LSN : Signals & Stats : Need to Know 12 : 04 : 18

1. Facebook celebrates a new era of Indian freedom

'Live What You Love' Facebook campaign, India

India – In a bid to move away from its US base market, Facebook is celebrating its Indian users through a campaign focusing on personal expression and growth.

Co-created by Wieden + Kennedy, Live What You Love follows the lives of four individual characters – Sandeep, Neha, Sunny and Heena. Each film celebrates the normal and extraordinary things that wouldn’t be expected of their archetypes. The brand hopes to demonstrate how the platform enables its users to explore and expand their interests by providing them with timely content and relevant information.

‘There’s a very palpable desire in India to resist being defined by the expectations of others. Today people in India choose to define themselves,’ say creative directors Daniel Schaefer and Szymon Rose. In our Emerging Youth India market we explore how the next generation is reshaping India’s traditional democracy.

2. Juicebox offers personalised sex advice

Juicebox, US

US – As we adjust to a new era of relationship dynamics, the coaching platform is launching an evolution of its original app to offer sex and relationship advice to a wider audience.

Although Juicebox, a visual-first sex education app for Gen Viz, was successful, founder Brianna Rader discovered it was also attracting interest from older users. In order to meet the demands of this new cohort, the redesigned Juicebox now also connects users to an experienced sex and relationship coach from a network of certified experts. During the initial process, users are required to answer questions about their current needs which are later used to pair them to a coach. The app is designed to overcome the high costs of sex and relationship therapy by charging a more reasonable price (£16.91, $24, €19.39) per week.

Despite our screen-based culture providing us with more opportunities to meet people, it is also affecting our face-to-face dating skills. With a rise in social anxiety and lack of affordable support, there is a need for products and services to ease this transition.

3. A sustainable beer created without hops

US – Scientists have used gene editing to create a beer that mimics the taste of traditional lager, while removing the need to use water-intensive hops during the brewing process.

The team of researchers at the University of California Berkeley used gene-editing software to splice genes from mint and basil plants into brewer’s yeast, replicating two of the prominent flavour notes usually provided by hops.

The findings, which are published in the Nature Communications journal, show that in a blind taste test employees of the nearby Lagunitas Brewing Company found the genetically-modified version to taste more hoppy than a conventionally brewed alternative and were unable to perceive any ‘off-flavours’.

As consumers become more aware of the impact of their consumption habits on the environment, this new process could help to revolutionise both the craft brewing industry, which typically uses more hops per pint than traditional lager, and the drinks sector at large.

Tørst Beer Bar, Brooklyn

4. Entireworld champions accessible fashion

Entire World, US

Los Angeles – After the closure of Band of Outsiders in 2015, founder Scott Sternberg has launched a new apparel brand that better reflects his ideals of accessibility. Entireworld sells women’s and men’s apparel directly to consumers on a semi-monthly basis. As Sternberg no longer needs to compensate for wholesale margins, the basic clothing line will carry similar qualities to Band of Outsiders but will range between the prices of £10.57 ($15, €12.11) to £116.35 ($165, €133.23).

‘I was thinking about this before Band even closed, this idea of doing a brand that had a democratic price point and existed outside of the traditional wholesale system,’ Sternberg told Business of Fashion. ‘It feels more true to who I am as a designer and a brand architect. It’s more true to these ideas that I have around product design. It’s also quite literally a more direct route to communicate ideas without filtering those through a set of gatekeepers.’

5. Latin America benefits from women in work

A new report examining consumer lifestyles in Latin America has found that household’s disposable income is rising as a result of more women joining the workforce. This shift demonstrates how the global drive to empower women in the workplace is gaining traction even in cultures where women haven’t traditionally engaged in labour.

The findings also indicate that the general consumer landscape in Latin America is changing due to the rise in life expectancy and fall in birth rates. With the population rapidly ageing, there will be a demand for healthcare-related products and services in the future.

6. Thought-starter: Why is the rhetoric around sexual health still skewed?

With the introduction of new legislation allowing UK pharmacies to sell sildenafil – more commonly known as Viagra – over the counter, the drug is now part of the mainstream narrative. Why, asks foresight writer Rhiannon McGregor, is the same not being down for the morning after pill?

The move follows changes in regulation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which have resulted in erectile dysfunction treatments being reclassified from a prescription-only medicine (POM) to one that can be distributed under the supervision of a pharmacist.

It marks a significant shift in the narrative around men’s healthcare. Erectile dysfunction is a condition that affects as many as 52% of men of all ages, according to the Cleveland Clinic, but has traditionally been stigmatised as a condition related to old age and impotency.

In ensuring that Viagra – or Viagra Connect as it is being branded – is more readily available to the wider public, Boots has taken an significant step forward in assimilating the treatment into the mainstream narrative.

While shifting the conversation around erectile dysfunction is obviously important, this change does serve to exacerbate the stigma that lingers around the morning after pill. While no one is claiming that Viagra and the morning after pill serve the same medical function, when it comes to how each of these drugs is perceived, the gender gap is growing.

Read the full Opinion here.