Although the magic of Christmas is firmly in the rear-view mirror, there is still perhaps a moment to reflect on 2025. The year was brimming with many ‘ah ha’ moments, interesting projects and opportunities to see the world at Sense Worldwide.
Thinking about our work in the studio some of my own highlights were:
During Spring, we moved into a bigger studio in West London – not moving far from the neighbourhood we love around Golborne Road, Portobello Road and Ladbroke Grove. We believe the physical work environment continues to matter when you want to make great work, and being in this new space has truly energised our collaboration.
One downside revealed itself over the winter months, however: the space is in what used to be an old bus station. In other words, it was built more for buses than people. We’ve invested some heaters, but roll on summer.
After the pandemic, we learned to appreciate more than ever the value and the privilege of being able to work across different countries. Our work in 2025 was one our most international in many years, taking us all over Europe, the Middle East and America, with trips to over a dozen cities from Rome and Riyadh. It was also a year where projects called upon us to tap into the global nature of The Sense Network, where we draw insights and perspectives from around the world.
We were founded on the principle of helping companies and leaders see, think and act differently. 2025 saw our consulting work evolve to truly embrace the idea of ‘acting’ differently. We managed to fuse our strategy work with much more ‘making’, advancing our ability to deliver concrete deliverables that go beyond growth and brand insights.
This evolution was driven in part because of the imperative of AI, but also by our ambition to move business metrics and go further into our client problems and opportunities. We built many more prototypes, shaped brand activations and messaging, brought future states to life, and created growth forecasts – it’s an area we’re extremely excited for in 2026.
We are grateful at Sense Worldwide to work across industries and categories. While there are very good reasons to specialise, we enjoy the creative possibilities and perspectives that can only arise from diverse work and the cross-sector pollination and knowledge that brings.
A huge thank you to all the clients we worked with during 2025. Some we have worked with for years, others, this year was the first time. You know who you are.
It is always a buzz to see something you worked on finally launch. That is ultimately what we are in it for. Going from an idea to a successful in-market launch to an ongoing vibrant product is hard. A couple of years ago we were approached by a large drinks company who had developed a new R&D technology asking if we could work out what the products and value propositions could be.
We did just that. And, in 2025, we were proud to see our efforts paying off with the product finally landing on shelves. It’s not every day you get to toast a success with a drink that you helped turn into a reality.
Sense Worldwide’s historic reputation has primarily been in breakthrough innovation. However, we have done a lot of brand strategy over the years and this reached a high water mark in 2025.
We’ve been working with a leading automotive company on renewing a luxury brand through developing and application of new brand pillars. Our organising theme for the brand has become the driver for their design language of the vehicles and we are hoping that the new brand will launch in 2026. Watch this space.
In 2025 we were fortunate to continue to work with clients who still value robust, in-depth research that uses mixed methods deployed over a period of months.
As part of this one project we were able to utilise asynchronous online research capturing video, photos, drawings and diary studies. We conducted online and in person ethnographic interviews, we visited people’s homes and brought participants together in different cities for round table discussions and brainstorming. We conducted interviews with academics and industry experts.
In other words, proper qualitative research. We also began expanding our capabilities in quant, which is a focus for us in 2026.
2025 saw the third annual instalment of a growth bootcamp we run in partnership with a Middle Eastern client. Growing larger every year, it brought together four product teams, stakeholders and industry experts to develop net new revenue opportunities. This has now become the flagship growth initiative for this client and is set for a wider strategic remit in 2026.
It was both exciting and scary to see AI mature. Mature is almost certainly the wrong adjective, as this technology has barely just begun. What I mean is that, for us anyway, AI started to become genuinely useful beyond the hype and novelty. Our experiments through the year led us to begin to integrate AI into how we work in meaningful ways. And importantly, also take a position on where and when it should and should not be used.
AI is touching everything. Research, analysis, ideation, prototyping etc. However, the biggest unlock for me in 2025 was the possibilities that AI video brings e.g. Veo 3 for concepting. The ability we now have to bring to life future states is astonishing.
Even when busy, ringfencing a little time to pursue what interests us is hugely important. Over 2025, we dipped in and out of researching the world of guilty pleasures – a passion projected that culminated in an in-depth, 130 page report.
Guilty pleasures are a central component of several billion dollar industries, such as snacking, gaming, fashion and media. Guilty pleasures are a serious business and we believe fertile ground for businesses in 2026 and beyond. You can download the report here.
We haven’t always been as communicative as we could have been. 2025 marked a moment where we’ve tried to change that: increasing our output of thought leadership and revamping of our monthly newsletter.
The intention is to reflect our mission to help companies, brands and leaders see, think and act differently, something we can offer a unique perspective on thanks to the diversity of our work and expertise. However, we tie everything together around the three major ways we help clients. Growth Strategy, Brand Strategy and Cultural Relevance. Or at least try to.
Finally, as we look ahead to 2026, a huge thank you to all my colleagues at Sense Worldwide for making 2025 such a standout year. From real progress to genuine highlights, this has been a year shaped by collaboration, ambition, and momentum – and I’m excited to build on all of it as we move into what’s next.
Lee Sankey
Managing Director
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New York NY 10036
+1 (212) 518-3444
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