LSN : News : Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, foresight analyst

Floating venue Oceaya is redefining hospitality for the sustainable luxurian

Oceaya, US

US – Oceaya, a modular, multi-purpose, floating venue that can be configured as a day lounge, nightclub, restaurant, catwalk or cinema, will be launched in 2025.

Conceptualised by Daniels Ikajevs and Waterstudio.NL, Meyer Floating Solutions and Prospect Design International, the adaptable venue aims to push the current limitations of traditional real estate by blending leisure, art and entertainment.

Central to Oceaya’s ethos is its commitment to sustainability. Built using eco-conscious materials and sustainable operational practices, Oceaya’s floating structure means the venue can move regularly to minimise ecological disruption. The project will also support local marine eco-system research by providing access to the venue’s facilities and offering funding to research projects aimed at fighting climate change, slowing sea level rise and preserving marine life in the areas where it operates.

Luxury consumers’ desire to pioneer new frontiers and exclusive once-in-a-lifetime experiences was a key trend identified in The Future Laboratory and Marriott Bonvoy’s The Future of Travel report. Oceaya’s floating, movable structure gives way to exclusivity through ephemerality – no two events have to happen at the venue in the same location.

Strategic opportunity

Affluent travellers are increasingly wary of hospitality greenwashing. Consider partnering with research projects preserving marine life or fighting the climate crisis to help deliver strong sustainability credentials while exploring innovations that help minimise your brand footprint

Sisley ventures into mindful skincare with Neuraé

France – Luxury skincare brand Sisley is launching its first-ever offshoot brand, Neuraé. Inspired by neuroscience and the mind-skin connection, the seven-piece skincare line will be unveiled on 2 April 2024.

Marketed as an independent brand with no parent company connection to Sisley, Neuraé will retail at a lower price point, ranging from £51.45 ($65, €55.60) to £154.35 ($195, €180.60).

The brand is betting on the emerging field of neurocosmetics, which explores how emotions affect skin. Divided into four sub-lines, Harmonie, Énergie, Joie and Sérénité, the products use both scent and texture to deliver mood- and skin-boosting results, and targets increased sensitivity or redness due to tiredness or stress.

The beauty sector is following in the footsteps of the beverage industry’s adoption of Emotional Support Sips, using neurological research to create products that reflect consumers’ concern for mental wellbeing.

Neuraé also taps into Euphoric Serenity, one of our New Codes of Luxury, which identifies a pattern of brands looking to emotions to transcend the practical benefits of products, with an emphasis on joy, endorphins and release.

Neuraé, France

Strategic opportunity

In light of the growing interest in neurocosmetics and Emotional Support Sips in the beauty and beverage industries, consider what other sectors could benefit from innovative products that boast mind-boosting qualities

Foresight Friday: Alice Crossley, foresight analyst

Victoria Ling for The Future Laboratory

Every Friday, The Future Laboratory team offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, foresight analyst Alice Crossley delves into running club cafes and Loewe’s latest short film.

: We anticipated the rise of running clubs in our 2023 macrotrend report Mass Movement, but sometimes it truly feels like pavement pounders are taking over London. On 13 April, Knees Up, an ‘all-day running café’ opens in Hackney. Not only is the space bringing my favourite South London brunch spot Good As Gold north of the river, but the sports-focused space feels like such a smart move and exactly the kind of third space community-seeking Generation Z have been sorely lacking.

: Under the stewardship of mastermind Jonathan Anderson, Loewe is an unstoppable luxury force. The fashion house’s brilliant new short film Decades of Confusion stars Schitt's Creek actor Dan Levy as a spelling bee host and Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza as a contestant, both dressed in iconic archival looks. Aubrey’s character is consistently stumped by the spelling of Loewe from 1971 to 2024, playing on the brand’s commonly mispronounced name. If, like me, you can’t get enough, our Loewe Brand Innovation Debrief will make ideal bank holiday reading.

Quote of the Week

‘Are you f***ing kidding me? There’s a W in there?’

Actress Aubrey Plaza in Loewe’s Decades of Confusion

Stat: Easter eggs soar in price

Photography by Geovane Souza, Brazil

UK – Easter eggs are getting more and more expensive. According to the Which? food price inflation tracker, in 2023, a Maltesers Truffles Luxury Easter Egg cost £8 ($10, €9.35) at British supermarket group Waitrose; in 2024, it cost £13 ($16.40, €15.20). Similarly, a Ferrero Rocher Golden Easter Egg from Tesco was priced at £10 ($12.65, €11.69) in 2023, and £15 ($18.95, €17.50) in 2024.

Which? also found several examples of shrinkflation (smaller products at the same price) among Easter eggs: a Smarties Orange Chocolate Easter egg has been reduced from 226g to 188g, for instance.

The rising price of Easter chocolate follows a pattern of inflation for cocoa prices over the past year, due to dry weather in West Africa, which accounts for about 70% of the world’s cocoa supply.

Nestlé, which makes Smarties, told Which?: ‘Like every manufacturer, we have been experiencing significant cost increases, making it much more expensive to manufacture our products. We have been working to be more efficient and absorb increasing costs where possible. However, in order to maintain quality and taste, it has been necessary to make adjustments to the weight of some products.’

In our Cost Of Living topic on LS:N Global, we are tracking how organisations and brands are flexing their business operations to cater for customers facing a global cost of living crisis.

Strategic opportunity

Don’t assume savvy shoppers won’t notice inflation and shrinkflation of products. Consider launching new products transparently marketed as a solution to the cost of living crisis, acknowledging the need for adjustment and innovation at a difficult financial time for both brands and consumers