Mid-Year Trend Check 2025: What’s Working, What’s Fading, and What Brands Should Embrace Next

As we cross into the second half of 2025, one thing is clear: audiences aren’t just harder to impress. They are more mindful, more selective, and more emotionally attuned than ever.

Brands today are expected to do more than show up. They need to mean something, build lasting connections, and know exactly how to cut through the noise. And they must do it without resorting to gimmicks or fatigue-inducing formulas.

So we turned inward and asked our team of strategists, creatives, and culture-watchers: What trends have defined the year so far? What tactics are falling flat? And where should brands be investing their creative energy next?

Here is what we are seeing, and how forward-thinking brands can stay ahead. 

What’s Working: Emotional Truths, Unexpected Joy, and Hybrid Experiences 

Campaigns that are winning in 2025 are those that spark curiosity and connection. They are surprising in execution, but grounded in real human insights.

Take Grab Malaysia’s “Kebaikan Dalam Setiap Pesanan”, which flipped the narrative by centering delivery partners’ personal journeys. Rather than pushing convenience, the campaign offered emotional depth. It reminded us that great storytelling is about people, not just products. 

On the flip side, brands like Heineken Malaysia and Max’s “The Last of Us” are bringing campaigns to life through bold, multi-sensory experiences. By combining physical events with digital activations, they are extending engagement far beyond a single moment. The result? Campaigns that feel less like ads and more like cultural moments. 

Go behind the scenes of our “The Last of Us” activation for Max Malaysia 

We are also seeing the rise of collectible delight. From blind boxes to plushie drops, brands tapping into this tactile trend are creating excitement and emotional attachment. These moments of joy, especially when designed as limited or “hidden” discoveries generate not just engagement, but fandom. It ties back to the revenge living mindset, where people are finding comfort in playful, feel-good purchases. 

Source: OLDTOWN Coffee White Coffee Malaysia 

At the heart of all these successes is a consistent thread. Campaigns that make people feel something - whether that is empathy, nostalgia, joy, or surprise - win hearts, not just impressions. 

What’s Fading: One-Offs, Over-Polish, and Performative Marketing 

Meanwhile, certain tactics are starting to wear thin.

There is clear fatigue around hard-sell content, overly polished festive ads, and one-and-done campaigns that appear during peak seasons but vanish the rest of the year. Audiences want continuity and community. If your brand only shows up for the sale, it’s already too late.

We are also seeing diminishing returns from heavily scripted KOL content. While influencer marketing isn’t dead, audiences are more discerning. They crave unfiltered, everyday perspectives. These often appear in comment sections, duets, or spontaneous reviews. Not paid monologues.

Similarly, tactics like filter-based gimmicks or recycled dance challenges feel increasingly out of place in a landscape that now favours relatability over virality.

The takeaway is simple. The old playbook - polish, post, repeat - is no longer enough. To stand out today, brands need to be present, personable, and purposeful. 

What’s Next: Episodic Content, Purpose-Driven Play, and Platforms That Build Community 

Looking ahead, our team sees exciting creative possibilities. Not so much in what’s trending now, but in what brands could be experimenting with more.

From a strategic point of view, here is what we believe has untapped potential.  

1. Episodic, Character-Driven Storytelling

Rather than standalone content, we would love to see more brands lean into mini-series-style storytelling. Platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts are ideal for this. Think recurring skits, developing narratives, or mascot-led arcs. These formats build habit, drive retention, and foster community. It is something creators have mastered, but most brands haven’t yet embraced.

2. Content That Sounds Like Your Audience

There is growing appetite for consumer-first storytelling. This means content that mirrors how real people talk about products in their everyday lives. Whether it’s a TikTok creator casually explaining why something fits into their routine, or a brand page adopting a more relaxed, conversational tone, relatability is becoming more persuasive than polish.  

3. Strategic Experimentation with AI

AI is on everyone’s radar. But not just for speed or automation. There is an opportunity for brands to use AI in creatively playful ways – generating lo-fi-style edits, remixing campaigns with AI voiceovers, or producing custom visual concepts that wouldn’t be feasible at scale otherwise. As tools evolve, brands that use AI with intent rather than novelty will stand out.

4. Community-Led Experiences on New Platforms

TikTok and Instagram Reels are still dominant. But platforms like Xiaohongshu (RED) are rising fast, especially among Gen Z in Asia. Its blend of peer reviews, aesthetic storytelling, and community interaction makes it a space for discovery. The real opportunity? Building shared context, not just publishing content.

5. Meaningful Brand Extensions of Tactile Trends

Plushie and blind box culture may soon hit saturation. But it also opens the door to brand extensions with purpose. Think themed accessories, exchange events, or even CSR initiatives where collectibles are donated to children’s hospitals. What started as a trend can become a longer-term ecosystem. It just needs the right lens.  

Create unique visual concepts using AI 

Final Word: Trends Alone Won’t Cut It, But Strategy Will 

If the first half of 2025 has shown us anything, it is that the most impactful brands aren’t just trend-aware. They are strategically experimental. They know when to listen, when to lead, and how to build experiences that matter.

At Kingdom Digital, we help brands turn signals into strategy. From story-driven campaigns to community-first content and cross-platform thinking, we build ideas that move with culture – and move people.

If you are ready to go beyond the one-off and build something more lasting, let’s chat.