News 12.06.2019

Need to Know

The New York Times makes journalism tangible, Westfield to open a pop-up for products trending online and the rise of vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics.

Nowness’ Survival Season confronts climate change

Survival Season by Nowness

London – The online video platform has launched a programme of four films that address climate change with thought-provoking visual narratives.

Each film featured in Survival Season draws inspiration from one of the symbolic elements of air, earth, water and fire. Featuring films by New York-based director Sandra Winther, Canadian film-maker Jonathan Desbiens, Danish director Nina Holmgren, and artists Jon Emmony and William Farr, the results visualise the devastating impact of climate change and natural disasters on communities around the world in different ways.

‘We call this programme Survival Season because the stakes have never been higher,’ explains Nowness’ creative director Bunny Kinney. ‘Our future, our freedoms, and the infinite creative inspiration and possibilities our planet provides us with will be taken away in the blink of an eye – faster than the tiny fraction of time that human life has existed on this planet.’

In a similar vein, new publication Atmos shows how creatives are exploring climate and culture through new aesthetics.

The New York Times introduces journalism to local spaces

The Truth is Local by The New York Times The Truth is Local by The New York Times
The Truth is Local by The New York Times The Truth is Local by The New York Times

New York – The Truth is Local brings to life five stories that had a major impact on each of the city’s boroughs.

The New York Times has opened a series of installations in empty stores across the city’s five boroughs. To experience the newspaper’s rigorous journalism methods, visitors can use their phones to scan a QR code to access audio clips featuring immersive stories.

To show how its investigations are not only comprehensive but hyper-local to each neighbourhood, the installations are themed around the injustices that plague each borough, such as educational poverty in the Bronx, corruption in Manhattan and immigration exploitation in Queens.

The New York Times is tapping into consumers’ desire for content that they can trust and bringing it to life by creating real-world interactions that are tethered to a specific location.

This store sells items that are trending online

London – Westfield is opening a bricks-and-mortar pop-up store that uses artificial intelligence to allow consumers to shop for clothes and accessories that are trending online in real time.

Opening from 3 to 7 July, The Trending Store’s inventory will be determined entirely by live data, stocking up to 100 items of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories that are trending online that day. The concept has been created in partnership with AI experts Nextatlas and charity partner Save the Children, with the aim of bringing together the benefits of shopping online and in-store. Each day, Nextatlas’ AI platform will provide Westfield stylists with a list of trending products, which will be sourced from across the entire shopping centre.

‘Traditional retailers have always used stores to gather customer information,’ says Mario Coletti, managing director at Nextatlas. ‘The Trending Store is revolutionising store management by using Nextatlas’ platform to make stores a destination of data science rather than a source of it.’

For more on how retailers are embracing the power of data, read our Data ID Stores microtrend.

The Trending Store, Westfield London

Volkwagen’s latest ad owns up to its previous mistakes

Hello Light by Volkswagen

US – To mark its move into electric vehicles, the car brand is referencing its 2015 diesel emissions scandal.

The campaign, Hello Light, begins with flashbacks to news reports of the 2015 scandal, in which Volkswagen admitted to installing ‘defeat devices’ on vehicles in an alleged attempt to evade emissions testing. It then shows the new electric direction for the brand, with a glimpse of its ID Buzz, an electric version of the classic Microbus, set to be launched in 2022.

The ad marks the first time Volkswagen has used advertising to connect the electric vehicle strategy to its emissions scandal. ‘Our biggest mistake has led to the biggest transformation in the company’s history,’ says Jim Zabel, senior vice-president of marketing at VW of America.

Brands are entering a new era of transparency, in which they use their mishaps and failures as fuel for creating better campaigns and innovations.

Stat: More consumers are buying vegan beauty products

British consumers are increasingly opting to buy vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics, according to a recent survey of 2,200 women by beauty e-commerce platform Cosmetify. When choosing which products to purchase, 68% of respondents said they buy organic products the most, followed by natural products (61%) and vegan items (49%).

While only 9% of those surveyed buy vegan products exclusively, 47% said they buy vegan products more than they used to. ‘Many of the current trends in the beauty industry are driven by conscious beauty,’ says Isa Lavahun, digital brand manager at Cosmetify, adding that consumers are more ethically conscious than ever before.

In our Teen Beauty Market, we consider how younger consumers in particular favour beauty brands that offer vegan, cruelty-free and non-toxic products.

Thought-starter: It is time for brands to recognise LGBT+ parents

LGBT+ parenting is on the rise, which means brands need a fresh approach to marketing to this unapologetic, influential consumer group.

As advertising agency Studio Blvd tells LS:N Global: ‘Families today are single-parent families, blended families, non-biological families, multi-ethnic families and same-sex parent families. We’re not, however, seeing these families represented enough in brand communications.’

Some 29% of LGBT+ people in the US were raising children in 2017, according to the UCLA Williams Institute. One couple, Chris and Rob Taylor, run the 2TravelDads blog that follows their travels with their children. An accompanying Instagram feed boasts 27,000 followers. Describing themselves as the original LGBT+ family travel blog, the Taylors offer inspiration and advice for LGBT+ parents wishing to embark on their own adventures, and work with travel brands including IHG, Universal, Best Western and Amtrak to promote their inclusive and child-friendly services.

In particular, there is an opportunity to support and inspire LGBT+ parents and their families, beyond just paying lip service, and to champion these modern families through realistic and honest campaigns.

Read the full LGBT+ Parenting Market here.

#ThisIsFamily spring/summer 2019 campaign by Studio Blvd for River Island
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