LIONS Unveils 2025 Creativity Report: Weak Insights and Cultural Inertia Undermine Bold Marketing

A new global report from LIONS reveals that creative confidence—the belief in bold, original ideas driving business growth—is under threat. According to The State of Creativity 2025, the biggest barriers to creativity today are poor-quality insights and slow responses to cultural change.

Now in its fifth year, the report is based on insights from more than 1,000 marketers and creatives worldwide, collected via surveys and in-depth interviews between November 2024 and January 2025. It highlights the growing tension between the desire for impactful, risk-taking creativity and the operational and strategic challenges holding it back.

Despite the proven value of creative risk—brands that take bold creative steps see up to four times higher profit margins—only 13% of respondents believe their organisations are open to such risk-taking. Nearly a third (29%) identify their brands as highly risk-averse.

Patrick Jeffrey, VP LIONS Advisory, said: “The State of Creativity report is a unique window into the global creative landscape. The findings from this latest research show that largely due to a lack of solid insights and cultural relevance, we are seeing less ‘creative risk-taking’, which involves stepping outside traditional boundaries and surpassing category conventions. Addressing these two key barriers will unlock creative confidence and drive better long-term business results.”

The report identifies two main obstacles:

1. The Insight Famine
Fifty-one percent of brands admit their insights are too weak to support bold creative strategies, with only 13% confident in their current capabilities. Barriers include a poor grasp of what constitutes strong insight, low prioritisation of insight development, and limited time for deep research. Stronger brand-agency relationships and the strategic use of AI and synthetic data are identified as ways to improve efficiency and reduce bias in insight generation.

2. The Culture Lag
Fifty-seven percent of brands struggle to respond swiftly to cultural shifts, while just 12% believe they are highly capable in this area. Overly complex approval processes, inadequate resources, and difficulty linking brand insights to cultural trends all contribute to this sluggishness. The report urges brands to build agile structures, develop relevant creative responses, and proactively influence culture rather than chase it.

The research also finds a growing focus on short-term campaigns, up from 53% in 2023 to 63% in 2025—raising concerns about the long-term impact on brand building and creative flexibility.

Patrick Jeffrey concluded: “To boost creative confidence, we advise to invest in additional training to enhance teams’ skills and capability. As teams upskill and confidence grows, so will the appetite for bigger, bolder work.”

The State of Creativity 2025, produced by LIONS Advisory, offers data-driven analysis and commentary from global marketing and creative leaders. The full report is available here.