Climate change remains the top global risk for the third consecutive year, with 63% of experts and 45% of the general public ranking it in their top five concerns. But heightened awareness doesn’t always translate into behavior changes, with good intentions thwarted by barriers like high costs and inconvenience. While consumers rightly demand corporate and government action on sustainability, AI is revolutionizing what's possible. It's already a powerful education and curation tool. Now, brands will put it to work to bridge that persistent say-do gap and make circular living frictionless. In 2025, can you develop products and services that make LOOPLIFE practices the default? As AI simplifies sustainable choices, it promises to reshape not just individual behaviors but broader consumption patterns. The opportunity extends beyond eco-friendly nudges to reimagining how people consume.
Berlin-based Faircado triumphed at the Slush 100 competition in December 2023, securing EUR 1 million for its AI-powered browser plugin that finds cheaper secondhand shopping options online. Partnering with over 50 platforms, such as eBay, the startup streamlines the shopping experience, earning revenue through commissions and fees for traffic redirection. The goal is to address the fragmented secondhand market and meet rising consumer demand for sustainable shopping. Faircado will use the winnings to expand the team and develop an app.
Finnish climate tech company Binit has developed the Binit Waste Tracker, a device designed to reduce household waste. Mounted in the kitchen, users scan trash using built-in cameras and sensors. LLMs are employed to analyze waste and provide feedback through an app, which includes features like a weekly rubbish score. Founder Borut Grgic reported a 98% accuracy in trash recognition. After pilot tests in the US and Europe, the device is set to launch in Q4 2024 for around USD 199, offering free basic analytics with premium features expected via subscription.
October 2024 saw Carrefour Argentina partner with Wasteless to tackle food waste in 640 stores across the country. Wasteless' AI-powered tech automatically adjusts discounts on perishable items to ensure they sell before their expiry date. According to the brand, this reduces markdown costs by 54%. The system uses machine-learning algorithms to predict which items are likely to be wasted. Wasteless AI was already in use in Carrefour stores across the US, France and Germany.
The quest for wellness remains a powerful driver of consumer behavior, but in 2025 the path to enlightenment will intersect with a growing interest in personalized experiences (up 20% between 2022 and 2024, per Deloitte). Technological innovation is driving the emergence of immersive, sensory-focused experiences that can be tailored to the participant's emotional cues and physical responses. The next step? Giving people the opportunity to learn something about themselves in the process. How will your brand bridge the gap between data and discovery? Create sensorial experiences that don't just monitor internal states, but transform them into pathways for deeper self-knowledge.
Turkish Airlines launched a unique art project titled Inner Portrait in collaboration with renowned artist Refik Anadol at June 2024’s Art Basel. To create the series of four works, Anadol sent four people who had never traveled abroad before to new destinations and used sensors to capture their raw emotional data in the form of heart rate, skin conductance and EEG outputs. This information was then translated into virtual immersive experiences which aim to demonstrate the connection between travel and neuronal activity. The airline is releasing a 30-minute documentary about the portraits in Q4 2024.
The [Mind]ography from FUJIFILM's instax used AI and neuroscience to recreate lost digital memories. Working with Dr. Paul Scotti of Princeton Neuroscience Institute, the team reconstructed support worker Nicole Toum's memories, which she lost in digital form. After functional MRI scans mapped Nicole's brain activity as she visualized each memory, AI algorithms generated images from her thoughts. The campaign generated significant social impact, reaching 12 million viewers. The exhibit premiered at Sydney's China Heights Gallery, coinciding with FUJIFILM Australia's 20th anniversary.
Budweiser hosted an interactive experience at Tomorrowland Brazil in October 2024, inviting festivalgoers to share their dreams in the 'Circle of Dreams'. Participants voiced their aspirations and had their portraits taken. These were then transformed into digital artworks that blended their likeness with visual representations of their goals. The artworks were displayed on stage screens, resulting in a collective showcase. The goal was to empower attendees to embrace and manifest their goals, and encourage them to take steps towards achieving them.
As economic turbulence continues, the coming months will further reshape consumers' definition of value. And given that Gen Z continues to fall out of love with 'traditional' work (49% across five countries say it falls short of expectations), 2025 will see new models for creating and capturing worth emerge. Forward-thinking brands are already building frameworks that recognize these new forms of value creation. They aren't just experimental concepts or alternative payment methods – they represent a deeper transformation in how engagement and loyalty translates into worth. The brands that thrive will be those that help consumers unlock value in unexpected ways. Success lies in creating systems that reward authentic participation and strategic engagement. Time to prove your worth to consumers?
In July 2024, the cult US beauty brand Glossier partnered with community platform TYB (Try Your Best). The platform allows brands to list challenges – submitting a selfie that can be featured on Glossier’s social channels, for example – with customers rewarded with points that can be used for discounts. According to Vogue Business, over 10,000 fans signed up in the first 24 hours. Other beauty brands active on TYB include Rare Beauty, P&G-owned Ouai and Dieux; many use the first-party consumer insights they have access to guide product development and campaigns.
Launched in June 2024, The Co-Worker Game on Roblox allowed players to experience working in a virtual IKEA universe – helping customers, gaining promotions and exploring various departments. Ahead of the launch, fans over 18 and based in the UK or Ireland could apply for one of the 10 virtual roles, with successful candidates earning GBP 13.15 per hour (IKEA's hourly rate of pay for a London co-worker). The broader Roblox community could enjoy interactive experiences and win exclusive IKEA user-generated content. The initiative is part of IKEA's 'Careers Done Different' campaign and targeted a new generation of co-workers.
Inspired by a social media trend called 'Pretend and Save', where people create imaginary scripts to motivate themselves to save money, July 2024 saw Alipay Little Purse launch an AI-powered game to foster better savings habits. In Scripted Savings users take part in narrative gameplay, answering questions and completing tasks in order to earn virtual gifts – the prices of which are then credited to their Little Purse account. Players with more virtual earnings can engage in richer dialogue and more in-game actions. In the first month, Scripted Savings had 400,000 active users.
Rapid advances in technology are prompting a rethink of what it means to be human. And that's manifesting in pop culture phenomenon like Brat Summer and Inside Out 2 which embodied the powerful urge to (re)connect with the flaws, messiness and vulnerabilities that are intrinsic to the lived experience. As algorithmic, AI-centric content and ads start flooding the ether, many are pushing back and embracing the real – in all its messiness. There's a growing desire to recenter the human experience. From a brand perspective, that could mean embracing imperfection. Championing emotional authenticity. Celebrating complexity. Showing that you value variance. In the coming months, how will your brand help write the next chapter of our collective humanifesto?
Give consumers space to feel. London-based fashion label Miista temporarily transformed part of its New York store into a corporate office-themed rage room before it opened
in July 2024. The space was decorated with discarded supplies found around the city, and Miista invited members of its NYC community to physically express their frustrations by smashing and destroying everything in sight. The concept evolved into a 'community rage wall' where visitors are encouraged to write their concerns (personal or political) on Post-It notes that are displayed on the wall.
After a survey revealed that 87% of US Zillennials admit to cooking fails during special occasions, Knorr unveiled #EffortIsEverything ahead of Thanksgiving in November 2024. Images of real-life cooking mishaps from three consumers were showcased on the brand's social media channels and a digital OOH ad in NYC. Limited-edition packaging featuring the photos were also available as part of Knorr's Kitchen Confidence Kits, which consumers could enter to win via Instagram. Fans could also post their own meal on social media with the campaign hashtag.
Nonna's Cam is an analog camera ('the type your grandma would use') with a surprising feature: a hyper-realistic finger that partially obscures the lens. A personal project from Madrid-based duo Augusto Callegari and Pedro Mezzini (AKA The Surfers), it was inspired by memories of childhood photos which often feature 'accidental mistakes'. In an interview with It's Nice That in November 2024, Mezzini commented: "In a world obsessed with flawless selfies and photoshopped pictures, we want to celebrate the beauty of imperfection. Embrace amateurism. These so-called 'mistakes' aren't just quirks; for us, they're (literally) fingerprints of our humanity."
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