3 top trends for 2025 (be prepared for a mind shift)

The year 2025 kicks off with a new leader in the White House, triggering a period of uncertainty which could impact global trade, foreign policy and the rights of minorities in the world’s second-largest democracy. 

Elsewhere, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, growing concerns over Big Tech and AI, plus increasing extreme weather chaos caused by the climate crisis, are all adding to the overall outlook for gloom. Weltschmerz is not the word.

Those working in PR and comms may feel powerless. But there are small, subtle ways in which the profession can shift the dial. 

Public relations is an occupation where practitioners have an extraordinary power to help amplify socially conscious issues such as the environment, the need for gender parity and inclusivity in the workplace. 

Here are three trends for 2025 where PRs can working with a changing lens…

From gen Z eco-anxiety to eco-ambition

We’ve all read about gen Z’s eco-anxiety, doom-scrolling videos about planetary destruction, while the press also continues to paint a picture of them as being disloyal job-hoppers and having social media-zapped attention spans. 

Yet, a shift could be afoot. One recent survey by the Villars Institute NGO identified younger generations expect climate issues to be part of their professional futures, but also realise the only way to tackle it is adopting a positive (ie an ‘eco-ambitious’) mindset.

Yet, only one in 20 gen Z-ers have the necessary ‘green skills’ to combat the climate crisis, according to a global LinkedIn survey from this summer, which predicted that businesses risk failing their net-zero targets if younger generations aren’t brought up to speed in areas such as climate action planning, sustainability reporting and impact assessment.

At the same time, many businesses are increasingly recognising the value that gen Z could bring to their clients, giving them a more prominent seat at the table.

• What you need to know about COP29 from a PR perspective
• How this PR campaign got a boost from influencers and Bollywood

In recent years, PR firms have started to employ ‘gen Z whisperers’ to advise companies on how to sell to their generation: see Berns Communications Group’s ‘Z suite’ and Edelman’s ‘Gen Z’ lab. 

Meanwhile, here in the UK, savvy gen Z-ers have set up consulting agencies such as Thred Media, Fairy Job Mother and Apprentivia to advise companies such as Google, M&S, BT, Ford, Coca-Cola and Amazon.

Environmental catastrophe may – or may not – be part of the discussions they have with boomer booses. 

But it clear that PR companies of all stripes can benefit from having some gen Z input into advising clients on sustainability or crafting eco-conscious campaigns. After all, they didn’t create this crisis, but it will indubitably impact their futures.

A chance to change leadership?

The likes of Putin, Trump, Modi, Erdoğan and Xi Jinping might indicate that – in politics, at least – the strongman leader is firmly back in power. 

But in business and media, leadership trends appear to be continuing the trends for empathy, humility, agility and inclusivity which first gained traction during the pandemic. 

With workers experiencing mental health and financial pressures (plus also losing loved ones), even the most despotic office taskmaster was forced to reassess their leadership style. Could the compassionate CEO be here to stay?

There’s now a growing expectation – particularly among younger generations entering the workforce – that leaders will cultivate a sense of psychological safety, promote inclusivity (despite many companies scaling back on DE&I), be adept at managing remote/hybrid teams, plus be sympathetic to employee wellness and flexible working.

It could boost business too: recent research from Australia’s Edith Cowan University found inclusive leaders are essential if organisations want to create conditions where their staff can experience meaningful work. 

Being a compassionate CEO is also crucial in any organisation which wishes to recruit – and retain – gen Z talent. Eight in 10 (80%) gen Z and millennials would quit their jobs tomorrow if there was a toxic work culture, according to a recent study by software firm Lifesum. 

Meanwhile, the trend for ‘conscious unbossing’ – whereby gen Z-ers are refusing to take up middle-management roles because they perceive it to be “too high stress, low reward” – also suggests a more wellbeing-focused variant of leadership is needed.

In 2025 we can also expect new type of leadership roles to emerge in PR to keep up with technological changes, such as Edelman, who recently appointed Gavin Spicer as their chief AI officer in the UK.

Another leadership trends big in management circles is ‘systems thinking’. Broadly speaking, systems thinking is a holistic ‘connecting the dots/see the bigger picture’ approach. 

The likes of the UN and World Economic Forum love a bit of systems thinking, believing it could help organisations bring a new lens to problems such as sustainable development and urban mobility. 

For PRs, understanding and helping their C-suite clients demonstrate a ‘systems thinking’ perspective might bring a competitive edge.

Midlife, menopause and ‘Power Agers’: can PR take the lead?

PR in the UK is a female-dominated industry: according to the CIPR’s PR Population Report, published earlier this year with Chalkstream, 60% of practitioners are women. 

Although full 50-50 gender parity has yet to be achieved at director level (46% are women), it’s still higher than the UK average (only 35% of UK companies have a female director).

As such, the PR industry has an opportunity to show best practice to other industries. In particular, the PR sector could help change the way midlife and women experiencing the menopause are represented in a youth-focused media. 

With stats showing 1.5% of older women appear in adverts, compared with 25% of older men, perhaps it isn’t surprising that only 7% of women aged 49-64-years-old feel that brands/retailers are doing a good job of catering to them (Institute of Practitioners of Advertising study, 2023).

Depictions of menopausal women are “lazy, out-of-touch and frankly, a little offensive to anyone who hasn’t yet given up on life,” according to PR expert and columnist Helen Down in a recent interview with The Drum. 

She also added that such marketing featured “pink flowers, purple backgrounds, flowing blonde-grey locks on Fiona Bruce lookalikes. Today’s menopausal woman is likely to be rocking Cos while extinguishing her hot flushes with negronis.”

With the global menopause-wellness space valued at $600bn (£472m), brands could be missing out on a sizeable commercial opportunity. 

The UK’s over-55s are also the biggest spenders in categories ranging from fitness to beauty to travel, despite their absence in PR campaigns. According to Phil Rowley, head of futures at Omnicom Media Group, the grey pound is hugely significant, with over-55s holding nearly 70% of all UK household wealth.

In PR and advertising, things are slowly changing. Last year, London-based Luxley Communications launched its own specialist ‘Midlife Health’ division for brands/experts in the midlife health, perimenopause and menopause markets. 

Meanwhile, brands such as Tena, Holland and Barrett and Channel 4 were lauded for their candid but comical menopause campaigns.

• Will the PR industry adopt new menopause guidance?
• The skill that comms professionals should teach young people

With the millennial generation now hitting midlife, there’s a real opportunity for PRs to help rebrand the experience of millions of women.  

But what’s new – and key – is for society to really ‘see’ older women post menopause – the Power Agers as You Magazine recently called them. 

Before the patriarchy arrived to label them witches and disruptors, older women were healers and medicine women – respected and looked up to. And though still losing currency in a youth-focused society, women emerging from “the breeding years” are now finding themselves liberated and moving into their power, emerging as a symbol of knowledge, experience and leadership. 

Yes, the age of the “Cool Crone” is upon us and we’re just starting to understand the impact (and see the immense strength) of this all-but-invisible social group. 

As Kat Farmer said in You Magazine, “We are a generation of women who have never before existed.” Watch this space.

Christian Koch is an award-winning journalist, editor, content strategist and brand consultant.

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