ON ROAD

ICYMI Just before we signed off for the holidays, we shared our cultural review of 2024, keeping a weathered eye on the year ahead. If 2024 was the year of 'brain rot,' all signs tell us that in 2025, we will double down or go in the opposite direction, looking for alternative ways to live and survive in an increasingly polarising world. We explored the worlds of fashion, sport, tech, internet, dating, music & more calling on our network to provide their predictions and insights for 2025. So what will 2025 bring? Probably more of the same, crazier moments that we could never imagine happening. Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/damn_2025

2024 was a year of unforgettable change for us here at ON ROAD. We moved into a brand new studio, our team grew, we launched Serious Play, we expanded our network of boundary-pushing young people, and most importantly, we created memories. We also travelled the world, meeting young people who reinvented culture, sport, fashion, music, and more and reshaping the world through their image. As culture moves at an unsurmountable speed, our ever-expansive global network helps keep us on our toes, ensuring we’re nimble enough to move with agility. We’ve already hit the ground running in 2025, taking things to the next level by working with exciting brands and projects. If you’re interested in hearing more about what we do, please get in touch w/ info@onro.ad Credits: Edited by Joshua Brown Music by Catching Cairo, Kelvin 373 & Selecta J-Man - Lose No Sleep (Masterpeace)

Looking for fixers based in Berlin for a very quick fire project working with tastemakers and runners. If this sounds like something you can get involved with ASAP let us know!! 🏃🏽♀️ 🇩🇪

As people sign off for the year and turn their out-of-offices on, we wanted to share our forecast for the year ahead. Our Head of Culture Jesse B. writes: “Although Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN came out in 2018, the album’s title is a perfect encapsulation of the mood in 2024 and the theme for ON ROAD’s inaugural trend review where we look at how culture may evolve in 2025 and how we’ll engage with it. 2024 was the climatic final instalment of a shit show that’s been building for nearly a decade since Brexit and Donald Trump, clear moments when the political landscape shifted entirely. The ongoing genocide in Palestine has changed the way we understand social activism at a time when we’re seeing the erasure of a group of people online in real-time. Everyone will have ideas of the biggest cultural moments in 2024, but what’s been happening in Palestine is the most galvanising and rousing global event. ‘Community’ was the buzzword of the post-pandemic world and it got run into the ground so much that brands began to equate having people in an invite-only, free drinks event as their idea of the concept. There’ll be a concerted effort to do things DIY and in more local settings, taking things back to the streets and our neighbourhoods. Time Out’s Londoner of the Year DJ AG showed us how to build community in culture without excluding people. We’ll see more of this at a time when austerity doesn’t seem to have an ending. So what will 2025 bring? Probably more of the same, crazier moments that we could never imagine happening. Maybe, Elon Musk finds a personality outside of being the guy who has spent much of 2024 influencing the US Election by cosying up to President-Elect Donald Trump. We can only hope but right now, that is all we have.” Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/damn_2025

In our latest guest piece, Emilie Wolfman dives deep into how Gen Z are changing their relationships with alcohol and eating out in a post-COVID-19 world. Emilie writes: “When understanding Gen Z's food and drink habits, one theme is clear: Gen Z are experience seekers. Experience is at the heart of it all. This can mean a multitude of different things. It can mean reducing or quitting alcohol to be more present at social occasions or investing in your mental and physical well-being. It can mean choosing brands that align with your values and principles. It can mean indulging in cuisines that tell a unique cultural story.” Download the full piece to read more: https://we.tl/t-f3gXrS0yC5

Our latest newsletter explores the vital lifeline pubs, barbershops, caffs and cornershops provide local communities and how they’ve been emerging more and more in brand campaigns. Our Head of Culture Jesse B. writes: “Last week, veteran grime MC Chip released his latest posse cut featuring the old guard of the scene including JME, Novelist, Skepta, Flirt D, D Double E, Bruza, Jendor, Jamakabi and Frisco. It inspired deeper thinking about what corner shops, pubs, caffs and barbershops represent as third spaces within local, predominantly working-class communities. There’s something particularly comforting about the corner shop or ‘bossman’ shop. With fewer barbershops, greasy spoon caffs and traditional pubs, many local communities lose those spaces where they can stay grounded and connected. People of all ages often hang outside corner shops for various reasons but mostly because it’s a readily accessible source of leisure. Barbershops have long been spaces where men not only get haircuts but meet up and talk all day, often with no purpose. It’s these spaces that can sometimes feel like a living room away from a living room. The answer won’t always be for a brand to do a corner shop takeover or a shoot in a Victorian pub (done a countless amount of times now) but they do remind us of the value and importance of these spaces in people’s lives. At the very least, it’s something that should be celebrated more in engaging and inclusive ways. Representation alone isn’t enough in brand campaigns, if they’re going to take over vital community spots, doing so with intention and working with local groups, collectives and businesses ensures that there’s more equity. We all know the high street has been dying for some time now, a symptom of rising commercial costs, online shopping and consumer behaviour. Brands across different sectors have attempted many ways to revitalise the in-store consumer experience but these spaces on local high streets aren’t what bring people together. The Wray and Nephew’s wrapped Cornershop on Atlantic Road in Brixton was an authentic way of honouring the brand’s cultural legacy and heritage without changing what the space itself is intended to be. That isn’t always enough though, beyond the brand’s logo being plastered on the corner shop wrapping, how can this benefit local residents in a meaningful way? Sometimes these moments land, but more often than not they don’t because there’s an underlying poverty porn tone. Working-class aesthetics used in brand campaigns while doing little to address the sociopolitical issues that affect those communities look great on Instagram but don’t do much to affect real change.” Sign up to our newsletter to read more: https://bit.ly/4hbJlW9

In this week’s newsletter, ON ROAD discusses the concept of Main Character Syndrome and how the online retail world is trying too hard to segment Gen Z audiences at a time when there’s too much differentiating them: “It’s difficult to believe that Gen Z collectively has main character syndrome, this belief is a product of therapy-speak being imported into social media spaces without much context or understanding of the meaning. This past year, we’ve seen young people have to reckon with two of the most divisive elections in the UK and the US, witness a genocide in real-time and struggle to find work in a rising cost of living crisis. Gen Z are very much aware and in tune with what’s happening around the world, if anything, they could be accused of caring too much and living inside online echo chambers. This suggests that Gen Z are simply responding to the world they live in and any control they can take of their lives looks like self-importance to everyone else. We can generalise certain Gen Z habits based on collective spending habits and economic opportunities compared to previous generations, but it becomes much more difficult to segment individual behaviours. How Gen Z in Latin America approaches life will contrast with how the same group approaches life in Western Europe or Southeast Asia. Brands often try to paint Gen Z with a broad stroke as it’s far easier to do so than understand what makes them individually so unique. Brands can’t understand every consumer’s wants and needs but assuming that everyone cares about Brat Summer, or is even aware, will take you on a road to nowhere.” Sign up to our newsletter to read more: https://bit.ly/4hbJlW9

This week’s newsletter takes on one of the most divisive topics of a generation: modern dating culture. Everyone has their takes on everything from £200 dates to whether it’s okay to go 24 hours without talking. Dating apps have dictated and influenced modern dating culture just as much as pop culture has reflected that. Many also cite the lack of vulnerability and romantic expression in R&B and wider pop music but these are just reflections of the world we live in. “It’s clear there’s a problem on both sides of the aisle; women believe that men are trash while the Manosphere is currently indoctrinating young male minds. While the former is understandable given the patriarchal world we live in, there is an obvious disconnect between genders when examining heteronormative relationships. Earlier this year, a moving graphic detailing how US couples meet and stay together began circulating the internet, detailing how online dating has become the primary way for people to meet romantically. But is this way of meeting people sustainable in the future? Despite dating apps ultimately having the goal of getting people to meet, it’s generally not good business to build an app that’s designed to be deleted. Will we reach a point where dating apps become less relevant as people seek more IRL interaction? While many people have issues with the current climate, the real problem lies in the lack of vulnerability and intimacy. At the very least, the brands in the romance and dating space can help foster the vulnerability and intimacy which so many crave. This shouldn’t be limited to dating brands alone but all brands connected to culture in some way should play a larger role in helping people better connect. This doesn’t just have to be branded events with free drinks tokens but something more meaningful that gets strangers in a room talking to each other.” Sign up to our newsletter to read more: https://bit.ly/4hbJlW9

"I'll just watch the highlights on TikTok" These were the words that came out of our 15 year old work placement's mouth a few weeks ago, as he told us how he'll watch Chelsea's (by which he means Cole Palmer's) latest highlights. Whilst Gen Z / Gen Alpha opting to support players over teams is not new to us at ON ROAD, choosing to watch game highlights on TikTok above all the other available mediums felt a behaviour worth looking into. So we did. And the findings should set off alarm bells for those who have been in control of how we watch football the last 2 decades, as it seems like its a paradigm behaviour shift that's here to stay. Jamie Oyebode talks about what this means for the industry, along with who the winners and losers could be in our latest thought piece. Take a read here: https://we.tl/t-coChepr0Ue

It’s always a good sign that creative has landed well when every other LinkedIn post is biggin' it up. With warm dessert season truly here, Oatly’s launch of their new dairy-free custard with Giggs positively surprised everyone this week. Today, Oatly and Giggs hosted a pop-up at a bakery in south London bringing an array of unlikely worlds together; UK rap heads, custard fiends and unsuspecting folk just looking to get a loaf of bread. Sometimes, those random pairings between brand and celebrity hit the mark because they’re fun and show a side we rarely see from Giggs, particularly when food brands rush to release their unique Christmas ad. More importantly, Oatly pairs with an artist who has been a household name in Black British music and wider British culture. It’s not the first time the elder statesmen of grime and UK rap have been featured in ads by leading household brands. D Double E featured in an IKEA ad, also providing the soundtrack, and it turned out to be a hit because it presented the MC in a fun and exciting way. No doubt, this activation and campaign will become a blueprint for other brands to try and mimic in the future, just as they’ve done with Nothing Beats a Londoner. This tells us that Black Britishness is cool and the culture around this remains highly influential.