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Waitrose’s latest ads cut through the noise

You can taste when it’s Waitrose & Partners, Waitrose

UK – Waitrose & Partners is focusing on individual ingredients and taste sensations in its new slow tv advertising campaign.

The campaign, You can taste when it's Waitrose & Partners, highlights the people and provenance behind the retailer’s products by zooming in on four ingredients: eggs, mangoes, olive oil and sourdough bread. Taking a deliberately quiet approach with no voiceovers or music, the campaign films instead amplify the sounds associated with each food, such as kneading bread or shaking olives from a tree.

In this way, the ads allow viewers to stop, watch and connect with the ingredients in a sensory manner. According to Martin George, director of marketing at John Lewis Partnership: ‘Giving customers the best tasting food is at the heart of everything we do – from working closely with our suppliers who grow and produce food only available at Waitrose, to our expert partners who are passionate about every step of its journey, from field to fork.’

As we explore in The Focus Filter macrotrend, the advertising industry is increasingly battling for the attention of consumers and seeking innovation in a non-stop digital world, with such campaigns using slower, quiet moments to cut through the noise.

Wishful skincare is a suits-all solution

Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub by Wishful

Global – Huda Beauty is expanding into skincare with the launch of the Wishful one-for-all range.

Tapping into the tenets of cruelty-free and clean beauty, Wishful has landed with a single product launch, its Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub, described as a simple, suits-all solution that doesn’t try to combat particular skin problems like acne or wrinkles. It has been launched by beauty entrepreneur Huda Kattan and features ingredients such as pineapple, papaya enzymes, BHAs and AHAs.

She describes Wishful as feeling ‘like the opposite of make-up’ and – in the face of single-ingredient beauty brands – is instead choosing to create skincare that should be suitable for all skin types and ages. ‘We’re not going after acne, we’re not going after wrinkles or hyperpigmentation – what we’re going after is soft, smooth skin and diminished pores,' says Kattan.

While multi-step and single-ingredient skincare has boomed in recent years, a number of consumers are looking for multipurpose, universal and convenient products to minimise their routine and declutter their bathroom shelves. Read our Beauty listicle for more.

Oxford Dictionary embraces Nigerian English words

UK – The Oxford English Dictionary is embracing Nigerian English colloquialisms by adding them to the dictionary’s latest updates.

Phrases such as ‘see you next tomorrow’ – meaning ‘the day after tomorrow’ – have been added to the OED, amid growing awareness that Nigerians have created their own lexicon in many English-speaking countries. This recognition of Nigerian English as a variant of its own comes after Google introduced a Nigerian English option on its maps service, alongside Nigerian-accented voice assistance. According to the OED: ‘Nigerians have made, and are continuing to make, a unique and distinctive contribution to English.’ Some of the featured words have been used since the 1970s and 1980s, including words such as ‘tokunbo’, meaning ‘imported second-hand product’.

As we explore in Neo-languages, a trend from our Youth macrotrend Paradox Personas, Generation Z are expanding their vocabulary owing to greater global connectivity, creating a digital tongue that's more intelligent than memes and emojis.

Nigeria 2018 National Football Team collection by Nike

Stat: Pet parents pursue plant-based dog diets

Research by Mintel reveals that the majority of UK pet food buyers (71%) say that a pet’s diet has a direct impact on its emotional wellbeing. Prioritising the calming effects that diet can have, 51% also show an interest in food with calming ingredients such as chamomile and hemp.

The study also finds that younger dog owners are the most likely to opt out of meat-based pet diets, with almost three in five (58%) of dog food buyers aged 16 to 24 believing it’s healthier to limit red meat in their dogs' diets, compared to just 30% of dog food buyers aged over 45. Emma Clifford, associate director of food and drink at Mintel, said: ‘Our research finds that many pet owners are keen for their cats and dogs to adopt some of the alternative diet trends that are being embraced by humans.’

As we explore in our High-end Pets Market, Millennials are continuing to delay parenthood and spend billions on luxurious lifestyles for their pets, with many echoing their own lifestyle choices through their pets.