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Across Latin America and the Caribbean, 27% of people over 15 are excluded from formal financial services, and only 30% have obtained a loan from a financial entity in the past year.

Aiming to help unbanked and underbanked people level up, Ecuador-based Banco del Pacífico has found a novel way for them to build their credit scores. With 'Banca Gamer,' the bank now recognizes assets held in gaming accounts — think skins and other collectibles with monetary value — as collateral for securing a loan.

To broaden your brand's reach, why not follow Banco del Pacífico's lead and embrace a wider definition of savings and investments? Which untapped digital assets do your (potential) customers hold?

Earlier in 2024, The Guardian launched Reclaim your brain, a free email aimed at helping readers spend less time on their phones. The newsletter is a five-week coaching program with evidence-based assignments and readers are coached by science journalist Caroline Phinney, who wrote 'How to Break Up with Your Phone' back in 2018. 

As reported by NiemanLab, "the newsletter quickly garnered 100,000 sign-ups" and became The Guardian's fastest-growing newsletter ever.

Two hours a day spent scrolling through Instagram and TikTok adds up to a whopping 30 days a year. People are increasingly aware of the vast amount of time they dedicate to their screens. As their unease deepens (along with aches in necks and shoulders), many are seeking ways to proactively manage their digital consumption rather than being passively overwhelmed by it.

Brands have countless opportunities to help customers slash their screen time and boost their wellbeing. From making apps less addictive and sending fewer promotional emails, to providing customers with delightful things to get up to IRL. Who's side will you be on...?

On World Book Day this year, Audi Spain took a creative approach to an age-old problem — nobody actually reads the owner's manual for their car. The German automaker teamed up with Penguin Random House to merge dry, technical manuals with captivating short stories. Seven Spanish authors were tasked with writing original pieces of fiction incorporating specific words and phrases from Audi's manuals — Novelas de Manual.

The result is a series of stories ranging from tales of World War II to musings on modern romance, each punctuated with highlighted words that allow the reader to jump to explanations of their vehicle's features and functions. For example, a story about "The Day Alicia Sabater Died" connects to information about replenishing brake fluid. The campaign was developed for Audi by Ogilvy and marks the fourth time the two have celebrated Book Day with literary projects. Previous initiatives included crowdsourcing stories that hadn't yet been written and transforming customer service anecdotes into fictional narratives. 

One hundred and fifty-four. That’s how many times members of Gen Z pick up their phone every day. In a world that often feels overwhelming, phones offer escapism. They promise to alleviate FOMO or provide an illusion of control. But do they really help? More often than not, no. Most online spaces don’t offer respite; they simply add to the noise and many are addictive by design.

Gen Z — both your consumer base and your workforce — needs strategies to declutter their digital lives, calm their minds and reengage authentically with the world.

In April 2024, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation launched the Second Life Helmet campaign to enhance motorcycle safety awareness. New motorcycle buyers at 32 participating shops received a helmet accompanied by a poignant reminder — a sticker narrating the story of the previous owner, who passed away in a fatal accident. The helmets weren't involved in crashes because the drivers weren't wearing them. Donated by the families of deceased riders, the protective headgear is meant to encourage consistent use among motorcyclists.

In Thailand, around 12,000 people die in crashes each year, with nearly three-quarters of those fatalities involving riders of motorbikes and motorcycles. Just 45 percent of Thai motorcyclists wear helmets, a figure experts describe as unacceptably low given the outsize risk of severe head injuries that even low-speed crashes can bring. Many Thais forgo protection for short rides, but safety advocates counter that fatalities can occur regardless of trip length, lending urgency to campaigns promoting helmet use.

The Seoul Dog Patrol Program is a voluntary citizen initiative where teams of dogs and their owners are appointed to watch for and report any suspected safety risks to authorities while going on walks in their neighborhood. Dog owners who sign up for the program have to undergo screening, followed by training on safety precautions and what to look out for during patrols. 

Organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the initiative started in 2022 with just 64 teams. In 2023, the program grew to 1000+ teams, who carried out over 48,000 patrol activities and reported more than 2,600 neighborhood safety risks — such as damaged facilities or people who appear to be intoxicated. The 2024 program kicked off this week with over 1,400 teams. This year, the goal is to expand to 2,000 teams and focus on preventing crime, ensuring the safety of women returning home late at night, and promoting responsible pet ownership.

Narrowly-defined beauty standards impact not just adults, but children as young as four. Research by Haleon, parent company of toothpaste brand Aquafresh, found that nearly half of British children aged 4 to 11 have suffered from low confidence because of how their teeth look — which is to say, not like a set of flawless, Hollywood-style pearly whites.

Rachel Deans, VP & Global Business Leader of Oral Health at Haleon points out: "The perfectly straight, white smile is on show in every movie we watch, every sports star we admire and gleaming through our phone screens courtesy of a bevy of influencers."

In response, Aquafresh commissioned a series of portraits by British photographer Rankin, celebrating the gappy smiles and wonky teeth most kids flash as they transition from baby to adult teeth. The brand aims to redefine dental aesthetics as #justhealthyteeth.

Generative AI is rapidly reshaping every industry, and F&B is no exception. From Finland comes what's claimed to be the world's first coffee blend crafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence. A roaster in Helsinki turned to AI to develop a unique coffee blend, marrying the latest machine learning technology with the traditional craft of coffee roasting.

The new AI-conic blend was created through a collaboration between Kaffa Roastery and Elev Consulting, a local firm specializing in AI applications. Kaffa provided data on its top-selling blends, which Elev fed into a large language model. The AI then analyzed the data and proposed an optimized coffee blend combining beans from Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia and Ethiopia.

According to recent reporting by IPSOS, shoppers trust humans more than AI when it comes to product recommendations: 89% trust advice from friends/family, compared to just 51% for an e-commerce site's AI recommendations based on purchase history and 38% for generative AI tools like large language models.

However, the more familiar people are with generative AI, the more likely they are to trust suggestions by apps like ChatGPT or Bard: 81% of frequent generative AI users, compared to 34% of people who rarely use gen AI.

Shoppers want AI to assist and explain rather than directly recommend products. The top use cases were finding deals (24%) and explaining product differences (19%), rather than making direct recommendations.

Recognizing the declining reading habits among older elementary school children, who are increasingly glued to their smartphones, Dutch network operator Odido has launched a creative initiative to reignite their interest in books. In collaboration with renowned children's author Marjon Hoffman, Odido released Het Telefoonboekje, or The Phone Booklet — a children's book designed to resemble a smartphone, with a story unfolding through WhatsApp-style conversations.

By presenting the narrative in a format familiar to kids, Odido aims to bridge the gap between their digital inclinations and the tactile and immersive experience of reading longer-form texts on paper. Elementary school teachers can order copies free of charge. Within 24 hours of launching the campaign, Odido ran out of the first printing and ordered an additional 30,000 copies.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a newly updated policy statement on climate change. Children are uniquely vulnerable to health impacts wrought by a warming planet, and pediatricians are prime witnesses to those consequences. Unambiguously, the AAP states that climate change threatens children's health.

As reported by Grist, the group is encouraging its members to incorporate climate change counseling into their clinical practice. Their advice addresses the nuts and bolts of adaptation, underscoring that climate change is here now: "Assess climate risks and recommend climate solutions when screening for and addressing social determinants of health such as energy, food, and housing security. Educate families on regional climate and health risks and protective strategies. Use existing anticipatory guidance as a framework for discussing climate change solutions. For example, encourage active modes of transport or promote consumption of plant-based proteins to reduce carbon emissions and promote health. Encourage family choices that reduce fuel consumption and promote mobility, such as utilization of public and active transportation, and fuel-efficient vehicles."

🩺 Whether your organization operates in healthcare or an entirely different industry, how can you help your customers adapt to the effects of climate change? Which practical advice and solutions can you offer?

The Singapore National Heritage Board recently launched Recustom, a fashion brand aiming to revive the country's tailoring community. The initial collection featured 15 exclusive looks, developed in collaboration with seven local designers, including Graye and ANS.EIN. Unlike conventional retail, these designs are not available off-the-shelf. Instead, customers must visit local tailors to recreate the looks using provided design blueprints and their own pre-loved garments as raw material.

Recustom looks to promote sustainable fashion habits and bolster the local tailoring sector, which boasts a rich heritage of craftsmanship and detailing but has suffered from the rise of fast fashion. Additionally, to encourage community involvement, the brand invites designers, tailors and fashion students to contribute new designs and expand the collection.

Lebanon has been without an elected leader for over two years, and the country has long been plagued by political gridlock and sectarian rifts. Newspaper An Nahar responded to the lack of leadership with an unprecedented move: it created an AI President. With the generative AI-powered entity, An Nahar aims to fill the power vacuum with a force driven by transparency, integrity and data-driven decision-making.

The AI President was trained on 90 years of journalism by An Nahar, providing it with a nuanced understanding of Lebanon's complex history and current challenges. The idea is that extensive training data — coupled with a bot's presumed objectivity and lack of personal agenda — positions the AI President as an impartial force capable of cutting through sectarianism, entrenched interests and partisan politics.

A statement from #OurAiPresident, presented in a special edition of An Nahar, reads, "Unlike previous presidents, my artificial intelligence is designed to serve the people, and I provide my analytical functions transparently and accessible to anyone looking for answers to the country's complex dilemmas." That transparency is on display on a dedicated website, where citizens can question the bot on any topic. After analyzing historical data and current events, the AI President responds with text and an audio file.

Defying societal taboos around women's bodies, parenting care brand Frida has launched Frida Uncensored — an online video library providing detailed, unfiltered instructional content showing real people using the company's conception, pregnancy and postpartum products. The demonstrations, filmed on all-female sets, provide candid views of acts like at-home insemination and prenatal perineal massage.

The videos address a startling lack of comprehensive, accurate resources available to educate women on their own bodies and health needs during transformative life stages. Frida's initiative is a direct response to the censorship that's common on social media platforms — the company's founders grew frustrated with their content being rejected or obscured due to puritanical squeamishness around female anatomy. (Sexualizing those same bodies to sell products, on the other hand...)

By hosting the videos on its own age-gated website, Frida circumvents those barriers while tapping into growing consumer demand for relatable, no-holds-barred learning. More how-tos are in the works, and Frida is casting women who are TTC, pregnant, postpartum or breastfeeding and willing to share their experiences.

Nearsightedness in kids is skyrocketing. In a cheeky stunt that initially had some parents and pundits outraged, Spanish eyewear giant Multiópticas launched a 'kid walking' service: Paseadores de Niños. The business purportedly employed people to take children outside for walks, highlighting the alarming reality that many kids today spend less time outdoors than household pets.

The concept was soon revealed to be an awareness campaign about the growing childhood myopia crisis. Hoping to slow down the growth of a Generación Borrosa, or Blurry Generation, Multiópticas wants to educate families on the importance of adequate sunlight and outdoor activity for preserving healthy eyesight.