UK – Adidas has given amateur football teams in London an unfair advantage through a playful WhatsApp-based campaign.

Its Rent-A-Pred initiative encouraged teams to use the messaging app to find last-minute players. Those messaging the Rent-A-Pred hotline were then delivered a substitute footballer kitted out in the brand’s Predator20 Mutator footwear – among them star footballer Kaka, Match of the Day magazine features editor Lee Stobbs, and Sehrish Mumtaz, brand manager at English Football League.

Building on the brand’s statement that the Predator boots offer teams a ‘100% unfair advantage,' Adidas employed a hype strategy to promote the product and spark novelty interactions with its target audience. By using WhatsApp, the brand positioned itself in line with both the medium and the approach that amateur teams take when setting up their matches.

In this way, Adidas cut through the noise of impersonal marketing, tapping into SMS services as a way to shake up its customer and audience outreach. For future direction in brand service, look out for our new retail macrotrend, to be published in April.

US – The fashion brand is lending clothing to women running for public office in a bid to address the gender imbalance in US government.

In MM.LaFleur's #ReadytoRun initiative the brand loans clothes free of charge to women running for office at federal, state or local level. Those who wish to take up its offer simply fill in an online survey, with successful candidates lent garments to wear on their campaign trail. ‘We never purport that clothes help move the needle on female representation, but we want to do our part to make things a tiny bit easier,’ explains Sarah LaFleur, the brand's CEO.

The campaign was born following the 2016 presidential election, in which the brand asked its community how it can better support women. Within 48 hours, the brand had received more than 1,100 replies from across the political spectrum – and made it a mission to tackle the low percentage (27%) of women holding positions in the US office.

In this way, MM.LaFleur is embracing Female Futures, stepping in to provide support for women, while helping to rewrite gender and career roles.

The majority of UK travellers would like an AI-enhanced hotel experience, according to a survey by global hotel chain Yotel.

Some 74% of respondents said they would like a personalised virtual concierge during their stay. A further 72% said they would like an in-room virtual mirror to help them try on virtual outfits – hinting at the future opportunity for retail and hospitality brands to align.

Respondents to the survey said they also prioritise comfort and personal space at hotels; 73% said they felt the bed was the most important element in a hotel rooms, while 53% said the bathroom was a priority. Hubert Viriot, CEO of Yotel, said: ‘Success in the future will depend on efficient design and non-invasive technology that augments the guest experience.’

In future, hyper-personalisation will be endemic in hospitality, with guests offered a level of comfort and sense of ownership of space as they move between destinations based solely on their needs and preferences. For more, read Liberation Luxury where we explore the future of subconscious concierge.