LSN : News : Stat: Racial bias hits venue choices for Black daters

Post Service offers supportive space for bereavement

Post Service, Copenhagen. Interior design by Tableau

Copenhagen – Every design decision in Post Service's wellbeing space is dedicated to helping people manage feelings of bereavement and loss, with the intention that the holistic interior design can support mental and emotional responses.

The carefully calibrated clinic, designed by Danish studio Tableau, uses furniture, lighting and colour theory to help foster a sense of community and to boost psychological health. Every feature inside Post Service acts in harmony to support the healing process, with technology playing an important role. The organisation offers talk sessions, for example, held in private infrared saunas designed to help people confront difficult subjects through sensory stimulation. ‘I really believe that design can take a big part in helping a person become better,’ explains Julius Værnes Iversen, founder of Tableau.

As our understanding of mental health becomes more nuanced, care-giving brands will need to embrace the tenets of Synchronised Care to provide a range of solutions that address the needs of their customers. By engaging the body and mind, Post Service explores the idea that mental health is interconnected with all aspects of our lives, including the built environment.

Strategic opportunity

In an increasingly unpredictable world, employers can use interior design to provide grounding effects that benefit psychological wellbeing

Burger King fights back against French cyberbullying

#MerciLes2010 by Burger King, France

France – The fast food giant is stepping in to challenge an unexplained rise in cyberbullying against French children born in 2010. Its latest campaign, created in collaboration with child protection organisation Les Papillons, acts as a counter-movement to this behaviour – centreing on the hashtag #MerciLes2010.

The initiative appears across online video games and on Twitter, with players asked to reference the year 2010 in their games and online content. Each time someone shares their reference on Twitter, along with the campaign’s hashtag, Burger King will reward them with a free Whopper burger. By doing so, the brand shows how brands can support audiences by staging a Bullying Backlash.

With this reaction to cyberbullying, Burger King furthers its anti-bullying position, acts as a guardian brand to vulnerable children and demonstrates its awareness of behavioural shifts on social media platforms.

Strategic opportunity

Popular brands are in a powerful position to take action against negative online behaviour. Consider how you might support vulnerable audiences through digital funding opportunities and positive communications

British charity shops open doors on Depop

UK – Social marketplace Depop is partnering with a series of British charity shops following a 600% increase of listings from non-profit retailers since March 2020. The Charity Seller Programme will help integrate high street stalwarts like Oxfam and The British Heart Foundation onto the digital platform, providing them with the tools and resources necessary to reach new customers.

With this initiative, Depop aims to capitalise on the many bricks-and-mortar retail outlets that were prompted to move online owing to pandemic closures. By on-boarding charity shops to its selling platform, Depop is giving its audience of younger consumers a chance to spend thriftily and find unique pieces, while also helping those who prefer to shop second-hand for environmental and ethical reasons with a chance to do further good through their purchases.

In this way, Depop is fostering a new space for charities, while helping to educate its socially aware customers. Indeed, companies should take cues from wider Civic Brands, appealing to a younger market through actions and spaces that align with their habits, values or lifestyle preferences.

Depop, UK

Strategic opportunity

Consider how unexpected – yet fruitful – partnerships with a charitable organisation could become a conduit to attract socially aware consumers

Stat: Racial bias hits venue choices for Black daters

Bumble Brew

In Britain, many Black people face anxieties about dating venues due to fears of micro-aggression, judgemental looks or comments, feelings of unwelcomeness or even fetishisation. Dating app Bumble finds that these fears cause more than one in three (36%) of Black people to cancel a date because they are anxious about the venue.

As a result of these experiences, almost two-thirds (65%) of Black British people say that they actively choose to go on dates at Black-owned small businesses. Meanwhile, almost half (48%) of Black British people say they feel more accepted at Black-owned venues, with a third (33%) saying they feel safer in these venues.

Responding to these insights, Bumble is announcing small business grants for Black-owned businesses, ensuring that these venues continue to be Safe Spaces for Black communities.

Strategic opportunity

Leisure and hospitality venues must strive to create inclusive spaces for diverse individuals. Take cues from Bumble and actively invest in dating venues and activities run by Black communities