LSN : News : Need to know 03 : 08 : 17

1. The Perfect V creates a beauty regime for vaginas

The Perfect V, Copenhagen

Copenhagen – While women often spend profusely on skincare for their face and body, the vagina is often overlooked despite being equally sensitive. The Perfect V range includes a gentle exfoliator, wash, hydrating cream, beauty sheets for on-the-go freshness and a beauty mist to provide the same care down below as is lavished on the rest of the body.

‘The delicate skin on our face and décolleté receives our attention day and night after far less strenuous treatment, but when it comes to our V – forget it,’ reads a statement on the website.

The luxury skincare range is dermatologist- and gynaecologist-tested, spotlighting natural ingredients such as vitamin C, Omega 3- and Omega 6-rich Arctic cloudberry, as well as anti-ageing bilberries and anti-inflammatory lingonberries. For more, see our microtrend The Vagina Reconsidered.

2. Wattpad creates Tap Originals novels as multimedia content

Canada – The serialised chat stories come with integrated multimedia content such as videos, voice notes and images to create an engaging, interactive platform. Launched by Wattpad, which already publishes stories in the form of text message conversations, the new Tap Originals series was commissioned from the platform’s most prestigious writers and one chapter will be released per week.

Each series is available in more than 10 languages and they are all free to download, with the app earning a profit through subscribers paying to experience the whole story uninterrupted. By mimicking the format of social messaging app WhatsApp, publishers are able to deliver content in a familiar way and better engage the next generation of readers. For more, see our Gen Viz macrotrend.

Tap Originals by Wattpad

3. Babies R Us campaign highlights realities of parenting

Be Prepared-ish by Babies R Us

US – The subsidiary of Toys R Us has launched a new campaign that subverts the squeaky clean image of parenting depicted in traditional baby brand ads. Be Prepared-ish acknowledges that parenting can be a messy, stressful affair, and champions parents’ commitment to the daily minutiae of caring for a baby.

The campaign is part of the brand’s plan to become a support network for Millennial parents rather than simply a go-to for essential baby products, helping them to ‘survive, thrive and be as prepared as they can be during the first few years of their baby’s life’.

Parenting is an increasingly dynamic, collaborative venture as parents turn to the internet and social media platforms to share and source information on child-rearing. To find out more, read our Parenting Market.

4. Robot assistants unveiled at Seoul airport

Troika at Incheon International Airport, Seoul

South Korea – Created by LG Electronics, the Troika robot has been introduced at Incheon International Airport to help passengers to their boarding gates. The bot informs travellers how long it will take to get to their gate and can also escort them there.

The child-sized device, which responds to its name, can speak Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, and recognises if passengers are not following closely enough as it leads them to their destination.

While this is not the first robot to be installed at an airport, it is a sophisticated wayfinding device and could be used in other environments such as large retail spaces. For more on the future of service, download our free report here.

5. Study suggests women prefer masculine fragrances

While 96% of the 453 women’s perfumes listed on the Fragrances of the World website are described as floral, a new study of more than 66,000 women suggests that women are increasingly choosing fragrances featuring so-called masculine notes such as wood or spice over their more floral counterparts. Some 55% of study participants said they considered these notes their signature scent.

For many consumers, gender is an increasingly fluid concept, and brands in the beauty industry are developing new lines to cater for this mindset. For more, see our Neutral Beauty microtrend.

6. Thought-starter: Tracking emotions to improve content

As emotion-tracking becomes more accessible, LS:N Global journalist Josh Walker examines how brands are using it to improve their content.

Disney Research recently revealed that it is using artificial intelligence (AI) to assess how much its audiences are enjoying its films, minute by minute.

CBInsights also recently reported that Facebook’s newest patent would monitor users’ typing speed to predict their emotional state and push content accordingly.

With brands more eager than ever to see how their content is making people feel, they’ll need to be wary of how emotion-tracking innovations will make their way into the mainstream without eroding consumer trust.

For more on how brands are investing in consumers’ emotional lives, read the opinion piece here.