Getting Sentimental Trend: Boost Your Brand’s Emotional Appeal

There is no quicker way to reach your audience’s heart than through captivating stories that make them laugh, cry, empathize, and, what’s more, remember your brand, its messages, and products. In 2025, storytelling is all about authenticity and sincerity, embodied in our Getting Sentimental trend.

Check out this and other hot topics in our annual creative trends forecast. Browse now to find exclusive insights, tips, and collections of handpicked content ready to spice up your next project!

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Hypersentimental aesthetics as the core of compelling stories

Our current creative trend takes its inspiration from hypersentimentalism, which celebrates the sincere expression of emotions and feelings. It’s manifested through romantic imagery, ambient atmosphere, and themes that aim to evoke sentimental memories.

Narratives featuring people with their unique experiences and rich emotional worlds appeal on a deep level. No wonder brands are increasingly embracing this approach in their marketing communications. They harness feelings such as nostalgia, love, or even sadness to create memorable and emotionally impactful campaigns that drive both engagement and loyalty.

Hypersentimentalism praises real, unpolished everyday moments. It resonates significantly with an audience since they can associate themselves with a campaign’s main characters, their challenges, and wins.

“Brands that lean into hypersentimentalism, with its focus on micro-communities and real connections, have found the sweet spot. It’s not about perfection—it’s about relatability. Customers feel like they’re part of a story rather than just another number in a data set”.

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How to enhance engagement through emotions

Emotions are a versatile language that everyone can understand and relate to. Whatever style and topic you choose for your communication, sincerity should be the cornerstone of it.

To get the most out of integrating the Getting Sentimental trend, opt for:

Storytelling techniques. Share narratives focusing on deeply emotional and relatable topics, such as family, belonging, or memories.
Authentic visuals. Use images of sincere moments and special experiences in warm tones and natural settings.
Close-ups prevail. Show emotions in close-up shots of faces to maximize impact.
Sweet nostalgia. Recreate scenes from previous decades to bring your audience back to the ”good old days.”
Ambient music. Complement your campaigns with memorable music to enhance the sentimental atmosphere.

Discover how to find impactful visual content in our article “Evoking Emotions: 7 Tips for Choosing Visuals That Resonate.”

When to use sentimental narratives in marketing

Emotional marketing is a time-tested strategy that most brands use when striving to connect with their audiences. However, there are cases in which sentimental stories are particularly beneficial.

1. Special occasions

Emotionally charged campaigns are made for the holidays when people most appreciate personal stories. Think of your favorite Christmas ads that make you laugh and cry. They appeal directly to viewers’ emotions and memories. The same is true for life-changing events such as weddings and becoming a parent.

2. Certain product categories

Hypersentimentalism works great for promoting family-oriented products and anything related to experiences, such as travel, gifts, or food. Emotional stories are also common in the campaigns of sports brands like Nike or Adidas, created to motivate and inspire self-confidence.

3. Specific audiences

By understanding your audience, you can create powerful targeted campaigns based on a sense of nostalgia. Think of Coca-Cola’s vintage design revival or Netflix’s Stranger Things promo. Sentimental longing for the past may not only attract older audiences, but also spark interest among younger generations.

4. Purpose-driven campaigns

There is hardly a better way to draw attention to major issues and generate empathy than through a personal story. An excellent example of such campaigns is Patagonia, which shows real people’s love for nature and emotional appeals to sustainability.

Embrace the Getting Sentimental trend

Consumer-loved brands don’t just sell good products—they inspire, support, and show their human side through sincere stories. Don’t be afraid to take your communication to a more personal level. It’s a proven route to build trust, create a community around a brand, and encourage word-of-mouth sharing.

If you don’t know where to start, refer to your customers’ real-life experiences. Develop narratives based on their needs and challenges. Rely on relatable scenarios and authentic images that evoke emotions. Also, encourage your clients to share user-generated content, as no one can tell their story better.

Check out all the key trends of 2025 with insights from experts and thematic collections for creating high-impact projects!

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