Need to Know
04 : 05 : 22

UK – The platform comprises editorial content and a wellbeing-focused marketplace, all curated to reflect the interests and values of Generation Z. With backing by ITV, Woo will balance the topic of wellness with other cultural conversations, including music, film and drugs. Its marketplace will sell items such as CBD gummies, sexual wellness products and skincare cosmetics.

The new platform represents a new era for Gen Z media, recognising how underserved young audiences are when it comes to topics around mental health, wellbeing and happiness. By combining products with culturally relevant content, Woo is positing wellness as both accessible and aspirational. As Stephen Mai, CEO and founder, explains: ‘We want our Gen Z audience to engage with wellness in the same way they do music, art or fashion.’

While this generation may be rapidly ageing out of a period of adolescence, their desire to control their emotions has not gone away. Woo spotlights the ongoing opportunities to provide solutions for the Anxiety Rebellion.

San Francisco – While most beauty consumers take precautions to protect their skin from ageing, many are unaware that they should be implementing similar steps with their products. Exponent is a beauty brand that has developed a unique product dispenser to fight deterioration and ensure long-lasting efficacy.

Launched by former Elizabeth Arden executive and beauty veteran Liz Whitman, Exponent has designed a patented product dispenser that generates fresh serums in eight seconds. Instead of relying on jars, tubes or bottles, the brand’s products come in single-dose sachets that can be inserted into the dispenser and activated instantly.

In contrast to water-based skincare formulas, which begin degrading as soon as they are manufactured, Exponent’s Super Serums are sealed until the moment they are activated, ensuring maximum efficacy. The idea for the brand came from observing top aestheticians, who mix their skincare fresh to guarantee peak potency.

By shining a light on the beauty industry’s other ageing problem – product degradation – Exponent is bringing a more scientific approach to skincare to consumers’ homes, something which we'll be discussing in our forthcoming Beauty and Wellness Forum.

Despite indicators that things are improving, research conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family shows that gender disparity persists in South Korea. Among women in their twenties and thirties, 70% say that the country does not ensure gender equality.

According to the government report, which is performed every five years, the majority of respondents (53.4%) think that South Korea is not a gender-equal country. Only 4.3% of women in their 20s believe they are treated equally to men, compared to 24% of men in the same age group.

Although the statistics are discouraging, they do point to progress since the previous report. In 2016, 53.8% of respondents said that working women should be completely responsible for childcare, compared to 17.4% in 2022. But the report found that women are still responsible for most chores and childcare in the family.

Although there are signs of progress – and an increased awareness among South Korea's Emerging Youth demographic – the research shows that much more needs to be done to reverse the country's entrenched gender ideals.