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The so-called 'millennial lifestyle subsidy' — convenience offered at low prices by a slew of venture capital-backed apps and services — is coming to an end. No more free money means apps are raising prices, while higher interest rates (and inflation) are also cutting into consumer spending power. Many are still happy to pay for convenience, as witnessed by strong Q2 earnings posted by Instacart and DoorDash.

Others, once accustomed to cheap rides and meal deliveries, are now seeking alternatives. Reporting on the shift, Business Insider describes 31-year-old Sarah Manley facing sticker shock: "If I was using rideshares and the delivery apps and everything the way I was, I would run out of money each month," she says. Some people are ditching delivery and reverting to old-fashioned, pre-app shopping habits; others are getting creative and thrifty, comparing prices across platforms and using public transit more often.

Companies are refining their pricing models and strategies, too. Bilal Baydoun of the Groundwork Collaborative warns that dynamic pricing could become more widespread, making budgeting difficult for consumers: "It's making people miserable to not know what things cost." As businesses pursue new pricing tactics, customer loyalty may erode (or worse, as witnessed by the backlash against supermarket Kroger for alleged price gouging by way of electronic shelf labels). The good news? Caution and concerns create space for empathic brands to demonstrate they understand the plight of value-focused consumers.

This summer, the city of Montreal is hosting a series of free dog behavior workshops at Le Ber Park Dog Park. The initiative, aimed at enhancing public safety and improving quality of life for both pets and their owners, offers expert advice on a range of canine-related topics.

The 15-minute sessions, followed by Q&A time, cover crucial aspects of dog ownership, such as managing dynamics in dog parks, understanding canine play and communication, bite prevention, and addressing aggression between dogs. By equipping owners with knowledge and practical tips, the city hopes to cultivate a community of well-behaved dogs and informed caretakers.

🐕 🐾 Remember pandemic puppies? Many weren't properly socialized and owners are still struggling with their maladaptive behavior. As reported by the Guardian, "Six in 10 vets surveyed by the welfare charity People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals for its annual Paw report on pet wellbeing reported a rise in canine behavioral problems — most commonly jumping up, barking and whining, or showing distress when left — in the last two years, along with a more worrying rise in dogs growling, snapping, biting or showing other signs of fear."

People are seeking practical know-how that puts them back in the driver's seat and brings them peace of mind. Cities, brands and other organizations — figure out which aspect of life your audience needs a helping hand with, and offer convenient and low-stakes tutoring tailored to their needs.

Over the past year, Nissan has been developing automotive paint that can lower a vehicle's temperature when the sun is beating down. Developed with Radi-Cool, the paint incorporates material with unique light-reactive properties. In a 12-month trial at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, vehicles treated with this paint have shown up to 12°C/21.6°F cooler exterior surfaces and 5°C/9°F cooler interiors compared to traditional automotive paint. The cooling effect is particularly noticeable when vehicles are parked in the sun for extended periods.

Radiant cooling paint is typically used on buildings — like the Coors Light rooftop 'chillboards' we featured in 2022 — and creating an automotive-grade version was challenging. While still in the testing phase, Nissan hopes to eventually offer the paint for special orders in various colors, focusing on light commercial vehicles that spend most of the day on the road. And this isn't just about keeping cars and their drivers cooler. Lowering interior temperatures means less power needed for air-conditioning, which could improve the range of electric vehicles and place less strain on their batteries. Nissan's ambitions seem all too modest. One to roll out to every car by every brand?

Brands have been co-creating products and services with customers for decades. The concept is gaining fresh momentum in the form of open beta testing, with various brands ‘launching’ semi-baked products and inviting consumers to help adapt and refine. 

Why now? On the one hand, it’s a transparency play from brands looking to build strong, trusting relationships with consumers. And on the other, it reflects the growing presence of generative AI, which consumers are increasingly using to (wildly) reimagine existing brand offerings however they please.

A couple of recent examples that demonstrate how brands are tapping into consumer preferences and creativity for involved iteration:

• MM:NT Berlin Lab defines itself as a beta-hotel and the world’s first and only ‘hotel laboratory’. The highly digitized property opened in July 2024 with the intention of learning more about consumer preferences and behavior over time – information it will then leverage to continually tweak and improve the guest experience both in Berlin and in future hotels it plans to open. 
• KFC Philippines recently launched a campaign inviting consumers to use an AI-powered image generator to create Meta stickers of their dream KFC snacks. After gathering countless data points on consumer preferences, the brand selected 11 of the most innovative ideas and rustled them up IRL. While KFC’s snacks were just prototypes to be enjoyed by the winners, rather than consumer-facing products, the initiative reveals how gen AI is becoming a valuable testing ground for brands who are brave enough to engage with it.

Is it time to rethink your launch strategy? Whether or not you make AI part of the mix, bring consumers into your product development process by involving them in your earliest iterations.

Dating apps have lost their appeal. Bumble's share price tanked two weeks ago after it released a somber annual earnings forecast. Earlier this year, on Valentine's Day, a lawsuit was filed against Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge. As reported by NPR, the plaintiffs argue: "Harnessing powerful technologies and hidden algorithms, Match intentionally designs the platforms with addictive, game-like design features, which lock users into a perpetually pay-to-play loop that prioritizes corporate profits over its marketing promises and customers' relationship goals."

No wonder people are burnt out and fed up, especially Gen Z, who are more cognizant than any other cohort of how tech companies combine gamification and monetization to capitalize on human emotions. Aiming to set itself apart from questionable algorithmic practices and swiping fatigue, a niche dating app is offering an IRL alternative. Over multiple weekends this summer, newcomer Pique is hosting a 'love wall' in Brooklyn's McCarren Park.

A photographer snaps Polaroids of consenting passersby, who add a few details about themselves before their portrait is posted on the wall. Anyone who spots someone they're interested in can leave their contact information, and Pique will put them in touch. (On its app, meanwhile, Pique replaces swiping with a daily multiple-choice question. After selecting an option, the user is presented with six people who picked the same answer.)

Other brands — whatever industry you're in — which alternatives to swiping could you offer? How can you help people meet and connect in a more organic and less transactional way?

SevenSix Agency’s 2024 Influencer Pricing Report revealed significant pay disparities 📉 among UK creators:

• White creators earn 45% more on average, bringing in GBP 1,637 per sponsored Instagram Reel
• That’s 34% more than Black creators, who earn GBP 1,080 on average
• South Asian creators make GBP 1,135 (-31%)
• East Asian creators earn GBP 1,009 (-38%)
• Southeast Asian creators see the lowest earnings at GBP 700 (-57%)

This goes beyond ethnicity — hair texture, age, skin tone and disability also affect pay. Preexisting biases might have crept into the creator economy, but consumers are clamoring for more diverse content...

Gen Z, the most multicultural and queer generation yet, isn’t content with homogenous influencer line-ups. They want to see niche creators who truly reflect their experiences. For brands, this goes beyond checking a DEI box and token representation — connecting authentically with Gen Z means showing real support for marginalized voices. As the creator economy continues to grow, how will you help bridge the pay and opportunity gap?

Alipay Little Purse, the money management and savings tool on Alibaba’s payment platform, has released a gamified experience that helps users grow their savings account. Launched in July 2024, Scripted Savings (剧本攒, “jù běn zǎn”) features various AI-generated short stories with genres ranging from romcoms to workplace survival. Users choose a story to follow, completing specific tasks to progress and unlock subsequent chapters or story elements.

For example, a user following a romcom script will be asked to choose a gift for their fictional date. The amount corresponding to the selected gift price will then be credited to their Little Purse account. Users do not actually earn any fresh funds from this exercise, as the amount saved will be deducted from their own Alipay wallet — the game simply motivates consumers to set aside the funds to save. As of 30 July 2024, Alipay reported that Scripted Savings had garnered 400,000 active users.

The initiative was partly inspired by a social media phenomenon earlier in the year called ‘Pretend and Save’ (假装存钱, "jiǎ zhuāng cún qián"), where people create imaginary scripts to motivate themselves to save money. Alipay’s Scripted Savings helps users close the perennial intention-action gap by leveraging two other established elements of Chinese online culture: micro dramas and microtransactions. Consumers are used to paying to unlock micro drama episodes or acquire in-game items. But instead of spending, consumers are now prompted to save.

Beyond motivating consumers make better financial choices, Alipay is increasing traffic to, engagement within and stickiness of its Little Purse feature. How could your brand leverage gamification and pop culture to boost engagement and nudge consumers towards better habits?

Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan is famous for producing sweet potatoes and shochu, a spirit distilled from the crop. Kirishima Shuzo, a brewery that's been operating in the area since 1916, has adopted a method to generate biogas and electricity from two brewing byproducts: shochu lees and potato scraps. Last month, Kirishima Shuzo and Starbucks announced a partnership to launch a joint establishment running on sweet potato-generated power.

Scheduled to open in spring 2026, the space will house a Starbucks store with a drive-thru, a store managed by Kirishima Shuzo, and a botanical garden for visitors’ enjoyment. On top of running on power generated from shochu brewing byproducts, the site will also use thermal discharge from the distillation process for winter heating and repurpose food waste for coffee and sweet potato crop fertilizers.

Starbucks is known for its unique branches that pay homage to local culture or tradition, such as repurposing a traditional 100-year-old machiya in Kyoto. It turns each outlet from just another coffee shop to a space for consumers to collect a shareable status story. This latest space adds sustainability to the mix, attracting consumers with the promise of a novel experience while exposing them to circular practices. Can your brand encourage consumers to adopt greener choices through storied offerings? As always, showing beats telling ;-)

As a global brand, collaborating with Kirishima Shuzo gives Starbucks an authentic local anchor and a strong association with local culture. Conversely, the shochu brewery is riding on Starbucks’ global presence to reach a wider audience. Who can your brand partner with to amplify the impact of your sustainability initiatives?

In an unconventional move that could, um, wipe the competition, Lewes FC has announced a two-year partnership with eco-friendly toilet paper company Who Gives A Crap. The deal will see the profit-for-purpose brand featured as the UK soccer club's front-of-shirt sponsor for its home and away kits.

Stef McLoughlin, Lewes FC's Commercial Manager, hailed the partnership as "the perfect alignment of two purpose-driven organizations joining forces to create change." Who Gives A Crap donates 50% of its profits to improve sanitation worldwide (roughly 40% of the global population doesn't have access to a toilet) and has already raised over GBP 7 million. Lewes FC, meanwhile, is the world's first professional or semi-professional club to treat female and male players equally, offering them the same playing budgets and training facilities. Gender equality is a central theme for the toilet paper brand, too, since women and girls are disproportionally affected by a lack of running water and adequate sanitation systems.

"This is not your normal sponsorship; it's about driving donations, not fame," says Emily Kraftman, UK MD of Who Gives A Crap. That said, the brand is known for its colorful paper wrappers and applied a similarly bold design to Lewes FC's away shirts, resulting in an eye-catching print — with that equally audacious brand name — that's guaranteed to help spread the word about its mission, on and off the soccer field.

Consumer enthusiasm for tech-powered shopping is big — whether it's social commerce 🛍️, in-game buying 🎮, AR try-ons 🕶️ or AI-driven recommendations 🤖. But there's one thing tech can't replace (yet): the power of touch. The latest EY Future Consumer Index, published in July 2024, confirms this:

• 57% of consumers across 30 countries still crave to see, touch and feel products before buying
• 32% continue to value the personal service that only in-store shopping offers
• 68% seek expert advice for high-value purchases to make the most informed decisions

It’s a balancing act: while 68% of consumers love AI-curated offers, 49% are frustrated by ineffective chatbots and 33% worry about biased AI recommendations... ⚖️

The silver lining? Leverage tech as a sidekick, but keep human interaction front and center. Take Target, which is rolling out a gen AI-powered chatbot to empower retail staff, ensuring top-notch customer service.

🎯 So, how will you blend tech and human touch to create the ultimate customer experience?

Since finding time to meet up with friends can be challenging, especially during the summer months when many are out of town, Mexican beer brand Tecate developed a solution. Leveraging Google Calendar, the brand's new Momentitos app syncs up a person's calendar with that of their friends, finding slots when everyone is available. Aiming to reduce last-minute cancellations and forgotten plans, the app automatically adds confirmed get-togethers to participants' calendars.

Momentitos, available for iOS and Android, was launched to promote Tecatita Light, which is Tecate Light beer in diminutive cans of 237 ml and 190 ml that can be finished before getting warm when temperatures are high. Tecate is pitching Tecatita Light — with its lower alcohol content and smaller serving sizes — as an everyday beer, which aligns with the app's goal of encouraging casual meetups any day of the week.

In recent years, the loneliness epidemic has become a growing concern, particularly as more people report feeling isolated despite being more digitally connected than ever. The convenience of Tecate's Momentitos app, paired with the casual nature of Tecatita Light, encourages people to prioritize spending time with friends, no matter how packed their calendars are.

Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun... It's a familiar recipe worldwide, but in the UAE, the resulting burger is #NotDonalds. At least, not if served up by She Burger. The local chain just launched two limited-edition sandwiches that resemble iconic offerings typically found beneath a pair of golden arches.

She Burger makes no reference to regional conflicts, (dis)claiming instead that "This campaign is meant to be taken lightly and is not intended to offend or compare ourselves to any other brand." The brand seems more interested in playfully offering a better-tasting version of the Big Mac. But its limited edition products — She Burger is also selling a "100% Replicated Double Cheeseburger" — made their debut amid continuing boycotts of Western brands, driven by solidarity with the people of Gaza. On social media, customers are raving about the replicas while simultaneously calling for She Burger to remove Coca-Cola from its menu — another brand under attack for its perceived support of Israel.

The launch of #NotDonalds ("She's fakin' it") coincides with McDonald's reporting a 1% decline in revenue related to the war in Gaza. Notably, the slump in sales isn't limited to Muslim-majority countries. In a Q2 2024 earnings call for investors, CEO Christopher Kempczinski highlighted France's significant Muslim population: "When you think about the Middle East, the impact that we're seeing in France has been more than maybe in other markets because of that population."

While the boycotts stem from feelings of outrage and grief, #NotDonalds is (also) reflective of a more positive emotion — local pride. International brands once dominated many product categories in the Middle East, but they're facing increased competition from domestic and regional brands like She Burger, which are gaining momentum as the consumer landscape evolves, reflecting shifting preferences and geopolitical realities.

State broadcaster France Télévisions has transformed its nightly weather segment into the Journal Météo Climat.' The format sees regular weather anchors collaborate with climate scientists to offer viewers a comprehensive perspective on weather patterns and long-term implications of life on a hotter planet.

The five-minute newscast contextualizes daily weather within broader climate news and events — for example, a new report on the rapid decline of forests' ability to act as carbon sinks — helping the audience connect day-to-day weather events to overarching climate trends. To balance sobering news with optimism, the program also highlights stories on climate mitigation, adaptation and solutions.

Viewer engagement is another key component. Using the #OnVousRépond hashtag or an on-screen QR code, audiences can submit climate-related questions, which are then addressed by either the weather presenter or a scientist. Sunday broadcasts feature a special segment where children pose questions directly to the camera, adding a multigenerational dimension to the dialogue.

Contrary to expectations that viewers might switch channels once climate content appears, the new format has resonated with French audiences and boosted the network's ratings. Public concern about climate change is growing in France, fueled by increasingly frequent extreme weather events, particularly droughts and intense heatwaves. France Télévisions launched Journal Météo Climat in 2023. Last month, Audrey Cerdan, the network's climate editor, was awarded a 2024 Covering Climate Now Journalism Award.

Since the launch of ChatGPT nearly two years (!) ago, the global appetite for outsourcing everyday tasks — both professional and personal — to technology has surged. Looking ahead, Dentsu's June-published study finds that nearly half (49%) of consumers worldwide say they’d like to have an AI clone to manage shopping, administrative tasks and communication by 2035. In APAC, this figure climbs to 62%. 👥

Asian consumers’ enthusiasm for AI is supported by another study from McKinsey, which found that 16% of global consumers regularly use gen AI outside of work, rising to 30% in APAC. That report also found that Gen Z are early adopters, with 31% utilizing AI for daily life hacks — from home décor suggestions to crafting travel itineraries. Many expect AI to offer expert advice, replacing traditional consultations.

Fans keen to immerse themselves in the world of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — the sequel to Tim Burton's cult '80s film — should head to Roblox. The gaming platform has partnered with Warner Bros. and Fandango on [Beetlejuice] Escape the Afterlife, which features characters and scenes from the original movie and the upcoming film alongside a virtual box office selling actual tickets. Players who purchase movie tickets through the virtual box office receive an exclusive avatar item. To extend the reach of [Beetlejuice] Escape the Afterlife, it's connected to four popular Roblox community-created experiences, including Barry's Prison Run and The Floor is Lava.

This is part of Roblox's broader push into commerce. Last month, beauty brand e.l.f. sold real-world products on the platform as part of its e.l.f. UP! experience, and Walmart has been ramping up in-game commerce throughout 2024, most recently launching Your Dorm Your Way for college students. For brands, these partnerships offer an opportunity to reach younger demographics — 32.4 million of the game's DAUs are under 13 (although the Beetlejuice experience is open to players of all ages, movie ticket purchases are only available to those aged 13 and older). For Roblox, it's a chance to enrich the UX, maximize ad value and improve creator monetization. 

And for consumers? More ways to engage with characters and brands, and new routes to product discovery: 58% of global consumers say that an immersive experience will play a pivotal role in influencing their buying decisions. Not everyone wants to engage with brands on gaming platforms, of course, but this approach does appeal to hyper-engaged fans looking for meaningful experiences connected to their passion points. The key? Providing entertainment first, and commerce second.