Need to Know
08 : 12 : 17

Los Angeles – Designed by Chris Bangle, former design chief at BMW and produced by REDSPACE, a new Chinese car company formed by the China Hi-Tech Group Corporation, REDS is an electric vehicle that capitalises on the time spent travelling between destinations.

The travelling leisure space, which measures just under 3m long, has been specifically designed to respond to the needs of passengers in China’s mega-cities, where 90% of their time is spent sitting in traffic. The car can seat four adults when in transit and five when stationary, with a rotating driver’s seat so that they can easily participate in conversations when not driving. The space, which will include a drop-down table, can be converted into a fully functioning working environment, while a 17” screen offers entertainment options.

As Uber recently explored in its campaign, mobility brands are beginning to address the fact that Asian cities are plagued by congestion.

New York – The recently launched ScreenShop app allows users to use any screenshot on their phone as a digital store. The app is able to scan screenshots taken from any app or website, recognising and curating similar items online, at a variety of price points.

In order to participate, brands need to sign up to be part of ScreenShop’s database, with Asos, Topshop, Boohoo, Kanye West’s Yeezy, Saks Fifth Avenue and Forever21 already having joined. ‘Screenshop is our way of helping consumers actualise the fashion inspiration on their social media feeds, providing them with an easy way to immediately shop the styles they see and love,’ says co-founder, Molly Hurwitz.

As explored in our Visual-search Commerce Market, visually-led consumers are looking to social media for style inspiration, offering opportunities for brands to create a point-of-sale while they have a captive audience.

New York – The Assemblage is a new members club dedicated to self-care and wellness through the quest for a collective consciousness. As the brand’s site states, it hopes to help facilitate the transition ‘from a society defined by individualism and separation into one of connectedness’.

The twelve-storey building includes co-working spaces, alongside meditation rooms, a rooftop garden and Elixir Bars serving non-alcoholic drinks created to enhance complexion, digestion and mood. Founder Rodrigo Niño hopes to incorporate technology, in the form of artificial intelligence that guides members through daily mantras, as a way of combining the real and digital worlds. ‘[It is a] place of convergence for those who feel we could be defined not only by the known, but by the unknown,’

In line with Self-care Spaces, brands need to consider how best to make spaces that align with the emotional as well as the practical needs of their workers.

A new report by Ipsos elucidates the issues that most concern consumers in 26 countries around the world. Within China 43% of respondents are worried about threats to the environment, while in Saudi Arabia 43% are concerned about unemployment. In a Dislocated World, brands need to help foster a sense of stability in a world that is permeated by distrust, disenfranchisement and disconnection.