Need to Know
11 : 08 : 22

US – The food brand is using artificial intelligence (AI) system Dall-E 2 to prove that it’s the go-to brand for ketchup. For its latest marketing stunt, Heinz fed the software with random ketchup-related phrases, and found that the results featured a series of sauce-inspired images with its signature branding.

It then documented the Draw Ketchup stunt in a video campaign and published imagery. In this way, Heinz demonstrates its dominance in the ketchup category, showing that it’s more recognisable than many other brands. Jacqueline Chao, senior brand manager at Heinz, says: ‘From the distinct keystone label to our iconic slow-pouring ketchup bottle, we know Heinz is unmistakable to people around the world, and we're thrilled to see even the most unbiased source recognises that when it comes to ketchup, it has to be Heinz.’

In a similar vein, we’ve previously explored how AI has been used as part of a sensory marketing campaign that merges spoken works with artistic imagery.

US – Bringing make-up to the metaverse, Bakeup is a digital beauty company specialising in looks that can be worn, collected, traded and sold virtually. Rather than just selling digital make-up as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), however, the company embeds more functionality into its products, releasing them as physical items and augmented reality (AR) filters that can be activated via smartphone.

The company’s first, limited-edition item – the Disco Veiler eye embellishments – will be made available as a physical product, NFT and an AR wearable filter on Snapchat and Instagram, ensuring that the look can cross different categories. The company has also partnered with DAZ 3D, an NFT strategy company that created the popular Non-Fungible People (NFP) NFT collection, to create a series of digital make-up looks that broaden the definition of make-up in the metaverse.

While we've been tracking the rise of metaverse make-up, NFT projects have historically been limited to collectibles without many functions. By creating products that serve a practical purpose and can be worn in both physical and virtual spaces, Bakeup is signalling a new future for phygital beauty.

Cross-class friendships could be the key to social mobility. According to an expansive US study by Social Capital Atlas, economic prospects improve significantly depending on a person’s vicinity to wealth in childhood. Indeed, disadvantaged children who grow up in neighbourhoods where 70% of their friends are wealthy experience an average increase of 20% in their future income.

The study analysed 72m Facebook friendships, amounting to roughly 84% of adults aged 25–44 in the US. Before the study, it was clear that certain neighbourhoods were better at removing barriers to upward mobility, but it wasn’t clear why. It is now evident that cross-class friendships have a greater influence on economic prospects than education quality, family stability, employment availability and a community’s racial composition.

The research reveals that economic connectedness – where people make friends with people from different class backgrounds – could be a key metric for reducing poverty. As companies consider what role they can play in helping remove wealth disparity, they can consult our Neo-collectivism macrotrend to discover the importance of community-building.