Managing tech—with a human touch: What we’re watching in 2025

Look, we get it: You’re sick and tired of continuously gabbing about artificial intelligence.

It’s been in the conversations of every corner of our industry for the past few years, and for good reason. The technology is now everywhere and changing how we do our work, so forgive us for going heavy on AI expectations as we navigate the next year.

But one very important note as we consider where work in departments like art direction, creative, digital, strategy, and media is headed in 2025: Living, breathing human beings are still a vital part of the mix. We’re still running the show and providing essential direction for brands that want to stand out and thrive, so it’s still on us to make year-to-year predictions concerning where our industry is headed.

And until our machine overlords officially assert their dominance and relegate us as mere button-pushers, we at The Martin Group still have insightful thoughts about how our work could evolve over the next 12 months.

Here are a few of our team predictions:  

Technology enabling human originality

The design industry appears to be embracing seemingly contradictory forces regarding art direction. On one side is the ever evolving and endlessly multiple iterations presented by artificial intelligence (AI). On the other side is the return to craft and its humanistic, charming, and recognizable motifs that speak to unique originality. The two sides couldn’t be further apart in their ideology and their presentation. As time goes on, it’s not which side will prevail but where the use becomes appropriate, be it the sleek and visually evocative results of AI art or the warm personal touch of crafted pieces of design.

The sameness that has taken over commercial design in the past few years has helped culminate in the proliferation of this trend, and we expect to continue through the year.

Emotional response remains the goal

Nostalgia or futurism. Simplicity or immersion. Innovation through AI or a deliberate rejection of it. Today’s consumers seemingly crave a wild mix of opposites, so the true challenge of 2025 will be for brands to find the perfect balance—and understand what truly resonates with their audiences to achieve an emotional reaction.

As AI transitions from a behind-the-scenes ideation tool to becoming part of everyday creative executions, standing out amidst mass-generated content will be more critical than ever. Authenticity will remain a cornerstone of impactful branding. This means we’ll witness even more powerful storytelling and hyper-personalization putting human connection at the forefront, and paired with bolder visuals and bigger creative risks designed to break through oversaturated markets.

While the boundaries between art, technology, and culture continue to blur, one truth remains: emotion, however juxtaposed or complex, will remain the driving force behind the most compelling and memorable design, and brands that embrace this will position themselves for the greatest success.

Social commerce will continue to evolve

Social media usage now accounts for an average of more than two hours every day in the U.S. for adults. This has led brands to increasingly leverage social media platforms to support e-commerce and lead generation, and take advantage of the more than 100 million social buyers in the U.S. now active as of the close of 2024. 

This makes providing solutions to consumers via social media platforms as important as ever, and points to that number of social buyers—already up 26% from 2023—to grow by another 20% in 2025.

Social media platforms continue to evolve their commerce offerings, with Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok generating the most activity and continued investment in making it easier for advertisers to drive commerce. Advertisers need to continue to think about how they interact with consumers on social—especially through paid social, which has proven to be mutually beneficial for the consumer and the advertiser—and how they ask consumers to engage and transact with them. Also, ensuring a test-and-learn strategy is implemented will help optimize performance, further refining the efficacy of paid social and validating its role in the broader marketing user journey.

Human-centered strategy must navigate an AI-driven world

Just as it’s important to understand the give and take between technology and human ingenuity in art direction, creative design, and branding, the same goes for campaign strategy and execution.

As AI tools become ubiquitous in research, audience segmentation, and campaign planning, a key trend this year will be balancing technological efficiency with human-centered insights. While AI can uncover patterns, predict behaviors, and optimize campaigns at an unprecedented scale, brands risk losing emotional resonance if they rely solely on machine-led insights. For strategy teams, the challenge—and opportunity—will be balancing AI capabilities with human empathy, storytelling, and intuition. This means ensuring that audience research and campaign planning continue to prioritize real human experiences, motivations, and values alongside data-driven precision.

In an increasingly automated world, the brands that lead will be those that feel the most human.

Digital marketing will lean further into AI capabilities

Finally, when it comes to digital marketing, surprise: artificial intelligence and automation are going to continue to dominate the industry. This might read like an echo, but it’s just another honest admission of how omnipresent the impact of AI will be across all mechanisms of advertising and marketing in the coming year.

Digital advertising is likely going to continue to become even more personalized, by utilizing AI to learn shopping habits, interests and more to ensure the online experience is custom to every individual. Furthermore, AI audio platforms like Siri, Alexa, and Google Home will likely increase suggestions to consumers based on what they are searching for, and how they are using their in-home AI tools. Marketers will be encouraged to leverage these platforms for advertising opportunities to continue to create hyper-personalized content for any brand’s specific target audience.

In short, AI isn’t going anywhere—so get ready for it to be utilized to reach audiences in specific and creative ways.

Ready to learn how you, AI, and The Martin Group can join forces in 2025? Reach out to us today!