Need to Know
06 : 08 : 18

London – The creative studio has designed an eclectic identity for TwentyTwo, a new workspace concept that will open in 2019.

TwentyTwo will be located in the heart of the City of London, an area scattered with offices and co-working spaces like WeWork. The new branding, which uses primary colours and graphic shapes to evoke the energy and fun of a healthy work/life balance, will show a new side to the heavily corporate area.

When it opens, the ambitious 62-floor building will include a gym, spa, members’ club, communal food hall, co-working spaces and numerous pieces of art. ‘We wanted to make sure there was a strong distinction between Twentytwo and competitor commercial property brands – something that reflected the bravery and ambition of the project,’ says Tom Sharp, founder of The Beautiful Meme.

In our design direction Workplays, we outlined how branding agencies are injecting the previously sober workplace with a new visual language, filled with humour, wit and bold graphics.

UK – The luxury menswear label has launched a Pricing Manifesto that rethinks traditional fashion mark-ups.

Rather than marking an item up by five or seven times, which is an industry standard according to the brand, Private White VC will sell its products at two or three times the cost of manufacturing. Under the new strategy, the price of a Jaguar driving jacket will be £595 ($771, €667) and a shirt will cost up to £125 ($162, €140).

Private White V.C.’s founder James Eden is pushing for more transparency among luxury brands in order to make them more sustainable and less excessive. ‘With full traceability at the top of the consumer’s wish list these days, we feel it is only fitting to encounter such seismic changes with a relevant approach to pricing.’

As awareness of the luxury sector’s excessive nature grows, consumers are looking for more dynamic and transparent price points. Read our Pricing Strategies Market for more on how this is evolving.

Tbilisi – The Adjara Group has opened the Stamba Hotel, a new luxury offering based in a former publishing house.

The hotel has transformed the brutalist printing house into a sumptuous hotel experience, complete with a functioning casino that aims to recreate the glamorous 1920s era of gambling. The main lobby, which extends the full height of the building, is topped off with the glass-bottomed rooftop swimming pool.

The 150-room hotel follows the success of its sister property, Rooms Hotel, also based in Tbilisi. Both hotels represent a new era for Georgian tourism, and highlight the country’s potential as a unique luxury destination. We interviewed Serdar Kutucu on how Design Hotels is investing in Georgia.

In June, the fashion retailer partnered with the popular dating series to dress all contestants over the eight week run the show. Viewers were able to keep up to date with the outfits on the retailer’s microsite, and could buy each piece via its app.

According to the retailer, exposure on Love Island boosted sales by 40% compared with the eight weeks prior. Some items worn by popular contestants saw an instant 500% sales increase. During the full run of the show, 18% of Missguided’s sales came from products associated with Love Island.

As an alternative to traditional product placement, the media partnership proved highly successful and has provided a framework for future advertising strategies.