Need to Know
03 : 06 : 19

London – The Soak offers a menu based around fermenting, soaking, steeping and brining techniques.

Recently opened near London’s Victoria station, the all-day restaurant aims to offer guests an immersive dining experience rooted in fermentation. Its drinks menu features signature ‘soaked’ cocktails as well as non-alcoholic kefir and kombucha mocktails, while the food menu includes a cider pickled egg, hazelnut and chicory salad and a preserved wood pigeon with fermented mooli (daikon radish).

Alongside its experimental food and drink offering, The Soak has made music an essential part of the dining experience, with live DJ sets and acoustic sessions. In addition, a social club offers members the chance to attend exclusive events and sample new menu additions.

The fermented food and drinks market is maturing fast, as more restaurants incorporate fermentation, soaking and brining into their practices.

London – The 2019 race, which was the first in partnership with Nike London, expanded into a three-day festival of fitness.

Creative agency Soft Power headed the rebranding for the Hackney Half, creating an identity that is easily adaptable for future collaborations with artists, designers and the local community. In order to make the event more inclusive, the photography for the new identity features local running collectives TrackMafia and Tempo.

The brand’s press release explains that running continues to have an image problem: ‘[It is] seen as a solo activity, [being] alone with your thoughts in full public view. The reality is that due to the boom in urban running crews, a generation of people are championing the value of community, acceptance and inclusivity.’

As well as a new identity, the race organisers teamed up with Nike to create an ergonomic rest area with modular soft play pieces from recycled PVC and foam, which, following the festival, will remain in the local community.

In line with our microtrend Inclusive Fitness, sports events and brands have a responsibility to change the face of fitness.

Melbourne – Team Girls is an initiative by the insurance and banking provider in collaboration with Leo Burnett Melbourne.

The campaign was created in response to new research from Suncorp, which found that nearly half of Australian girls are turning their back on sport by age 17, despite two-thirds knowing that sport can make them feel more confident.

To raise awareness of the teamwork, leadership and confidence that come from involvement in team sports, the brand organised a rally cry in a live, televised performance by 38 teenage girls during half-time at the Suncorp Super Netball match in Melbourne. The girls also feature in an accompanying video campaign, which ends with the tagline ‘let’s build a nation of confident girls’.

As Generation Z fight against feelings of anxiety, sport offers a practical way for teenage girls to feel empowered while also engaging in fitness. Read our microtrend Street Sport Rebels for more.

Instagram Shopping is an increasingly powerful selling tool for brands, according to a new study by GlobalData. Unsurprisingly, the primary users of the shopping tool are Generation Z, with 39% of UK shoppers aged 16 to 24 having used Instagram Shopping to make a purchase.

However, older consumers are also engaging with the tool, which has streamlined the process of purchasing products directly from a brand or influencer’s profile. The study found that 21% of 35–44-year-olds have used Instagram Shopping, as well as almost one in 10 (8.4%) 45–54-year-olds.

Instagram tends to be overwhelmingly linked to the visual-first nature of Generation Z. But, with so many older consumers engaging with the platform, brands must use their channels to acknowledge shoppers of all ages.