Need to Know
17 : 03 : 21

Spain – Fashion e-commerce site Zalando is using Google Street View for its latest campaign, Street it All, transforming the platform into an interactive retail space.

Users can click through the geolocated lookbook on Google Maps to discover and buy clothing. The pieces are worn by Spanish influencers in major cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga and Valencia. Billboards have also been erected in these cities, each of which features a QR code that can be scanned to reveal the location on Google Street View and specific fashion pieces chosen for each city.

‘Taking into account the pandemic, we wanted to make use of technology by moving the campaign to a virtual environment, hand in hand with Google Street View and Google Maps, reaching our consumers in a totally innovative and creative way,' explains Riccardo Vola, general manager of Southern Europe at Zalando.

In our macrotrend Community Commerce, we explore other fashion brands that are embracing unconventional online spaces like Google Street View, as a way to re-imagine the path to purchase as a Phygital Quest.

China – L’Oréal Group is introducing its first virtual influencer in China, with the aim of opening up sustainability and trends conversations among new and younger audiences.

Known as Mr Ou, the anime-style character takes the persona of a 24-year-old Chinese-French entrepreneur who cares for the environment and works in the beauty industry. Mr Ou will feature in content across L’Oréal’s social media channels, exploring beauty trends, ingredients, sustainability initiatives and interviews with local key opinion leaders (KOLs).

Through Mr Ou, the beauty group wants to elevate its digital presence while providing an iconic mascot with human behavioural traits. Indeed, this virtual influencer lands at a time when such fictional characters are growing across Chinese streaming platforms such as iQiyi and Bilibili.

In this vein, we have previously tracked the rise of Avatar Influencers in the worlds of fashion, retail and even journalism.

According to the Global Drug Survey 2020, a growing number of people are using psychedelic drugs as a form of self-treatment for mental health conditions.

Of 110,000 worldwide respondents, some 20,000 reported using LSD and magic mushrooms. Of these, about 6,500 completed a section on self-treatment of psychiatric conditions and distress using psychedelics. The most common reason cited for taking LSD (52%) or magic mushrooms (55%) was to enhance wellbeing, while 32% of respondents used LSD or mushrooms, respectively, to deal with a specific emotional worry or concern.

In terms of microdosing, LSD is most popular in Switzerland (38.5%) and Greece (37.5%), while magic mushrooms reign in South Africa (45.8%) and the US (32.9%). Of note, taking psychedelics in 'a legally regulated and approved treatment system', was positively received by almost 90% of respondents. In turn, the report states: ‘This suggests rapid implementation of these novel and potentially life-changing therapies will find a highly responsive market.’

Explore our Psychedelic Wellness Market for more on how psilocybin and ayahuasca ceremonies are being embraced for their transformative and creative potential.