LSN : Daily Signals : Immi re-invents ramen with nutritional benefits

Tour guides tease new tastes for Uber Eats

Tropical Whopper Tours by Special Group Australia for Uber Eats and Hungry Jack’s, Australia

Australia – Tour guides from Australia's Cook Islands are the unexpected stars in a new series of ads from Uber Eats.

Promoting the Tropical Whopper burger from fast food brand Hungry Jack's, the campaign tunes in to the travel experiences hampered by the pandemic – using the burger to give Australian consumers a taste of the travels they’re missing.

Created by Special Group Australia, the series of ads play on the traditional format of island tours, with the guides swapping paddle boarding and snorkelling to talk about the ingredients of the limited-edition burger. As a result, the campaign has two benefits: promoting the Tropical Whopper and inspiring future tourism. As David Griffiths, head of marketing ANZ at Uber Eats, explains: ‘We're proud to work with the Cook Islands tour guides and hope when flights open back up this inspires Aussies to go and see them in person.'

For travel and hospitality firms, this campaign demonstrates an opportunity to partner with brands from wider sectors, while repurposing staff and promoting experiences. For more, explore the ways travel brands are becoming pandemic-proof.

Immi re-invents ramen with nutritional benefits

Ramen noodles by Immi

US – Food start-up Immi has transformed instant ramen into a nutrient-dense food for health-conscious consumers.

Aiming to differentiate from traditional instant ramen packs that are high in salt, carbohydrates and MSG, Immi's plant-based instant noodles are high in protein, can be incorporated into a Keto diet and contain only 9g of carbohydrates.

Described as 'surprisingly healthy,' flavours borrow from traditional Asian dishes but are 100% plant-based, including black garlic ‘chicken’, tom yum ‘shrimp’ and spicy ‘beef'. With a growing awareness of health conditions born from poor diets, the brand’s founders used their own family as inspiration for its products. ‘There are many people who grew up loving ramen but have stopped eating it entirely because it’s unhealthy,’ explains Kevin Lee, co-founder of Immi.

For more on how Asian food culture is being elevated, read our interview with the founders of Omsom, a Vietnamese-American food brand aiming to bring authenticity to supermarket shelves.

Thinx activewear promotes period exercise

Period-proof activewear by Thinx

UK – Period underwear brand Thinx is moving into the activewear space with a new range of workout apparel.

Part of the brand’s premium collection, the range includes leggings, cycling shorts, training shorts and a leotard. Much like Thinx’s original underwear offering for people with periods, the activewear integrates fabric that wearers can bleed directly into – mitigating the need for disposable sanitary products. Through its range, Thinx is both destigmatising menstruation and encouraging people to apply their sustainable values to period wear.

Maria Molland, CEO of Thinx, refers to the experience of spending more time at home as being beneficial to the activewear launch. 'There’s been a lot of reticence [in the past] to try something new, especially with the public embarrassment of something like a leak,' she says. 'So now is an opportunity for people to try it; sitting at home on their couch, working from home, they realise the product really works.’

In this way, the brand is empowering people with periods to maintain their daily activities without their natural cycles becoming a hindrance. Explore more case studies via our Female Futures vertical.

Stat: Boredom and frustration tarnish online retail

Finding a Digital Letter-form by Gang Buron-Yi

A new survey by website analytics platform Content Square examines shoppers' overall satisfaction when it comes to e-commerce, finding a mere 15% of consumers feel happy when shopping online.

Content Square measured the 'digital happiness' felt by shoppers, defining this as an all-encompassing term comprising factors like convenience, satisfaction and the joy they feel when interacting with a website or app.

With less than a fifth enjoying the online experience, the survey also reports that almost a third of respondents associate online shopping with frustration, anxiety and boredom. With many customers' online experiences plateauing to focus solely on convenience, Content Square suggests brands optimise their online shopping strategy to include features and functions that bring joy to customers.

In our retail macrotrend Feedback Frontiers, we explore the future of digital retail experiences, examining how successful transactions will be rooted in in the emotional exchanges they provide consumers.