LSN : News : Stat: Gen Z are going big on digital networking

This beauty campaign focuses on indigeneity

Right the Story by Cheekbone Beauty, Canada

Canada – Indigenous-owned beauty brand Cheekbone Beauty’s Right the Story campaign sets out to claim control of media narratives surrounding indigeneity. The campaign, produced in partnership with creative agency Sid Lee, speaks directly to Indigenous youth and is intended to counter the reductive and often offensive coverage of Indigenous peoples in Western media.

Right the Story was filmed on Yukon First Nations’ traditional land; shot by a 95% Indigenous crew and directed by Haudenosaunee storyteller Saunoh. Instead of paid actors, the team chose to feature a real friendship group. It's accompanied by a special-edition lipstick in the Aki red shade, which will be featured across eight flagship Sephora stores in Canada. A portion of each lipstick sale will help fund education initiatives for Indigenous youth.

Right the Story is a continuation of our Ancestral Beauty microtrend, highlighting the beauty brands championing their histories to combat cultural appropriation in the beauty sector, while also meeting the needs of historically underserved communities of the global majority.

Strategic opportunity

Consumers care about visual representation, but surface-level diversity isn't enough. Transparency and diversity across production will improve creative outcomes and strengthen your brand's connection to consumers

This grocery store is intentionally inconvenient

Hyperburgers Inconvenience store by Francesca Tambussi, The Netherlands

The Netherlands – Graduate designer Francesca Tambussi is challenging conventional grocery store models with a store prototype called Hyperburgers. The store takes a peer-to-peer approach, and is designed to serve communities rather than businesses. Rather than stocking a number of items, the store requires customers to phone food suppliers and pay them directly for their products.

Customers are then required to give something back to the store in the form of volunteering or supplying packaging. By deliberately adding friction to the customer journey, Hyperburgers forces people to reflect on the unsustainable food supply chains that are now in operation. ‘The idea of the shop is to be incremental, a slow growth,’ says designer Tambussi. ‘It’s the opposite of a new liberal business where it needs to be time-efficient.’

As we explore in Enigma Brands, a foresight in our Resilience Culture macrotrend, brands are de-prioritising convenience, instead becoming more evasive entities designed to be chased by customers.

Strategic opportunity

Retailers across sectors should begin preparing consumers for a future where materials and ingredients are scarce. Don’t be afraid to add friction to your customer journey as a way of educating audiences about sustainable operations

Apple gives the right to repair with its DIY service

Cupertino – After years of resisting the right to repair movement, Apple is announcing a DIY service that will allow customers to fix their own devices. Instead of bringing products to costly third-party repair shops, the Self Service Repair programme will provide owners the spare parts, tools and instructions necessary to mend Apple electronics.

The service will allow consumers to replace their iPhone batteries, displays and cameras themselves – using spare parts provided by Apple. This marks a first for the tech giant, as Apple has famously restricted customers from repairing its products outside of its own stores or selected authorised resellers. Initially available for iPhone 12 and 13 models, the company also plans to expand the programme to Macs with M1 chips.

As the right-to-repair movement speeds up, there is growing pressure on tech manufacturers to give consumers full access to their devices to avoid premature replacements and unnecessary waste. Although Apple’s service still requires some technological know-how, and won’t be accessible for the average iPhone owner, it suggests that the multinational monolith is beginning to Address The Environmental Emergency.

Self Service Repair by Apple, US

Strategic opportunity

Apple's service demonstrates how the right to repair movement will soon be widespread, ushering in an era in which consumers exercise full technological expertise over their devices

Stat: Gen Z are going big on digital networking

Old + New = Now by Ganni and Vestiaire, Global

In a small study by Handshake, American members of Generation Z have been identified as feeling more optimistic about building a career network than their parents’ generation, largely because of the digital world.

A majority (80%) said that it’s easier to make professional connections than their parents’ generation, with 67% believing that you don’t have to meet in person to make a professional connection. Interestingly, women are 26% more likely than men to feel this way, highlighting the role digital career networks could play in reducing workplace gender divides.

These findings show clear evidence of the role Out-of-Work Networks could play in fostering professional development in the future. With a focus on building community over competition, digital platforms can also benefit job searchers by providing opportunities for diverse hiring.

Strategic opportunity

To recruit young talent, companies must invest go beyond the standard job portals and create immersive digital experiences. Connect with Gen Z through apps such as TikTok or popular video games