LSN : News : Postage stamps that deliver a climate warning

Diesel personalises jeans with 2020’s cancelled plans

Unforgettable Denim by Diesel Italy

Italy – Fashion brand Diesel is encouraging people to celebrate the unexpected memories made in 2020, by capturing their cancelled plans on custom-made jeans.

The Unforgettable Denim campaign claims that ‘not even 2020 can cancel a great pair of jeans’. A dedicated brand film shows a young group of friends having fun, making the best of their year and sporting jeans that showcase events they’ve missed out on as a result of the pandemic.

From a yoga retreat to a wedding, the branding panels found on Diesel jeans capture their cancelled plans, with the brand prompting people to instead connect over the shared experience of 2020's twists and turns. By allowing users to personalise jeans in-store and via the brand’s website, Diesel lets customers be part of their garment's design.

Tongue-in-cheek campaigns like this often resonate with younger audiences who appreciate brands providing humour, personalisation and sharable moments. For more on youth attitudes, look out for our upcoming Media and Youth Futures Forum.

Postage stamps that deliver a climate warning

Berry Creative with the Finnish Post, Finland

Finland – Berry Creative's heat-reactive postage stamps aim to deliver an urgent message about the climate emergency.

Commissioned by the Finnish Post, the stamps use colour-transforming ink that reacts to the heat of a fingertip, revealing three hidden images forecasting the outcome of the climate crisis. A snow cloud turns into a thunderstorm, an image of immigration becomes mass migration of climate refugees, and a bird in flight transforms into a skeleton, representing the mass extinction of Finland’s native species.

Featuring bright colours and jagged edges, the stamps denote a sense of urgency, while physically attaching the environmental message to letters and parcels being sent across the country. Speaking about the purpose of the stamps, Timo Berry, creative director of Berry Creative, explains: ‘Unlike the effect in the stamp, climate change is not reversible.’ He adds: ‘Usually I like to communicate an alternative, a way to go forward, not just point to a particular problem, but here there was no space for that.’

Using thoughtful design can deliver an eco-conscious message. Discover more by exploring the ideas, innovations and actions that brands can take to bring Sustainability to the fore.

Amazon turns shoppers’ palms into payments

US – The retail giant is unveiling its own palm recognition technology that will allow shoppers to pay by simply hovering their hand.

Initially set for use in Amazon Go stores in Seattle, the Amazon One concept identifies users by the palm of their hand, using a combination of surface-area details like lines and ridges, alongside vein patterns to create a palm signature. In retail environments, Amazon One transaction devices will use image scanning hardware to capture a palm image and recognise it as a form of payment.

‘We believe Amazon One has broad applicability beyond our stores, so we also plan to offer the service to third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that more people can benefit from this ease and convenience in more places,’ explains Dilip Kumar, Amazon’s vice-president of physical retail and technology.

A step on from facial recognition services, Amazon’s palm payment provides users with an extra level of security as well as a more hygienic and touch-free alternative to fingerprint readers. For more on tech-enhanced payment services, explore Biometric Money.

Amazon One, US

UK shoppers spend big on pay day

Shopify Hardware Campaign

UK shoppers often make impulse purchases on or close to pay day, spending large amounts of their disposable income within 24 hours of being paid, according to analysis by Moneywise.

The financial platform reports that UK consumers spend some 43% of their disposable income within a day of being paid. Excluding bills and essential items, 22% of Britons said more than half of their money is gone within 48 hours of being paid. This means that over half (52%) of UK consumers are forced to find extra money each month to see them through to their next pay day.

As consumers continue to recognise the mental and physical burden of unhealthy money habits, they’re looking to brands to provide financial wellness services that promote better long-term saving and spending.