Need to Know
21 : 01 : 20

By Olivia Houghton and Abi Buller

Fridays for Future warns of ‘local warming’, Quorn introduces carbon labelling, and UK consumers have high expectations for experience-driven retail.

In today's news:

Hinge creates merchandise to celebrate Delete Day

Travel posters warn of local warming’s impact

Quorn adds carbon labelling to its products

Stat: UK shoppers say experience will take over product

Hinge creates merchandise to celebrate Delete Day

The Hingie Shop

London – Dating app Hinge has launched an online store selling merchandise featuring the brand’s mascot Hingie.

An extension of the app’s Designed to be Deleted campaign, the limited-edition Hingie shop features products for Delete Day – the day when couples choose to delete the Hinge app – including a Hingie piñata, a bath bomb and stuffed toys. While the brand’s goggle-eyed icon has been brought to life, it is in fact created as a temporary character in daters’ relationship journey. Alongside products to destroy on Delete Day, daters can also buy items to celebrate this new life milestone, including a solid gold Delete Day necklace, set with diamonds and inscribed with the date they deleted the app.

According to the brand, the Designed to be Deleted campaign has proved successful since its launch in August 2019, with an 18% increase in users ditching Hinge because they’ve met someone. As explored in a recent Viewpoint from Techfestival, brands with an end goal are embracing ways to create happy endings for products, people and services.

Travel posters warn of local warming’s impact

Post-climate tourist destination posters by FF Los Angeles and Fridays for Future

Los Angeles – Fridays for Future, the international movement of climate strikers led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, is launching a campaign to raise awareness of local climate change.

The social campaign, created with FF Los Angeles – a creative agency focused on social activations – re-imagines vintage tourism posters from around the world against a backdrop of present-day climate change realities. Depicting fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and droughts, the campaign hopes to educate and empower people to make changes within their local communities, as well as in their travel behaviour. While drawing attention to the large-scale impact of global warming for both people and biodiversity, the campaign aims to tap into people’s willingness to begin positive actions at a more local level.

As people become more aware of the impact of tourism on the planet, travel operators are increasingly using travel to promote inclusivity and sustainable practices. Find out more in our Conscious Tourism Market.

Quorn adds carbon labelling to its products

US and UK – Meat-free food brand Quorn is adding carbon footprint data to 60% of its products as part of a push to promote better understanding of the environmental impact of food production.

Its Farm to Shop carbon footprint data, certified by the Carbon Trust, will be available for the brand’s 30 best-selling products. For the initial launch this information will be listed on the Quorn website, but in a further roll-out later in 2020 carbon footprint data will be included on food packaging.

With 50% of consumers identifying as non-meat eaters for environmental reasons, according to YouGov, the brand is using the new campaign as part of a move towards mitigating climate change. A UK tv ad will also demonstrate how easy it can be to make family meals with products such as Quorn mince.

As it develops its company communications, Quorn is tapping into consumers’ increasing desire to be conscious and informed about what they consume, with brands stepping in to offer education and solutions on food choices. To explore how this is being manifest, read our Future Trust Marks.

Quorn low-carbon labelling

Stat: UK shoppers say experience will take over product

UK – Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has unveiled Westfield How We Shop: The Next Decade, a trends report of retail predictions for 2025.

Outlining an ‘experience tipping point’ for retail, the report states that UK shoppers are among some of the most frustrated in Europe, and are particularly likely to reject online algorithms for more holistic shopping experiences. According to the report, nearly three quarters of UK shoppers say they will spend more in shops that offer experiences over products

The study of 15,700 people across Europe also predicts key trends likely to shape the retail landscape over the next 10 years, from anti-prescription retail as the antidote to disappointing online curation, to self-sustaining stores born from demand for more eco-conscious retail.

With bricks-and-mortar retail no longer determined by sales per square foot, consumers are looking for spaces where they can engage with brands on a deeper, physical level. Read Inspiration Per Square Foot for sector-leading case studies.