation culture on PI.FYI (US) for inspiration.

Globally, 70% of Gen Z and millennials say they enjoy when brands have a “discernible sound” (Spotify, 2022. New “sonic creativity” technologies and initiatives are generating enhanced, emotion-rich moments of pop culture/brand crossover, making 2025 a year of opportunity for brands ready to blaze an audio trail. Innovations include canny sonic TikTok campaigns, multimedia exhibitions of sonic art, brand-identity building via and AI tools turning text into podcasts.