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A fintech company investing in the future

Circa5000 rebranded by Ragged Edge, UK

UK – Ethical fintech platform Circa5000 is using sci-fi visuals to connect with a new wave of eco-conscious investors. Its new brand identity, designed by creative agency Ragged Edge, considers the impact of investment at a time of escalating climate crisis.

The brand identity explores Circa5000's mission of investing in businesses that promote long-term planetary health and sustainability. In keeping with its ambition to ‘enrich everything under the sun’, the B-Corp connects investors with responsible businesses that place the environment at the core of their operation.

To express these future-facing and ethically minded principles, Ragged Edge tapped into the visual language of science fiction, creating a sleek identity that ties into the company’s name, which imagines the world 2,978 years from now. ‘Investing needs a serious correction and humanity’s at stake. This was not the time for another generic fintech brand,’ explains Max Ottignon, co-founder of Ragged Edge.

By boldly proclaiming ‘Only humanity would need an incentive to save itself’, the company is sounding the alarm about the climate crisis, highlighting fintech’s position in driving the future of sustainability.

Strategic opportunity

To highlight the planetary impact of investing in the environment, designers should help people visualise the coming decades with futuristic marketing that skews towards optimism

Ace & Tate’s sunglasses campaign features no sunglasses

Ace & Tate campaign by Base Design, UK

Europe – The eyewear brand’s latest ads spotlight the reasons that we need sunglasses, rather than their aesthetic value.

Created by Base Design, the Bring on the Sun campaign stands out from its many eyewear competitors by omitting the products completely. Instead, the films feature various people squinting as they are dazzled by the sun, hinting at the excitement of the changing seasons while cleverly reminding viewers of the crucial reasons we need sunglasses.

By moving away from product and fashion-centric marketing, the campaigns are part of Ace & Tate’s mission to move away from the youth market and become an eyewear brand that resonates with everyone.

Not only is the eyewear market in a period of transition – an interest in eye health is allowing it to become a lifestyle category in its own right – but now the sector is using emotional marketing to attract new customers.

Strategic opportunity

Instead of relying solely on aesthetics, use creative marketing campaigns to show the genuine, even age-old problems your products are solving.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club is now an NFT restaurant

California – Los Angeles restaurateur Andy Nguyen is opening an NFT-themed fast-food restaurant, Bored & Hungry, using the IP rights that come with his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ownership.

Nguyen, who owns several other restaurants in California and Las Vegas, is the owner of Bored Ape #6184 and two Mutant Apes, an offshoot of the BAYC project. Over the past year, BAYC has quickly emerged as one of the most successful NFT projects of all time, generating over £764m ($1bn, €909) in sales (source: The Block).

Owners of a BAYC NFT have complete rights to utilise, repurpose and monetise the digital asset's imagery. As a result, Nguyen has created packaging, employee uniforms and interior decorations that feature his NFTs. The restaurant will also accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment and include a Bitcoin ATM machine.

Earlier this year, we explored how the worlds of food and Web3 are converging to create DAO Dining. This fast food illustrates how NFT ownership can be monetised and used to create future businesses.

Bored & Hungry by Andy Ngyuen, US

Strategic opportunity

Companies that are releasing NFTs must consider the IP implications of their digital assets. Will you allow consumers to appropriate the imagery of the NFT for their own commercial purposes, for example?

Stat: The UK nightlife industry is in free fall

Flox, US

A shocking number of nightclubs have closed since the advent of the pandemic, according to new research by trade body UK Hospitality and data specialist CGA. Tackling the uncertain future for Britain’s pubs, bars, restaurants and nightclubs, the Future Shock – Hospitality in 2022 report found that nightclubs were hit hardest by Covid-19, with a staggering 17% of venues closing since March 2020.

A tsunami of rising operating costs – caused by soaring energy prices – are to blame for the decline, and could result in further closures in the coming years. The report found that rising labour, food and drink costs mean venues are expected to pass on an 11% rise in prices to consumers. If predictions are correct, this will set off a chain reaction of dropping footfall and revenue, and could spell crisis for the nightlife sector.

The night-time economy has been at risk for years. Although optimism was high for nightlife in 2017, the pandemic has reversed progress, making innovators in the sector work even harder to maintain custom and preserve important culture.

Strategic opportunity

As rising costs threaten the sector, use creative pricing structures to help keep nightlife afloat. Could subscription services for hospitality venues and nightclubs, for example, ensure regular cash flow?