Signals

UK – On day two of MAD//Fest 2025, Ruth Hooper, chief marketing officer at the Women’s Super League (WSL), set out a vision for reshaping the visual identity of women’s football. While the latter offers a distinct culture and fan base, it has long been presented through the creative lens of the men’s game.

Collaborating with creative agency Anomaly, Hooper introduced a new identity for WSL grounded in biometric design, using the players’ unique movement patterns as the basis for a bold, dynamic visual language. Clara Mulligan, Anomaly’s European head of design, described the approach as a ‘lens of distinction’, with a vibrant colour palette designed to capture the bright future of women’s sport. In Game-Changers: The Future of Sports Fandom report, we spotlight the sports brands adopting new identities that promote inclusivity and accessibility. 

Later, in a panel entitled Don’t Be Defined: Creative Opportunities Between Sports, Fashion & Music, Andy (Fem) Ali and Fasal Kamara, co-founders of streetwear and fitness brand No Soldiers Left Behind (NSLB), discussed creating an authentic brand grounded in community and culture. ‘Our audience is an extension of us,’ said Ali. ‘We ask ourselves, if we weren’t running this brand, would we show up? Would we take part?’

Big brands often try to buy into culture through collaborations with community-led initiatives, but Ali and Kamara stressed the importance of saying no. ‘Timing is important,’ said Kamara: too many collaborations weaken your brand identity and eventually make your audience lose interest. Head to our report on The State of Streetwear to discover more newcomer brands striking the sweet spot of organic matches for hype-boosting brand collaborations.

US – Despite assumptions that mobile gaming dominates among young people, a new US report reveals that Generation Alpha are leading the charge in console game play – signalling a surprising shift in platform preference.

According to The Entertainment Software Association’s Essential Facts report, children under 18 now represent 23% of the US gaming audience – some 46.4m players. Challenging the assumption that they favour smartphones, 69% of Gen Alpha game on consoles, more than Gen Z (65%) and Millennials (60%).

Notably, Gen Alpha also show the highest engagement with VR devices (14%) and the second-highest with mobiles (85%) – painting a picture of a fluid, cross-platform generation of gamers. In terms of genre, their preferences lean towards arcade games (67%), puzzles (66%) and action titles (62%), while Gen Z opt for shooters (58%).

Gaming has also become a shared family ritual, with 82% of US parents playing with their children and over half (52%) doing so weekly. Many see gaming as a more constructive alternative to social media, citing its benefits for problem-solving and creative thinking.

As highlighted in our recent report SXSW London 2025: Gaming and Brand Strategy, the global video games market is projected to exceed £226.4bn ($307bn, €261bn) by 2029, with over 3bn gamers worldwide. This continued rise, alongside the staying power of classic formats like consoles and PCs, reflects a moment of future nostalgia – where gaming’s next frontier evolves in parallel with its roots.