Lucozade revives football iconography with elite fuelling pouch
UK – Lucozade and England’s Football Association have unveiled Lucozade Elite, a high-carbohydrate electrolyte pouch developed exclusively for the England team.
Created by Lucozade’s R&D team and Football Association performance nutritionists, the 350ml liquid fuel pouch is designed to support the players during longer matches, congested fixture schedules and hotter playing conditions, when opportunities to consume carbohydrates can be limited.
For brands, the launch highlights how sports nutrition is becoming more personalised, performance-led and format-driven. It also demonstrates the value of heritage design cues in driving innovation: the new pouch takes inspiration from the squeezable Lucozade Sport packs seen on football touchlines in the 1990s.
Read our Liquid Intentions report to discover how new formats, flavours and functions are driving change in the evolving drinks market.
Strategic opportunity
As consumers increasingly adopt athlete mindsets, create products and services that translate professional performance protocols into accessible everyday rituals for work, wellness and play
Foresight Friday: Seyi Oduwole, strategic foresight analyst
Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week strategic foresight analyst Seyi Oduwole discusses global sports events and the fandoms surrounding them.
: Let the summer of sport commence! Now, it would be wrong to call me a football aficionado, however, when the Euros or the World Cup come around, there is nothing I love more than popping on a bit of footie. I love the energy, the camaraderie (at a time when we are more divided than ever) and the lore: the manager’s record sheet, the fashion and the feuds. Although I was only seven at the time, and in no way aware of the goings on, I know all about 2006 Baden Baden WAGmania. No clue who won that year though!
: This year is extra special as my home country, Scotland, is in the running for the first time in 28 years. Oh, how I love the memes about the Tartan Army. With a bank holiday planned for after our first match, this is serious business. I’ll need to find a proper pub for the 2am kick off against Haiti.
: But it’s not just the World Cup. Across the pond, the New York Knicks potentially winning the NBA Championship (their first in 53 years) has spawned an entire economy.
With merchandise so good Vogue has written about it and celebrity sponsored block parties, this sense of neo-collectivism and patriotism is heartwarming. Our Game-Changers:The Future of Sports Fandom report highlights all the opportunities for brands to make a slam dunk.
: And finally, my other love: tennis. With what was an unbearable French Open, both in temperature and tournament outcomes (the top 10 seeds were dropping like flies!) let’s hope Wimbledon makes for more enjoyable viewing. Pimm’s, anyone?
Quote of the week
'My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish, my Christian Dior, knicks in four!'
New York Knicks chant (source: Yahoo)
Stat: UK adults experience decline in access to nature
UK – A survey for The Wildlife Trusts of 2,000 UK adults reveals a widening gap between childhood and adult experiences of nature. While almost 90% recall joyful outdoor memories, from climbing trees to playing in mud, nearly half now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as parks, gardens or woods. One in 10 respondents said they spend less than an hour.
The majority (59%) remember passing more than half their free time outdoors as children, highlighting a sharp behavioural shift. Among parents, 80% said they now wished to encourage their own children to have more time in nature.
Our Rebranding Nature report unpacks how the visual identity of the natural world is being rebranded to encourage Gen Z to be outdoors for longer and to support conservation projects.
Strategic opportunity
How can your brand help adults rediscover the joy of the outdoors? Create nostalgia-led campaigns that revive childhood past-times such as fishing, den-building and picnics to transform positive memories into renewed outdoor participation