News 12.09.2019

Need to Know

The Design Museum spotlights aviation waste, BECO emphasises the skillsets of its disabled workforce and natural food and beverages have become big business.

Panasonic envisages a balanced relationship with technology

EASE, Balance of Being, Panasonic
SHOT, Balance of Being, Panasonic
WAVE, Balance of Being, Panasonic

Berlin – The electronics brand has introduced six near-future design concepts that combine technology with wellbeing.

Unveiled at IFA 2019, Balance of Being is a collection of conceptual devices from Panasonic that are designed to enhance our lifestyles and encourage a more meaningful relationship with technology. The series includes products such as SHOT, an AI-enabled device that uses camera sensing to understand a user’s health conditions. It then creates bespoke drinks from frozen fruit and vegetables to improve their inner and outer beauty.

EASE is a skincare device that is attached to a bed; during the night, it understands the user’s skin quality and delivers invisible infrared lighting and fine steam to elevate their skin condition as they sleep. Created as a response to high levels of stress in the home and workplace, WAVE is a smart massaging device that maps and evaluates the scalp to determine the duration, method and intensity of the experience.

Technology brands are rethinking their strategies to encourage a more balanced way of living. For more on how consumers are finding both technological and physical ways to slow down, read our macrotrend Conscious Deceleration.

This exhibition tracks waste created by air travel

Get Onboard: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, Priestman Goode, Design Museum Get Onboard: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, Priestman Goode, Design Museum
Get Onboard: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, Priestman Goode, Design Museum Get Onboard: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink, Priestman Goode, Design Museum

London – An exhibition at London’s Design Museum aims to raise awareness of how much waste is generated through air travel.

Presented by London-based design firm PriestmanGoode, Get Onboard: Reduce, Reuse, Rethink considers the environmental impact of aviation – from single-use plastic and amenity kits to earphones and food waste. In order to move towards a more conscious way to travel, the exhibition explores how design thinking and material innovation can be used to address the industry’s issue of waste.

‘We want to raise awareness of how much waste is created when we travel and explore alternatives that address the supply of products and services, but also what each individual can do to lead us to a more sustainable industry,’ says Jo Rowan, associate strategy director at PriestmanGoode. By rethinking personal behaviour patterns, as well as the products and infrastructure that make up air travel today, the exhibition points towards solutions for more conscious tourism.

BECO invites businesses to steal its staff

Steal Our Staff, BECO

UK – To raise awareness of the disability employment gap, the social enterprise is highlighting the employability of its inclusive workforce.

The eco-friendly toiletries brand BECO has partnered with TBWA\London to disrupt outdated attitudes to people with disabilities. The employer, which has an 80% visually impaired, disabled or disadvantaged workforce, is launching the #StealOurStaff initiative with a packaging redesign that features its staff’s CVs.

In an accompanying campaign film, the brand challenges the traditional recruitment ad by highlighting the skills of its employees and inviting them to be headhunted by other businesses. BECO also worked with partners such as Scope to create a microsite that offers advice on the process of hiring disabled people – 1.1m of whom are struggling to find work.

Alongside challenging the disability employment gap, the campaign represents a future in which employers acknowledge the fact that their workforce is on a journey and may seek experiences beyond their current roles. For more on how recruitment is being redefined, read our Brand Culture 2020 report.

Stat: Natural food and beverages are outpacing the total market

Across the US, natural food and beverage products such as enhanced waters, puffed snacks and kombucha are gaining a foothold in conventional retail, and outpacing the total market for food and drink. While the total market in the US grew by 1.7% in 2019, the market for natural food and beverage products increased by 5%, according to SPINS State of the Natural Industry report.

In the year ending May 2019, natural products made up 4.6% of dollar volume, contributing as much as 15.9% of dollar growth for food and beverage in the convenience category. ‘Natural products and consumers are no longer relegated just to natural retailers, but are actively shaping the future of conventional retail,’ says Tony Olson, CEO of SPINS.

To learn more about the diversifying appeal of natural drinks such as kombucha, read our Fermented Drinks Market.

Previous News Articles
Iris van Herpen unveils Sympoiesis at Paris Haute Couture Week

News

Iris van Herpen unveils Sympoiesis at Paris Haute Couture Week

At Paris Haute Couture Week, Iris van Herpen unveiled Sympoiesis, a collection steeped in material innovation.
Couture : Fashion : Bioluminescent Algae
Foresight Friday: Dan Hastings, deputy foresight editor

News

Foresight Friday: Dan Hastings, deputy foresight editor

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about.
Fashion : Luxury : Pop Culture & Media
Stat: Global spending on leisure travel will triple by 2040

News

Stat: Global spending on leisure travel will triple by 2040

A new report by Boston Consulting Group reveals that the global leisure travel market is set to triple in value, growing from £3.51 trillion ($4.25...
Travel : Hospitality : Tourism
Tripadvisor rebranding elevates travellers’ voices

News

Tripadvisor rebranding elevates travellers’ voices

Tripadvisor has unveiled a major rebranding led by creative studio Koto, marking its evolution from a pioneering travel guide into a global booking...
Travel : Hospitality : Design
Atlanta’s first women’s sports bar Jolene Jolene redefines the game

News

Atlanta’s first women’s sports bar Jolene Jolene redefines the game

Jolene Jolene, Atlanta’s first-ever women’s sports bar, is proof that interest in women’s sports is reshaping the traditionally male-dominated spor...
Hospitality : Sports : Leisure
Stat: Gen Z aren’t quitting alcohol after all

News

Stat: Gen Z aren’t quitting alcohol after all

New research challenges the narrative that Gen Z are the sober generation.
Statistic : Generation Z : Alcohol
Pattern Beauty brings authenticity and curl culture to tv with first-ever commercial

News

Pattern Beauty brings authenticity and curl culture to tv with first-ever commercial

Tracee Ellis Ross has launched Pattern Beauty’s first ever tv commercial, a 60-second spot that blends humour, nostalgia and a celebration of textu...
Haircare : Pattern Beauty : Beauty
The Messenger bot quietly transforming women’s safety in Jordan

News

The Messenger bot quietly transforming women’s safety in Jordan

A discreet digital tool is offering life-saving support to vulnerable women in Jordan.
Artifical Intelligence : Technology : Women's Safety
Stat: Study finds TikTok is reshaping luxury discovery

News

Stat: Study finds TikTok is reshaping luxury discovery

A new study in the US, the UK, France and Italy, commissioned by TikTok, reveals a structural shift in how consumers discover luxury, inc...
Statistic : TikTok : Luxury
BMW rebrands motorcycling as digital detox

News

BMW rebrands motorcycling as digital detox

BMW Motorrad and its UAE dealership AGMC have launched Throttle Therapy, a series of 10-second videos positioning motorcycling as a form of digital...
Health & Wellness : Advertising : Digital Detox
You have 1 free News articles remaining. Sign up to LS:N Global to get unlimited access to all articles.
BECOME A MEMBER
SIGN IN