Delulu, Dopamine & Design
How brands and spaces can stay relevant for Gen Z in a culture of chaos, connection, and creativity
Hi Everyone,
This week’s newsletter features a couple of Gen Z related insights I’m particularly passionate about from The Future 100: 2025, which is packed with trends that resonate deeply with our industry. I encourage everyone to go and read the full report here https://www.vml.com/insight/the-future-100-2025 to explore the broader context and insights, especially the sections on brands and marketing, where themes like "brand fandom" are incredibly relevant to the work we deal daily with at Solomon Group.
Gen Z and the Shifted Reality
Let’s start with one of the more imaginative responses to stress and uncertainty: Gen Z’s habit of mentally escaping into alternative realities.
Over 40 million TikTok posts on "reality shifting" as of Dec 2024.
Involves consciously entering fictional or imagined realities (e.g. Marvel, Harry Potter).
Considered more like manifesting than daydreaming. In fact, "manifest" was Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year.
Pop culture supports this: Ariana Grande credits a 2011 tweet about her Wicked role as an early manifestation.
67% of Gen Z like the idea of escaping into different realities via tech (vs. 58% all ages) and 73% of Gen Z say "the real world feels increasingly surreal."
Designers are responding. Adobe's 2025 trend report calls this "Fantastic Frontiers", using generative AI to bring unreality to life. Even so, this isn’t delusion in the clinical sense. Delulu culture, as Gen Z has coined it, is a coping strategy grounded in optimism amid economic and political stress.
What we can do: Help this audience channel their desire for escape into experiences that give them purpose and emotional lift. Whether that’s immersive environments, interactive storytelling, or even worldbuilding workshops, we can create touchpoints that feel like alternate realities, yet bring a sense of control and hope back into their everyday lives.
Escaping Through Darkness: The Rise of Therapeutic Horror
Here’s another form of escapism, this one rooted in fear, intensity, and release. Horror is making a surprising comeback as a tool for emotional processing.
· More horror films are being produced globally than ever.
Nearly 50% of Gen Z in the US, UK, and China find horror-based entertainment therapeutic (VML, 2023).
Horror provides "recreational fear" and "eustress" (healthy stress), helping audiences process societal fears.
This is evident in storytelling too, from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer to Ed Byrne’s Tragedy Plus Time.
Brands like Nutter Butter have embraced horror storytelling on TikTok to viral success.
While horror traditionally peaks around Halloween, it’s now a year-round engagement opportunity. For Gen Z especially, intensity, catharsis, and meaning are crucial emotional touchpoints.
How it connects: Horror and delulu culture may seem like opposites, but they’re actually doing the same job, giving Gen Z a way to escape from the chaos of reality and process their emotions on their own terms. For brands, it’s a chance to explore more layered emotional storytelling, especially outside of seasonal campaigns.
Geographical Escapism: The Magnetic Pull of Japan
If emotional and narrative escapism is on the rise, so is geographical escapism—and Japan seems to sit at the heart of it.
· Shōgun won 18 Emmys in 2024 and was 70% in Japanese.
Japan’s content exports (anime, games, manga, film) reached $29.5 billion in 2024, nearly equaling semiconductor exports and total tourist spending.
Japan aims to quadruple content exports to $130B by 2033.
Brand examples: McDonald’s WcDonald’s campaign, Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami, and the "Cute" exhibition with Sanrio and Hello Kitty.
Why it matters: Japan offers a full-sensory, stylistic, and cultural escape. From fashion to food to media, it allows young people to step into a world that feels more vibrant and expressive than their own. For us, this means thinking about how our spaces and products can feel like a mini vacation or narrative leap, no passport required.
Technology & Connection: From Digital Overload to Analog Resets
People are growing tired of screen time and craving more grounded, real-world experiences.
The Decline of Dating Apps
Only 22% of singles used dating apps in the past year.
Tinder downloads in the U.S. fell from 13.8M (2014) to 8.8M (2023).
79% of college students don’t use dating apps at all (Axios, 2023).
Alternatives: “Date-me docs,” hobby-based meetups (frisbee, LARPing), and IRL dating clubs like TimeLeft, now in 275 cities.
Brands like Grindr are expanding beyond romance, showcasing friendship and community.
What this means: Gen Z wants human interaction to feel real and organic. There’s an opportunity for those of us in experiences to create spaces that make connection feel easy, low-pressure, and authentic again.
Digital Simplicity & Analog Living
84% agree people are less present because of tech. 88% wish life were simpler.
Activities like needlepoint, ceramics, sketching, and book clubs are trending.
Examples: Offline Club (Netherlands), Reading Rhythms (NYC), and Social Pottery (UK).
Why this matters: This isn’t just nostalgia, it’s essential. People are actively seeking tactile, slow, and intentional ways to reset. Brands that provide quiet, focused, and analog moments are giving audiences something tech can’t.
From Solitary Pursuits to Shared Passion: Hobby Apps Rise
We’re also seeing people move away from big, noisy platforms to smaller ones centered on shared interests.
Hobby apps like AllTrails, Strava, Airbuds, and Letterboxd are growing fast.
These platforms offer low-pressure, purpose-first social connection.
Strava’s new messaging tool is already used for social and romantic connections.
71% say tech gets in the way of connection; 70% say it brings us together.
What we can learn: People want meaningful digital spaces that lead to real-life moments. Whether you're building an app, an event, or a brand community, focus on shared passion over polish.
Shared Reality: Merging Tech, Storytelling & Space
Finally, let’s talk about how immersive tech is blending the physical and digital to create new kinds of shared experiences.
Cosm: 12K domes in LA and Dallas offer immersive sports experiences and more.
Future Stores (London): 400 sqm of micro-LEDs for immersive branded retail.
NHK & Misapplied Sciences: Developing personalized 3D shared experiences with no headgear needed.
43% of Gen Z don’t distinguish between virtual and physical, "it’s all real".
What this unlocks: Tech doesn’t need to isolate, it can unite. These shared experiences show how brands can use immersive design to bring people together, not push them further apart.
So How Does This All Fit Together?
People crave escape and immersion. Technology, when used well, offers new ways to deliver awe, emotion, and meaning.
In-person connection is still king. Gen Z in particular wants real-life depth, not digital posturing.
Community is key. Whether in fandom, horror, or hobbies, people want to share experiences with others who "get it."
That said, a word of caution: algorithms are powerful and addictive. While we're seeing a decline in certain digital behaviors (like dating apps), the broader digital sphere won’t vanish overnight. New platforms will rise, just like Instagram overtook Facebook, and TikTok disrupted Instagram.
As creators of real-world experiences, we should view each other as collaborators, not competitors. If we can draw just 10% of people’s time away from scrolling and back into the world, we can all win, by creating shared, intentional, awe-filled moments that truly matter.
That should be our battle cry.