AI is more than a debate in marketing—it’s a certainty.

AI in advertising is no longer a debate—it’s a certainty. According to McKinsey, 65% of organizations now use generative AI (gen AI) in at least one business function, with marketing and sales leading the charge across departments.

Our survey reflects this trend: 86% of DTC advertisers plan to increase their use of AI for research and ideation in 2025, and 79% anticipate expanding AI’s role in creative production.

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This rapid adoption, however, poses a challenge: in the rush to embrace AI tools, it’s easy for marketers to lose sight of what advertising is truly about—building trust, evoking emotion, and connecting with consumers.

AI can help advertisers generate content faster, cheaper, and at a greater scale than before. But volume alone doesn’t make ads remarkable. As Mirella Crespi, founder of the agency Creative Milkshake reminds us, “The goal isn’t just to make ads faster—it’s to make people feel something.”

“I believe that the more AI becomes prevalent on people’s feeds, the more people will push in the opposite direction,” says Mirella. “The more AI content is out there, the more people are going to crave something more real and human.”

Advertising’s goals haven’t changed, even as its tools have. It’s not about AI versus humans; it’s about how we can use AI thoughtfully, without losing the emotional resonance that connects people to the stories we tell about the products we sell.

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What we’re seeing

The risk of unremarkable AI ads

Many AI-generated ads are novel but forgettable. A recent Nielsen study found consumers perceived AI-generated ads as more “annoying,” “boring,” and “confusing” than traditional ads.

Advertisers are uncertain about AI, but adopting it anyway

According to our survey, more than half of the advertisers we surveyed (55%) still aren’t sold on the promise of AI. That gap between efficiency and quality is where brands need to focus.

Only people can tell real stories

Crespi nails it again, “Sometimes a person is an expert just because they have lived and they’re sharing their story.” Trust and relatability come from the stories only real people can tell—and no AI can replicate that.

How this impacts ad creative

In 2025, brands will have to strike a delicate balance—using AI to streamline their processes while ensuring they stay authentic. AI might help with production, but it can’t replicate the emotional resonance that makes consumers care.

As Crespi puts it, “The best advertising blends technology and creativity but keeps the human element front and center.” AI tends to be predictable. Good, but formulaic. So lean into reality to stand out.

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Put the trend in action

1. Focus on “first-person” content formats

Adopt formats like POV (point of view) videos or diary-style posts where the voice of the creator—whether it’s a founder, customer, or team member—feels front and center. These formats resonate because they mimic personal, relatable content that’s native to social media.

2. Create raw testimonial campaigns

Leverage YouTube for product breakdowns or “how-to” guides, or use TikTok to create a multipart explainer series. These formats work because they feel natural to the platform while delivering more depth than a typical ad.

3. Lean into your most unique selling point—your founders

Feature your founder in authentic, behind-the-scenes content like origin stories, Q&As, or daily routines. Use social platforms to showcase their passion and create a personal connection with your audience. Start with simple, smartphone-shot clips that feel relatable.

When did advertising stop being funny?

In a recent report, only 33% of the ads marketing research firm Kantar studied incorporated some form of humor, yet half of the most ‘effective’ ads they’ve awarded use it.

Even back in 1983, David Ogilvy ranked humor as the #1 lever for making effective ads—above using testimonials, product demonstrations, or celebrity endorsements.

We can hear die-hard performance marketers already saying ‘you don’t need to be funny to convert
 performance marketing is a hard sell.’ So we’re here to tell them—with data—that’s just not true.

Here’s what we found about using humour in DTC ads. According to our analysis of 100M+ dollars in top-spending ads, only 14% of social ads have some element of humor. But, humor was found in 25% of ads that spent over 1M+ dollars.

In short, a quarter of the highest-spending ads we looked at across the biggest DTC advertisers are funny. For advertisers that really want to scale their ads, humor might just be what's missing.

This glut in comedy isn’t lost on the best of the best in DTC. Or so says Joanna Wallace, Director of Paid Media Creative at HexClad. “Being funny works,” she says. “When I’m scrolling and see a company puts out a funny ad, I think
 they get it
 not every ad needs to make a hard sell.”

Study after study after study has pointed out the benefit of funny advertising when it comes to almost every variable. Funnier ads are better at improving brand recall, increasing lifetime customer value, and even—yes—direct conversion.

In 2025, the best advertisers in DTC will rediscover their funny side. And the most effective creative strategists will learn to step away from truisms about humor in performance vs brand marketing while they encourage their creative teams to do what many of them do best: have a little fun with it.

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What we’re seeing

Humor is making a comeback in even the stuffiest corners of marketing

B2B advertisers are not typically known for their wit. But a recent spate of comedy-led campaigns from brands like Workday, CCS McLays, and ​​TeamWork looks to turn the tide.

Being funny is the MO of social media

Comedy content is still king on social media, it’s just gone rogue under the influence of younger generations. Organic comedy content outperforms all other types of content, according to a report by Screenshot Media Group.

Bigger DTC advertisers are starting to think beyond one-click conversion

“Brand is the revenue you have left when everything is turned off,” says the co-founder of Chubbies Preston Rutherford. “I think any brand marketing needs to be direct response performance marketing. It’s not one vs. the other, it’s how do we combine them to win?”

How this impacts ad creative

Humor is one of the best ways for brands to cut through the noise in a crowded ad space. Whether it’s skit-style TikToks or clever takes on everyday problems, funny ads that highlight product value grab attention.

When humor ties back to your product, it sticks. In 2025, we’ll see more advertisers leaning into funny ads that feel intentional—balancing wit with relevance to make ads feel less like a hard sell and more like content worth watching.

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Put the trend in action

1. Test humor in low-risk campaigns

If you’re not used to going for laughs, start small by adding humor to test campaigns. Use memes, or lighthearted ad scripts and A/B test them against more traditional creative.

2. Hire creators and comedians for ad development

Nobody has a pulse on what people find funny more than the chronically online. Partner with creators or comedians who know what your target audience already likes—and trust them to deliver even if it feels uncomfortable.

3. Blend humor with product relevance

Being funny doesn’t mean being off brand. Make sure to connect humor to your product or service. Turn customer pain points into funny situations that highlight your product as the solution. This balance ensures your ads are memorable and purposeful—not just entertaining for the sake of it.

Finding winning ads is a volume game.

But generating enough volume to ensure your accounts get spend is a challenge. Briefing creative teams, creating new ads, testing, and iterating are all time-consuming and resource-intensive.

But in 2025, creative strategists are under immense pressure to do more of just that. 71% of DTC advertisers we surveyed say that they plan to increase their investment in Meta ads in 2025. And 69% say they plan to increase investment across all other platforms.

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At Motion, our customers analyze over $10B in media spend with our platform every year. This gives us a unique view into the volume of ads needed for large ad accounts. For large brands, we see teams creating 50-70 ads weekly on Meta alone. So how are creative strategists going to meet the demand for all of this ad volume? Despite some industry pushback over AI-generated ads, many advertisers are still experimenting with AI as a way to meet the growing demand for creative scale.

“The game has changed,” says Growth Consultant Barry Hott. “You can make an ad for a women’s supplement using AI tools—from scripting to voiceover—and cut production costs to almost nothing. It’s wild that it works, and the fact that it works so well is even more insane.”

If DTC advertising is going to be a game of volume, its winner will be the advertisers who use AI to help them find ads that convert.

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What we’re seeing

Advertisers are using AI to get strategic clarity

Hott explains how AI allows for rapid testing and iteration. “You can test ideas with AI-generated assets before committing to full production with real creators,” he says. AI is becoming a low-cost way for advertisers to test ideas before doubling down on winners with human might.

AI avatars are building a slow and skeptical following

Despite AI’s growing presence in our daily lives, 65% of DTC advertisers we surveyed stated they have no plans to use AI-generated avatars in ads. However, with Sora being integrated into consumer AI tools, this might start to change in the coming year as AI video becomes smarter and more believable.

Advertisers are looking beyond Meta for growth

69% of advertisers also plan to increase ad spend across platforms like TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube in 2025. The demand for wide and scalable ad production has never been greater.

How this impacts ad creative

AI tools have given creative strategists more agency and expanded creative possibilities at brands that previously may not have had the budgets to compete.

However, that success lies in balance—leveraging AI’s capabilities without losing sight of what resonates emotionally with audiences.

The brands that win in 2025 will be those that seamlessly blend AI-driven efficiency with rigorous storytelling. As Hott put it, “The challenge isn’t the technology—it’s marketers themselves. Those who embrace AI while staying authentic will dominate.”

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Put the trend in action

1. Test ideas fast, fail even faster

AI tools are perfect for throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Experiment with AI-generated videos, scripts, or visuals to test creative concepts on a small budget. Once you find a winner, double down with polished, human-made assets that feel crafted and intentional.

2. Use AI to optimize content

Use AI tools to quickly resize, reformat, and tweak your visuals or scripts, ensuring your ads match each platform’s tone and style of different networks while maintaining the cohesiveness of your original content.

3. Make AI part of your team, not the whole team

Rethink your creative workflows to let AI handle repetitive tasks like video editing or localization. It’s about using the tech to make your team more effective, not replacing the human touch that makes great ads resonate.

People today have unparalleled access to information—yet skepticism thrives.

This is particularly true on social media, where trust in traditional institutions is scarce. Once-revered —governments, NGOs, and the media—face a major credibility crisis.

Consumers have a lot of choice. So it’s easy for them to favor products—particularly in the health and beauty categories—that are packaged with expert guidance and credible founders.

For marketers, this trust advantage isn’t just an opportunity—it’s a mandate. But expertise doesn’t lend itself easily to bite-sized content, and the algorithms driving today’s attention economy reward brevity.

However, against the odds, long-form content is getting increasing amounts of spend.

One trend we’ve noticed is that ads are starting to introduce the product much later—even after 40 or even 50 seconds after the ad begins—focusing instead on education upfront. This wasn’t something we saw a year ago.

In 2025, more brands will be leaning into longer education-based content and converting skepticism into loyalty, creating campaigns that work harder to resonate with an increasingly skeptical audience.

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What we’re seeing

People are turning to social platforms for more than just entertainment

Platforms like TikTok and YouTube have become hubs for educational content, with users increasingly expecting ads that inform as well as entertain.

Going long converts

Mirella Crespi explains, “Long-form content like VSLs and podcast ads bring this third voice—the expert’s voice. Sometimes a person is an expert just because they’ve lived and they’re sharing their story.”

Introducing the product later isn’t impacting spend as much as advertisers think

Traditional direct response introduces the product early in ads. But test a slower burn, building with more educational content upfront. This makes your ad feel more native to social channels and disarms people as immediate product plugs can activate our ad radars.

How this impacts ad creative

This year we’ll see DTC advertisers double down on formats like podcast ads that worked well in 2024. Podcast ads, VSLs, extended video formats, and expert-led storytelling aren’t just tools—they’re must-haves for brands trying to cut through the noise in a market full of skeptics. The playbook is simple: teach something useful and take the time to get it right.

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Put the trend in action

1. Put your team in the spotlight

Feature employees in expert-driven content to build trust. Turn your product managers into thought leaders with LinkedIn posts, or have your engineers explain complex processes in TikTok videos.

2. Experiment with platform-native long-form formats

Leverage YouTube for product breakdowns or “how-to” guides, or use TikTok to create a multipart explainer series. These formats work because they feel natural to the platform while delivering more depth than a typical ad.

3. Partner with trusted voices

Collaborate with creators or podcast hosts who are already seen as authorities in your niche. By aligning your brand with someone your audience already trusts, you amplify credibility while delivering educational, engaging content.

Nostalgia has always been a powerful tool in marketing.

And it’s widely known by marketers that nostalgia evokes emotions tied to the past and drives consumer loyalty. But historically, it’s been the exclusive domain of legacy brands—companies with decades of history to draw upon. Think Coca-Cola’s classic holiday campaigns or Levi’s timeless denim storytelling. In 2025, that’s set to change.

Many DTC brands are maturing. The first wave of DTC brands like Casper, Bonobos, and Everlane have been around for more than a decade. To put this in perspective, many DTC brands are approaching the average 18-year company lifespan of many so-called legacy businesses on the S&P 500—a lifespan that's been in steady decline since 1958.

While DTC brands and legacy businesses approach a generational convergence point, DTC advertisers are finding themselves more and more comfortable tapping into a marketing motif historically reserved for only the most mature businesses: nostalgia.

In 2024, Poppi became the first DTC brand to reach the advertising holy grail—they launched a Superbowl commercial riddled with vibrant references to Y2K and beyond. The 60-second spot became the most-watched ad of the game, reaching 29.1 million households.

The ad sparked a 100x increase in search volume within an hour of airing, with Amazon sales and website traffic surging 10x. And it had knock-on effects on social, where Poppi saw a 250% boost in Instagram engagement and a 70% increase in TikTok followers.

In 2025, we can expect DTC advertisers—now entrenched in their markets—to follow suit by leaning into marketing strategies (and media placements) once reserved for the very legacy competitors they’ve successfully disrupted.

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What we’re seeing

The emergence of nostalgia communities

Nostalgia communities are thriving on Reddit and TikTok, where users obsessively share and remix cultural touchstones—from Y2K fashion, 90s Nickelodeon vibes, or early internet aesthetics. For marketers, these communities are goldmines of cultural relevance.

Emotional connections drive sales

According to a recent report by Kantar, nostalgia marketing creates strong emotional bonds that go beyond product features, making consumers more likely to engage with a brand. This strategy resonates with a broad audience by tapping into shared memories of different age groups.

The rise of ‘earned nostalgia’

Brands are reviving past products or campaigns to evoke nostalgia, effectively reconnecting with consumers. For instance, fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Taco Bell have reintroduced popular items from the past, leveraging nostalgia to drive sales and attract both older and newer generations.

How this impacts ad creative

In 2025, nostalgia will no longer be just a design choice; it will be a strategic tool for building emotional connections. For maturing DTC brands, this is a chance to grow up without losing their edge—drawing from cultural touchpoints that feel relevant to their audiences while crafting narratives that resonate across generations.

Nostalgia-driven campaigns that succeed will focus on reimagining the past rather than simply recycling it. This means blending retro aesthetics with modern sensibilities and aligning timeless values with today’s shifting cultural context.

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Put the trend in action

1. Reimagine, don’t recycle

Don’t just copy the past—reinterpret it in a way that feels fresh. A DTC home goods brand might use 70s-inspired design but modernize the messaging to align with sustainability or wellness trends. Think about the emotions behind the nostalgia and build campaigns that feel like a fresh take on those sentiments, rather than a direct reproduction.

2. Tap into cultural moments

Pair campaigns with nostalgia-driven media resurgences, like a product tie-in with a rebooted TV show or movie. These cultural anchors give audiences an immediate emotional connection to your brand.

3. Experiment with platforms

TikTok and Instagram are perfect for retro-inspired short-form content, while YouTube lends itself to deeper dives into nostalgic storytelling. These platforms allow brands to match the tone and style of their campaigns to the audience’s preferred way of engaging, amplifying the emotional impact of the message.

Everyone in DTC advertising knows lo-fi works—it’s foundational.

Most brands in DTC were built on scrappy content that blends seamlessly with organic social feeds. 42% of top-spending ads in our analysis of $100M+ in ad spend were classified as lo-fi production (i.e. shot on an iPhone with minimal editing and post-production polish), proving what we already knew: that you don’t need a massive production budget to drive results.

Advertisers' plans to lean more into lo-fi (low production) vs high-fi (high production) ads in 2025.

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Now, it’s not just DTC startups embracing lo-fi. While 53% of the DTC advertisers we surveyed say they plan to invest even more in lo-fi advertising in 2025, legacy advertisers and brick-and-mortar businesses have also discovered that lo-fi works.

The result has been even more creative fatigue—and, for advertisers, an even harder time standing out. According to a recent Hootsuite report, 59% of consumers think there is too much advertising on social media.

“Social advertising used to be the wild west,” says Director of Paid Media Creative at HexClad Joanna Wallace. “Now we have a million brands on the internet, including legacy brands
 how are you supposed to show that you’re not a flash in the pan?

”In 2025, the challenge for DTC advertisers won’t just be creating lo-fi content—it’ll be doubling down on the kind of lo-fi content that helps them differentiate. So, what’s working right now?

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What we’re seeing

Escapism sells

Consumers are seeking relief from the influx of information on social. Wallace observes, “There’s also a lot of doom scrolling right
 when there’s so much happening, people look for relief.” For advertisers, this means leaning into content that feels like an antidote to the chaos—satisfying colors (this soap-crushing account has 42M likes), sound textures instead of blaring voiceovers, and slow camera movements instead of jacked-up video effects.

Absurdity reduces cognitive load

The Oxford English Dictionary just named ‘brain rot’ their word of the year. For advertisers, embracing “brain rot” content—short formats with absurd humor and visuals—reduces cognitive load. Brain rot ads serve as scroll-friendly palate cleansers, giving audiences a mental break and quick dopamine hits.

Advertisers are learning from their customers

Revered growth consultant Barry Hott puts it, “Go watch what your audience is watching and make s*** that looks like that. That’s it. Game over.” Make ads that feel like the content people are already engaging with on social. Spend more time soaking up organic trends on TikTok to enhance your lo-fi visual and auditory vocabulary.

How this impacts ad creative

In 2025, the best-performing ads will lean into emotional resonance, whether through escapism, absurd humor, or relatable storytelling. Mimicking the tone and style of the content your audience already loves is key, as is experimenting with unexpected, simple formats that cut through the noise. With ad lifespans shrinking to just days, brands must test and iterate faster than ever, focusing on clear, impactful messaging that delivers quick emotional payoffs. Lo-fi isn’t just about scrappiness anymore—it’s about matching your content to the mindstates of consumers as they consume it.

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Put the trend in action

1. Shoot fast, publish faster

Use smartphones to create raw, unfiltered content for platforms like TikTok or Instagram. Don't waste time with over-editing and production polish. Instead focus on getting a few key things right—lighting, mood, and sound.

2. Simplify with satisfying content

Test low cognitive-load formats like quick tutorials, visually satisfying product demos, or ASMR-inspired clips. Think about what will stop the scroll and provide a moment of intrigue or relaxation for your audience.

3. Use social listening to guide creative

Tap into conversations, trends, and content your audience is already engaging with organically. Use these insights to create ads that align with the interests and behaviors of your audience.

Putting a copywriter and a designer in the same room is no longer the recipe for exceptional ads.

In 2025, the structure of creative teams is poised for transformation as DTC brands embrace a new wave of talent and operational models.

First, you need to hire a creative strategist. That's table stakes.

But more elite teams are going even further. Some are hiring platform native directors, creators embedded within growth teams who specialize in crafting culturally fluent, fast-turnaround content.

Platform native directors are not just creators, they are masters of the culture of social platforms. They’re the most fluent speakers of the social media language. They excel at ideating, shooting, and editing content entirely on smartphones.

In short, having someone deeply immersed in organic social trends and feeding that intel to your creative teams is an incredible advantage. Your ad creative will adapt faster to consumer shifts and you’ll have a wider aesthetic and cultural repository to draw from when coming up with ad concepts.

Meanwhile, creative strategists build tighter integration between media and creative functions, enabling brands to iterate faster and produce ads that consistently perform. Fast-growing brands are uniting these functions with media buyers and creatives operating with the same KPIs and even sharing performance-based compensation.

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What we’re seeing

Creative fatigue is accelerating

Many ads on Meta now have an average lifespan of just 0–2 days before performance begins to decline. This is driving demand for high-velocity creative production, with top advertisers producing 50–70 ads per week.

Native directors are growth engines

Creators are no longer just contributors but key drivers of growth. As our survey of 500 DTC advertisers showed, investing in high-quality UGC and creator relationships will continue to be a focus in 2025.

In-house expertise meets agency creativity

Many brands are building in-house creator studios while continuing to work with agencies to diversify their creative output. As one expert told us, “We’re seeing more brands taking creative in-house but still relying on agencies for fresh perspectives.”

How this impacts ad creative

In 2025, the ability to deliver platform-native content at speed will define success for DTC brands. Platform-native directors enable brands to cut production costs while maintaining cultural fluency, creating content that blends seamlessly into social feeds. Meanwhile, tighter collaboration between creative and media teams ensures every ad is designed with performance in mind. Brands will also need to adapt to shorter creative lifespans, using agile systems to produce content rapidly without sacrificing diversity or quality. As creative fatigue intensifies, the brands that innovate their team structures will be best positioned to thrive.

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Put the trend in action

1. Hire a creative strategist

Creative strategists are changing the fortunes of top agencies, turning brands into household names, and managing billions of dollars in ad spend. Hiring one is the first step towards building a high-functioning performance marketing team.

2. Build internal creator studios

Hire or upskill platform native directors within your team. Their expertise in culturally fluent, cost-effective ad creation will allow your brand to respond quickly to trends on different platforms.

3. Pilot high-volume production days

Organize sprint-style ad creation days. We’ve seen ad agencies and brands rent houses to host week-long creator sprints, shooting content and collaborating together. As one expert told us, “In one day, brands and creators can produce 30–40 ads, ensuring both volume and diversity.”

Live event: Join us for a Creative Trends Lightning Round on January 30
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Executive Summary
Executive SummaryExplore Motion
Explore Motion

2025 Creative Trends

We analyzed $100M in ad spend, surveyed 500+ insiders, and conducted over a dozen interviews with leading creative strategists to help you uncover the forces shaping DTC ad creative.

Get the full report

Plus extra bonuses & tips for turning the trends into new winning ads.

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Motion is the command center for creative strategists

With Motion, creative strategists get help at every step of their workflow including visual analysis of top-performing ads, competitor tracking, research tools, and automated recommendations to help prioritize what to ship next.
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Motion’s customers include some of the most prominent advertisers in paid social. Brands like HexClad, Vuori, True Classic, Jones Road Beauty, and Ridge use Motion to analyze over $10B in media spend every year.

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Executive Summary

What Makes This Report Unique

Predictive reports are table stakes in marketing.

It would be too easy in 2025 to talk to a few industry friends, consider what’s worked in the past, and ask a GPT what it thinks the future will look like. And—transparently—we did do that. But we also came up with a rigorous methodology to challenge our assumptions, interrogate our biases, and help us come up with a report that’s more fact than feeling.

Motion’s Creative Trends 2025 is your unbiased blueprint for staying ahead of the biggest trends shaping advertising creative. This report isn’t just about what’s trending or new—it’s about what works and will work in performance marketing based on a survey of over 500 experts and an analysis of over $100M in ad spend.

Methodology

To identify the most critical trends shaping DTC advertising in 2025, we took a comprehensive approach:

Interviewed 12 DTC leaders and creative experts to uncover emerging insights, patterns, and challenges in the space.

Surveyed 500+ DTC advertisers to quantify shifts in strategy, technology adoption, and creative priorities for the coming year.

Analyzed $100M+ in ad spend across platforms, extracting actionable insights about what’s working (and what’s not) in real-time campaigns.

By combining qualitative and quantitative data with a detailed analysis of advertising trends, this report delivers a practical and grounded blueprint for DTC marketers.

Firmographics

Who responded to Motion's 2025 trends survey?

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What type of business do you work at?

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How to Use This Report

Keep this report open as your go-to resource during your weekly strategy sprints. Use it to:

Frame Discussions

Align your team around key trends to guide the week’s ad strategy.

Brief Creatives

Reference insights to shape creative briefs and inspire new ideas.

Plan Ahead

Spot trends to test now and scale into larger campaigns later.

Practical, actionable, and built for everyday use—this report is your roadmap for making ads that convert in 2025.

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