Need to Know
08 : 10 : 21

Berlin – With many office-based employees now operating in a hybrid model of working, computer hardware brand HP is highlighting the benefits of work-from-anywhere lifestyles to market its devices. In its humorous film, Work Anywhere, an office worker pulls out a HP laptop that transports him to far-off locations around the world.

Shown working in a hair salon, in the back of a farmer’s truck and on the top of a mountain, the ad posits HP laptops as ideal hardware for a free-spirited approach to work. Created by advertising agency AKQA Berlin, this follows on from the brand’s 2020 campaign, Work Better. By aligning itself with the conversation about remote working, HP sets an example for other technology brands on how to support the growing number of Wandering Workers.

With global lockdown periods having drastically affected many people’s experiences of work – and their employer expectations – there is an ongoing opportunity for technology brands to redesign and re-market their devices for flexible working.

UK – Following a sell-out edition in 2020, the creative, environmental and social anthology The Slow Grind is teaming up with luxury fashion brand Mulberry to launch a second print run. The new print run will include an insert and poster foldout of Mulberry’s sustainability manifesto, Made to Last, and will be available in Mulberry stores including an in-store launch event in October 2021.

Bringing a regenerative approach to its publication, the anthology’s print run will be carbon offset through afforestation in Rio Kama, Nicaragua, in collaboration with carbon neutrality organisation Climate Partnership. Alongside its sustainability efforts, founder Georgina Johnson will be continuing her work on The Black Futures Pledge, an initiative that donates copies of the anthology to schools and initiatives that centre Black communities and people of colour. Already, companies including The Future Laboratory, Burberry, Fashion Revolution and SHOWstudio have made the pledge.

'The goal is that more brands come on board,' Johnson tells LS:N Global. 'Because ultimately this is something easy that allows them to gain an esoteric set of tools that are not often located in the corporate milieu, encouraging them to become socially engaged strategists and culturally aware contributors.'

Through this project, both The Slow Grind and Mulberry are demonstrating how brands can engage with de-growth and begin to shift their efforts to prioritise radical community-first models – a central tenet to protecting the future of creative industries.

In India, Generation Z are shifting their lifestyle priorities to focus on earning a lot of cash. According to a survey by MTV Youth Insights, many young people are even striving for wealth over personal relationships.

Some 46% of respondents in the study said money was the most important thing in life – and admitted they would rather earn big than live a meaningful life. A majority of respondents (70%) felt that they could earn more by juggling multiple gigs, with sidelines such as stock trading or becoming a social media influencer seen as the way forward. About three-quarters also said that the DIY projects they started during the pandemic have now turned into regular hobbies.

These insights point to a future when India’s emerging youth will shun a one-dimensional lifestyle to embrace varied and non-linear career paths that give them access to multiple sources of income.