Need to Know
16 : 08 : 18

London – Pop-up marketplace, Appear Here is expanding its offering with a service dedicated to short-term retail.

The company, which initially offered easy access to renting temporary real estate, has recently launched Additions, a new service which makes it easier for retailers and brands to open pop-up stores. As a result of a collaboration with architecture firm, Found Associates, the service will offer a range of furniture designed specifically for short-term rentals. The collection features six core pieces which act as the foundation to a store – stackable shelves, hanging rails, cash desks, display plinths, mirrors and fitting rooms.

In addition, retailers will have access to staff members through a partnership with GIG and maintenance workers offered by Airtasker.

The service is representative of a new wave of companies that are taking their retail models and selling them to smaller retailers. For more, read our Storefront Salvation macro trend here.

New York – Adriaen Block is a new bar that offers non-alcoholic and low alcohol cocktails infused with the non-psychoactive cannabis derivative, cannabidiol (CBD).

The bar’s drinks menu is split between zero-proof cocktails that are laced with CBD but are alcohol-free, and those that have a low ABV, using ingredients such as sherry and Aperol. Each drink is priced at £11.80 ($15, €13.30) and the names reference cannabis culture in a playful way. Bakin & Eggs is served with a garnish of crispy bacon, Mellow Berry mixes dry oloroso sherry with cocchi americano and house blackberry shrub, while Stoney Negroni combines cocchi americano with tio pepe dry sherry, floc de gascogne and angostura bitters.

‘I’ve always worked in this industry, and one of the coolest things I was able to master were doing different kinds of infusions’, says founder ZsoltCsonka. ‘I thought it would be a very interesting concept to do a different kind, happy infusions with low-alcohol liquors. For both the flavour profile and the relaxing state of mind.’

With more and more people practicing abstinence from alcohol, cannabis and its derivatives are becoming more popular.

US – Specialist sound designers from SONOS have worked with Nasdaq to redesign the sound of the classic market bell rung at the start and end of stock trading sessions.

Every day, the American stock exchange rings the opening and closing bells to mark the beginning and end of each trading session. Since 2000, the sound of the bell has remained unchanged. The new bell, created from layers of digital sound, will celebrate launch of SONOS going public, in which all shares will be listed in an open market on Nasdaq.

The work comes from months of audio experimentation with hundreds of recordings of different audio waves. The team played with unusual tools and objects – including glasses, chains, mallets, coins, screwdrivers, cutlery and brushes – to recreate different elements of the bell vibrations. The final recording features these instruments clanging, brushing and clashing against a Tibetan bowl at different strengths and paces.

The new sound, which will be a permanent feature of Nasdaq, showcases how financial companies are moving away from traditional modes of expression. For more on the changing aesthetic of FinTech, see our Fluid Capital design direction.

New figures from Buzzoole indicate the growth of the influencer marketing industry within the last year. On a global scale, nearly 600 thousand creators produced an overall engagement of almost a billion interactions (988m). The report found that fashion (33%), beauty (13%) and food & drinks (13%) brands were the most mentioned, accounting for almost 60% of global sponsored content.

While audiences are becoming wiser to paid product placements, with almost half of British consumers stating they would avoid clicking on an sponsored link, this attitude appears to not affect influencer’s content choices as the report suggests they’re still keen to acquire in these opportunities.