Need To Know
30 : 05 : 22

Mexico – Heritage drinks brand Madre Mezcal is diversifying its offering to create a functional, seltzer-style ready-to-drink line. The beverage line, Madre Desert Water, combines mezcal with sparkling water, real fruit, plants and herbs. Many of the ingredients also feature functional properties, such as adaptogenic mushrooms, anti-inflammatory herbs and anti-fungal cacti.

By positioning mezcal in this format, the cans provide an accessible introduction to the spirit, while also offering added functionality for existing mezcal drinkers. Commenting on the inspiration for the drink, the brand says in a press release: ‘Madre Desert Water was inspired by the tradition of West Texas ranch waters (a local favourite drink made simply with tequila and sparkling water).’

With interest in mezcal continuing to rise, such ready-to-drink offerings further establish the spirit as a mainstream drinks choice, while still retaining its rich and ancestral heritage.

Denmark – Fashion brand Samsøe Samsøe is making it easier for its customers to resell their items through an interactive clothing tag. Its Resell Tag, which will be stitched into items of clothing, includes a scannable QR code that activates an automatically generated resale advert. Drawing on datapoints from the clothing, such as style, size, colour and age range, a mock-up advert – including images – is presented for users to promote across Facebook and Instagram.

Initially launching across 20 of its garments, Samsøe Samsøe plans to expand the labels across its wider collections in the coming year. Here, the brand is taking control of the pre-owned market for its goods, while offering a seamless solution to empower customers to resell their unwanted items.

As more fashion brands recognise their responsibility in inspiring greener behaviours among consumers, such Interactive Eco-labels present an innovative solution that allows product labels to promote transparency and product longevity.

As young Americans make their way onto the property ladder, research by YouGov finds that many home-buyers have received financial help from their parents. According to the report, more than one in three (35%) of Americans who have owned a home say that their parents helped them financially with buying their first abode.

In terms of age brackets, the research finds that adults aged under 45 were more than three times as likely as people aged 45 and older to say their parents gave them a property outright or paid the entire deposit. With this response more common among younger consumers, there is an opportunity for fintech, mortgage or property brands to promote the idea of familial co-ownership.

Indeed, as we explore in our round-up of fintech innovators for young home-buyers, some financial services are leaning into opportunities to empower parents and relatives to become co-equity holders of properties.