LSN : News : 06 : 02 : 23

RSVP: Five Trends to Impact the US Market in 2023

Join us on 15 February at 12:30pm ET (5:30pm GMT) for this free webinar event, during which we will give an overview of the key trends to affect the US market in the next year, explore how to apply these trends to your business and hold a live Q&A with our experts.

Hosted by The Future Laboratory’s co-founder Martin Raymond and LS:N Global’s foresight editor Fiona Harkin, this is your chance to discuss the why of work, rather than the where; to party through the cost of living crisis instead of suffering it; to become a live-tainment retailer with bespoke offers on the side; and finally, to learn how neuroscientists, artists, and travel and hospitality brands are rebooting everything from luxury to retail with awe-per-square-foot solutions.

Don’t miss out on our inaugural US market-focused event. RSVP here.

Microsoft rolls out ChatGPT-powered Teams Premium

Microsoft has rolled out a new version of its Teams messaging service powered by ChatGPT. Teams Premium includes an intelligent recap feature that uses the OpenAI-owned chatbot as an AI personal assistant.

It can create full transcripts of meetings with each speaker’s contributions highlighted in a neat timeline of topics and chapters, and personalised timeline markers for when employees join and leave. It takes notes, generates meeting templates, and can come up with task and action item suggestions.

Teams Premium also includes advanced safeguards for businesses which want to deter information leaks and keep meeting discussions private, including watermarking, content-labeling, and recording and copying restrictions. Teams Premium is available at an introductory price of £5.80 ($7, €6.50) per user per month until the end of June and then it will cost £8.30 ($10, €9.25).

This update to Microsoft’s business communication platform follows its recent £8.3bn ($10bn, €9.2bn) investment in Open AI, and shows the promise of Industry 4.0 where consumers will be led to collaborate with AI technologies as part of their working lives.

Microsoft Teams, US

Strategic opportunity

Consumers are prepared for a future when AI will change the way they work, create and communicate.Today they want businesses and brands to offer them intuitive ways to use this new technology.

Stat: Indian men are embracing skincare

Tiny Associates

India – New research from Mintel reveals the men’s skincare opportunity in India, highlighting how more men in the country (30%) are currently looking to add facial skincare products to their routine than women (26%).

Mintel has been monitoring men’s beauty and personal care product segments across Asia-Pacific for the past five years (August 2017 to July 2022). It found that India had the most new men’s beauty product launches in the region during this period (20%), followed by China (15%) and Japan (10%). ‘There is a growing appetite for skincare among Indian men, with 84% agreeing that they care about their appearance just as much as women do,’ explains Tanya Rajani, senior beauty and personal care analyst at Mintel.

The study notes that people residing in India are exposed to high levels of pollution, dust and heat, which is one of the reasons behind a heightened interest in, and demand for, cosmetics to solve problematic skin concerns resulting from these external factors. In terms of product preferences, Indian men seek formulas that are free from harmful chemicals (60%) and made with advanced science and technology (52%) – an opportunity for Accredited Beauty to further serve the growing men’s beauty market.

Strategic opportunity

Siloed and gendered approaches to beauty are a thing of the past. Brands in this sector should carefully consider the expectations and preferences of this traditionally underserved demographic