In our series Colour Me, Crowd DNA uses semiotics to decode colour trends and unpack cultural shifts in the process…

Colour of course carries plenty of meaning, but that changes (and often very fast) alongside lived experiences. In this series, Crowd DNA uses semiotics to decode colour trends and unpack cultural shifts in the process… 

At Crowd, we use semiotics as one of our tools, showing where signs and symbols – like words, visual icons, packaging, or logos – are a shortcut for brands to reveal their message or impact behaviour.  

Following on from Gen Z Yellow and Heritage Purple, our third edition charts how Cherry Red – the most symbolically-laden fruits in the cultural lexicon – has been used to capture the changing representations of girl, woman and other.  

As the full spectrum of femininity is playing out in culture, we see motifs of desire, power and hunger channelled through the prism of the delicate, fierce and luscious Cherry Red.  

In Colour Me: Cherry Red we explore:

Semiotic analysis can help brands understand culture and keep ahead of cultural change, and we hope our Colour Me series will help you in choosing more impactful colours.

If you’d like to learn more about how we use semiotics to reach real cultural insights, please get in touch: hello@crowdDNA.com

Crowd DNA and Snapchat show how to think differently about Gen Z, who are prioritising authentic connection above all else…

Gen Z is the most documented generation of all time – and yet, their moods, mindsets and motivations often remain mysterious to brands.

So, what is the ‘new news’ about Gen Z?

The mood is up

While last year’s report found that 8 in 10 Gen Z felt “negatively about the world today,” this year’s study shows Gen Z entering the conversation with positivity, passion, and purpose. ‘Grateful,’ ‘optimistic,’ and ‘motivated’ are the top three emotions they’re feeling in the wake of the COVID years – where everything finally feels like it’s returning to stability, and they’re able to look ahead with confidence.

Authentic connection is Gen Z’s biggest unmet need.

This means real people, real stories, real moments, real connection.

78% of Gen Z say: “So much in the world seems fake – I’m just looking for something real,” while 80% of Gen Z say: “When I am connected to my friends, I feel the most like myself”.

Authentic connection is not a fluffy marketing buzzword – it’s an incredible driver of purchase power, with friends being the most trusted influencers when it comes to personal decisions, shopping, and brands.

Charts from the Crowd DNA x Snapchat study

The best platform to cultivate authentic connection? Snapchat.

Of course, we partnered with Snapchat on this study, so take this with a pinch of salt. But the data was clear: where other social platforms are most closely associated with “killing time,” “sugary dopamine rushes,” or “perfect, polished content,” Snapchat stood out as the app Gen Z use on the go, the app that connects them authentically to their friends, and the app that helps them feel the most like themselves.

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A few other takeaways from the study:

●              They’re prioritising personal success over traditional ideals. Gen Z may have ‘old school’ goals like buying a house (it’s in their top three financial priorities for the next few years), but achieving personal goals – rather than hitting traditional milestones like securing a 9-5 job – is what brings them the greatest joy.

●              They’re scrutinising what they buy – and why. In the cost-of-living crisis, attributes like cool factor, quality, and cultural relevance all matter more than ever. An overwhelming number of Gen Z now say, “I don’t care what brand I’m wearing, as long as the aesthetic is on point.” Affordable luxury is also here to stay, with 55% of Gen Z actively seeking high-quality products at accessible price points, and 61% preferring “good dupes” over premium brands – signalling a pragmatic approach to spending without compromising on quality.

●              They’re sceptical of social media, but still crave connection. They’re chronically online, but chronically disconnected, with 65% saying, “my generation is lonelier than ever.” Algorithms are under fire, with 62% believing they are killing personal style, and the era of oversharing is over. Private one-to-one interactions are now the priority, with 69% saying, “I like expressing myself online but I don’t want to show the whole world – only my close friends.”

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Want more on Gen Z and how to connect with them through social media, retail, beauty, fashion, gaming, entertainment and beyond? Contact Head of Agency & Cultural Strategy (APAC) Stephanie Winkler, stephanie.winkler@crowddna.com

Thursday March 20 at 9.30AM EST/ 1.30PM GMT. RSVP by clicking here.

The Future Of Cultural Strategy – a webinar on how to help brands make real opportunities out of our messy experiences…

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To celebrate the launch of our second book, How We Work As Cultural Strategists, join us for a webinar on the best way to get cultural insights today.

What we do at Crowd is guided by the single, simple belief that all brands and people live – and are influenced by – culture. Culture is everywhere around us – it’s the unwritten rules and rituals that make our world(s) tick. It’s the starting point for how people behave and trickles all the way down to how people see, feel, engage with and advocate for brands.    

But culture is getting messier.  

Society is getting messier by the day. People are getting messier by the minute. And the consumer experience is messier by the second.  

At Crowd DNA we have adapted our tools to unpick these messy experiences. 

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Join our Global Managing Director, El Pigram and Joey Zeelen, Managing Director EMEA to find out how to act on cultural change. 

RSVP by clicking by clicking here 

Welcome to the second drop of our Trends Report 2025. This time our global team of futurists and strategists share five shifts shaping culture this year (and beyond)…

Last month we looked at five trends developed and refined by a global team of futurists and strategists across our five offices. As with all our client projects, nothing at Crowd is off the shelf – we believe the future is best co-created. These are starting blocks to inspire you and get you thinking. 

Now here’s the next five, to leave you – like us – with even more enthusiasm for 2025 (and beyond), to act on culture and help shape the future you want to see.

Download our second trend report here.

Come to Crowd in 2025 for strategy rooted in cultural foresight, contact us at hello@crowdDNA.com 

Download our 27-page trend report here.

Our global team of futurists and strategists know what trends to pay attention to. Here they look at what trends will take their place in 2025 and beyond… 

The future can feel conceptual and abstract, but we’re experts in delivering tangible strategy and helping clients feel confident in using it for decision making.  

Download our new trend report here.  

Pause, Fast Forward, Rebound? has been developed and refined by a global team of futurists and strategists across our five offices. Our smart and adaptive cultural strategists are dedicated to future forecasting, and to providing solid strategic recommendation based on that forecasting.  

We blend methods (such as semiotics and working with social/unstructured data), to identify, articulate and draw meaning from trends, working with the world’s biggest brands to unpack the potential impact of emergent culture on products, comms, services, consumers and much, much more… 

Come to Crowd in 2025 for strategy rooted in cultural foresight, contact us at hello@crowdDNA.com 

 

Our editorial insight series, Club Free, meets people who don’t fit neatly into segmentation tick-boxes. Here Global Managing Director El Pigram gives some tactics for brands to meet them outside of these…  

Club Free Issue One, download it here. 

At Crowd, we believe that change presents opportunity.   

Our latest editorial insights series, Club Free, is about groups seeking a new way of thinking about their individual liberty. It’s not freedom that’s unchecked or selfish: we talked to people who are providing each other with the support, empathy and community to exercise their freedom effectively.   

In chapter two: The Financial Outsiders, we heard from a community-minded group living and giving outside of elitist money systems. 

Subverting Status.  
As chasing down those traditional milestones of (ultra) wealth become less ‘shiny’, how do we think about new articulations of (and ways to cater to) age old social identity needs like ’status’, ‘reward’ and ‘discernment’? It’s not that this audience aren’t seeking all the good stuff that once came with splashing cash – self-gratification, community validation, recognition – but instead they’re more choiceful in how they fulfil these desires, with the act of giving (rather than receiving) hitting that sweet spot. 

Values over value. 
You can’t put a price on happiness. Cliche, and a bit (to use a Gen Z word) ‘cringe’ – but for many this rings true more today than ever before. Rather than play by the rules of a game that’s rigged against them, young people are forging their own way of earning (figurative) wealth – by doubling down and focusing on their values, rather than their earning potential. It’s not that they don’t value work, they just don’t see work as a fair value exchange. Which poses an interesting question to us as marketers, strategists, employers – how do you define, create and communicate real ‘value’ to an audience who interprets it in a fundamentally different way? 

(More) Radical Honesty.
Radical honesty has been a thing for a while. Honest brands that ‘say it how it is’ connect with an iconically millennial sensibility (I’m looking at you, Ryanair, KFC & Pot Noodle ). Emerging audiences are however encouraging us to move a step further, from saying the unsaid – to doing the unexpected; supporting people and communities in ways that genuinely benefit them. What our Financial Outsiders are calling for isn’t about CSR, it’s about putting an end to gatekeeping that upholds the imbalance between the haves & have nots through creating spaces and cultivating (branded) communities that facilitate the greatest kind of wealth distribution – knowledge. 

Learning about The Financial Outsiders is part of our commitment to look at (and be inspired by) groups of people who don’t fit neatly into tick-boxes, well trodden segmentations or traditional pathways.      

We hope you find these stories interesting. And please do feel (yes) free to reach out to the Crowd DNA team to explore how this type of thinking could apply to your brand challenges.   

Club Free Issue One, download it here. 

Can sport provoke positive change? In our recent Future Of Sport survey we looked at how it is playing out with the major forces – from sustainability to fandom – and where sport is changing the rules, for good… 

Sport is at its best when it is inspiring us, and we found plenty to be inspired by in our Future Of Sport Survey. We wanted to find out how sports has the power to challenge attitudes around the major forces of Inclusion, Equity & Diversity, Sustainability, Performance & Success, Game Play and Fandom. We used these cultural shifts as a roadmap to what sports might look like for tomorrow’s players and fans.  

For the full survey on The Future Of Sport, contact hello@crowdDNA.com 

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In this survey, we got to interesting provocations around:  

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For the full survey on The Future Of Sport, contact hello@crowdDNA.com 

Our editorial insight series, Club Free, meets people who don’t fit neatly into segmentation tick-boxes. Here Global Managing Director El Pigram gives some tactics for brands to meet them outside of these… 

Club Free Issue One, download it here.

At Crowd, we believe that change presents opportunity.  

Our latest editorial insights series, Club Free, is about groups seeking a new way of thinking about their individual liberty. It’s not freedom that’s unchecked or selfish: we talked to people who are providing each other with the support, empathy and community to exercise their freedom effectively.  

In chapter one: The Poly-Normals, we heard from married couples, young daters, content creators and community spokespeople in the US and UK who by choosing to engage in multiple romantic relationships make room for more creativity, more sharing and more openness. 

1. Purposeful Pleasure.  

At the core of polyamory is a celebration of meaningful release; the idea that ‘letting go’ (of stereotype or expectation) doesn’t need to be a reckless act that compromises our values or the things we hold important.  

How can we create moments or new messages that lean into conscious, deliberate joy without the underbelly of guilt, shame or judgement that often comes hand in hand with prioritising our own enjoyment. 

2. Breaking the stalemate. 

Increased understanding of intersectionality, greater social recognition of non-binary identities and a growing community of people reimagining sex and relationships. These movements don’t exist in isolation – and all point to a need for less dualistic thinking. Culture is messy, people are messy and adopting a ‘this or that’ view on how people go about life is increasingly inaccurate (and unproductive).  

How can we reframe how we understand our audience, and how we craft our strategies to connect with people in ways that are less monolithic? 

3. Unzipping our assumptions 

Of course, not all relationships down the track will look like this. But it does suggest that there’s a growing schism between old and new ways of thinking. How can we help to challenge how we think about (and cater to) family and community? 

Learning about The Poly-Normals is part of our commitment to look at (and be inspired by) groups of people who don’t fit neatly into tick-boxes, well trodden segmentations or traditional pathways.     

We hope you find these stories interesting. And please do feel (yes) free to reach out to the Crowd DNA team to explore how this type of thinking could apply to your brand challenges.  

Club Free Issue One, download it here.