LSN : News : Need to know 16 : 10 : 17

1. Nissan enables car owners to sell energy back to the grid

Nissan and OVO, UK

UK – Nissan has partnered with energy company OVO to enable electric car owners to sell surplus energy back to the grid. Owners of the brand’s Nissan Leaf model will be able to sign up to the scheme, which involves installing a charger capable of managing battery energy in their car, from 2018.

During off-peak hours, when demand for electricity is low, the charger fills up the car’s battery, enabling owners to sell surplus energy or use it to power a home when demand is high. LS:N Global first reported on this concept in 2016, which highlights how consumers can profit from the growth of the sharing economy. Watch our interview with Gareth Dunsmore, electric vehicle divisional general manager at Nissan Europe, for more.

2. Vital Farms calls out misleading ‘cage-free’ label

Bullsh*t Free Eggs by Vital Farms

Austin – Pasture-raised egg and butter company Vital Farms has launched Bullsh*t Free Eggs, an ad campaign featuring Vital Farms farmer Stuart Dill and chef Bryan Caswell, who explain the difference between pasture-raised and cage-free chickens.

Contrary to popular belief, ‘cage-free’ does not mean free range. Cage-free birds are raised in giant, enclosed warehouse barns, and have around one square foot of space in which to roam, something 92% of consumers are unaware of, according to the brand. In comparison, each Vital Farms chicken is allowed to roam outside across 108 square feet of pasture.

Brands are tapping into Anti-Authenticity Marketing to create narratives that forgo buzzwords in favour of more honest communications.

3. Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com launches luxury platform

China – JD.com has launched Toplife, a new luxury platform that enables participating brands to personalise their online retail offer to match the aesthetic and service presented in their bricks-and-mortar stores. Brands that sign up to the platform gain access to the mega-system’s extensive logistics network, which includes ‘white-glove’ delivery service JD Luxury Express.

‘Luxury brands understand that the entire retail game in China is online, but they have been late to enter,’ Xia Ding, president of JD.com’s fashion division, told Vogue. ‘They have been waiting for a luxury-branded website that can give the full experience of going into their offline stores.’

China is expected to have the highest number of affluent households in the world by 2021, according to McKinsey, and brands such as JD.com and Alibaba are recognising the need to expand into the luxury market. For more on the future of luxury, purchase our Luxury Futures Report here.

Toplife by JD.com, China

4. Failed States is a zine borne out of a sense of frustration

Failed States by Jamie Atherton, London

London – Created by Jamie Atherton, manager of independent magazine store magCulture, Failed States explores the turbulent global political climate and feelings of distrust, disconnection and disenfranchisement.

The first issue, which focuses on the theme ‘island’, features anecdotes, historical essays, pornography and cartography related to the islands surrounding countries such as Iceland, Japan and the US, and more abstract takes on the theme, such as articles about traffic islands. The zine will be published bi-annually and each issue will focus on a word describing ‘a state of terrain considered to possess qualities of amorphousness, wildness, instability, collapse, liminality, peripherality and/or delineation’.

5. Brands failing to engage young Middle Eastern affluents

A study by YouGov shows that brands are failing to identify the needs and desires of young, wealthy consumers in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a need for companies to connect with thought-leaders such as Jameela Elfaki and Sunayah Arsha, who co-founded Azeema magazine to tackle the misrepresentation of women from the region in the fashion and advertising industries, to ensure they are successful in these markets. Read the full interview here.

6. Thought-starter: Are sports fans the next luxury consumer?

Long overlooked by the luxury market, premium brands are slowly recognising that there is a significant minority of wealthy mainstream sports fans, explains senior journalist Peter Maxwell.

Recent changes in stadium design across popular sports such as football and American football hint at the evolving fan make-up at popular sporting events.

In the Premier League, Manchester City's current and Tottenham Hotspur’s forthcoming stadiums feature special clubs that give patrons unrivalled access to players, with membership for the Manchester City club costing up to £15,000 ($19,860, €16,740) a season. In the US, National Football League (NFL) teams and players are working with brands such as Aston Martin, which is set to open a branded hospitality suite in the Miami Dolphins stadium in 2021, while new travel start-ups are addressing the pain points of time-poor, sports-mad luxurians.

Despite this increased effort by sports clubs to appeal to more affluent clientele, few established luxury marques have secured major sponsorship deals. As such, the market remains relatively untapped.

Read the full Luxury Sports Fan market here.