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Transforming the simple act of returning a shopping basket into a tool for engagement, WWF Japan recently launched a ‘Shopping Basket Voting’ initiative. The idea is to let shoppers vote on sustainability initiatives by returning their baskets to designated ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ areas in response to specific questions from retailers. For example, whether people support adding doors to coolers to save energy, or removing plastic trays from meat packaging.

The concept addresses a critical challenge: while Japanese consumers want to live more sustainably, 50% find sustainable options too expensive, 38% don’t know what actions to take, and 28% believe their individual actions don’t matter. Implementing a voting mechanism creates a low-effort way for shoppers to influence a store’s practices. And it’s a cost-effective method for retailers to gauge customer support for sustainability investments, helping them make informed decisions and ensure buy-in.

There’s a powerful nudging effect at play here, too. The visible accumulation of shopping carts in voting areas creates social proof, potentially influencing other shoppers’ behavior and creating a collective sense of impact. The binary choice simplifies decision-making, while the public nature of voting creates accountability for retailers to act on the results.

Shopping Basket Voting was developed in partnership with The University of Shiga Prefecture. Following a pilot a grocery store in Tokyo, WWF Japan has made the system’s design and implementation guidelines freely available through its website.

The creator economy is reaching new heights, with nearly two-thirds (65%) of consumers now purchasing products and services from creator-founded companies. That's according to creator agency Billion Dollar Boy, which recently polled 4,000 people across the US and UK.

According to that research — keeping in mind that the company stands to benefit from a buoyant creator economy — creator entrepreneurs are slightly outpacing traditional brands on consumer preference, with 27% of shoppers more likely to buy from creators or influencers, compared to 24% who expressed a preference for established companies. Buying behavior is particularly pronounced among younger demographics, with 91% of consumers aged 16-24 having purchased creator-founded products.

Behind this shift lies a mix of motivations. While 35% of shoppers say they want to support small and emerging businesses, nearly a third believe the products on offer are actually superior in quality. Other reasons: trusting influencers over traditional brands, feeling like part of a community, wanting to get in on a trending product and being a loyal follower of a creator.

So, what are people buying? Personal care/beauty leads the category mix, with 40% of consumers having purchased a creator-founded skincare, make-up or haircare product. Food and drink is next at 21%, followed by fashion at 17%. The phenomenon is notably stronger in the US, where 71% of consumers have bought from creators, compared to 58% in the UK.

Brazilian beauty giant Natura has unveiled its first-ever sonic identity, created by capturing and transforming the electrical pulses of Amazon rainforest trees into melody. Developed in partnership with Africa Creative and sound design studio Soundthinkers, the initiative leverages proprietary technology to translate bioelectric signals of native trees into a distinctive audio signature that will be used across the brand's communications.

The process involved sticking sensors on trees to record their electrical signals, which were then analyzed across parameters like tempo, tonality and timbre. The resulting soundmark aims to reflect Natura's commitment to biodiversity — the brand is a founding member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade — and to 'Bem Estar' (wellbeing) while forging a deeper sensory connection with its audience. For other brands looking to strengthen their sustainability messaging, the project shows how innovation can align environmental commitments with consumer touchpoints in ways that feel both tangible and emotionally resonant.

In April 2024, German supermarket chain REWE opened its first 100% vegan store. Now, the brand has shared its findings after six months of operations. The small store (212 square meters/2282 square feet) serves an average of 5,500 customers weekly and offers over 2,700 vegan products — nearly double the plant-based selection found in regular REWE locations. 

So, what are people buying? The ten most popular products include chocolate croissants, franzbrötchen (a regional variation on cinnamon rolls), freshly prepared coconut-almond spreads, cucumbers, bananas, oat-based soft-serve ice cream and deli sandwiches featuring schnitzel alternatives and smoked tofu. While REWE hasn't yet announced plans to roll out additional vegan shops and the store's location near Berlin's Warschauer Bridge, with high foot traffic from nearby offices and public transit, is likely crucial to its viability, the pilot store's early success offers valuable insights for retailers considering plant-based concepts.

Unlike REWE's conventional stores, where flexitarians drive plant-based sales as part of mixed shopping baskets, the 'voll pflanzich' location attracts those seeking an all-plant-based shopping experience. Customers have indicated that they enjoy the convenience of not having to read labels to check if a product is vegan, and the store's management has been quick to add new products like a line of tofu seasoning and a potato-based milk alternative. And as the popular pastries and soft-serve ice cream confirm, affordable treats (chocolate croissants are EUR 0.99, franzbrötchen are EUR 1.09) are dependable drivers of customer traffic ;-) 

Many of your stakeholders — from customers to factory workers — are feeling more fearful and vulnerable. The 11th Future Risks Report by Ipsos and AXA surveyed 19,000 people and 3,000 experts worldwide, revealing an escalating mood of anxiety. The cause? A relentless polycrisis 🌪️

According to the data, 90% of people sense a surge in crises, while 91% feel the pressure is hitting harder every day. Vulnerability is at an all-time high: of the 25 risks studied, 22 have record levels of concern. Climate-driven issues might top the list of worries, but AI risks are also on the radar, and societal and political anxieties are surging. Misinformation is now among the most feared threats 🤯

In a move that adds depth and meaning to in-flight dining, Turkish Airlines recently began serving bread made with wheat sourced from Taş Tepeler in Southeastern Anatolia, one of the first regions where humans cultivated grain and baked bread some 12,000 years ago. The initiative connects directly to the airline's sponsorship of archaeological excavations at Taş Tepeler, where findings indicate early agricultural communities transitioned from gathering wild seeds to establishing the foundations of farming.

The small, warm loaves are served to business class passengers on overseas flights departing from Istanbul and come in cloth bags explaining their origin. In doing so, Turkish Airlines transforms a typically forgettable aspect of airline catering into a tangible marker of Turkey's role as a cradle of human civilization. The carrier's (re)introduction of 'the world's oldest bread' taps into an enduring consumer desire for products with genuine heritage and still-made-here appeal. The initiative goes beyond simply celebrating Anatolia's agricultural legacy — through its support of the Taş Tepeler excavations, Turkish Airlines demonstrates how brands can both honor and nurture the places they call home.

Dutch Design Week 2024, Northern Europe’s largest design event, lit up the stage with Europe’s freshest creators. Here’s a peek at top student concepts sparking change:

🧘 NOISE takes mindfulness beyond mobile apps with a tactile, audio-visual device by Benedikt Herzau. 🇩🇪 Winner of the UX Design Award Gold 2024, it’s a soothing escape from digital chaos.

🧵 Screen time has dulled kids’ fine motor skills, but Anna-Maria Nilsson 🇸🇪 weaves a solution with KLURA — a math-meets-embroidery tool to revive dexterity and creativity.

🍆 Sex-toy shopping gets a stigma-free twist with Sander van der Lecq’s 🇳🇱 conceptual store for easytoys_nl, where imagination flows freely.

🦜 Mundo Pemón, a VR tour by Ana Lorena Lodeiros, 🇨🇭 invites users to explore Venezuela’s Canaima region and Pemon culture, raising Indigenous awareness through immersive storytelling.

🧴 Addressing the Sephora kids debate, Nataly Sijtsma 🇳🇱 introduces SkinTwin, duo skincare packs for kids and caregivers that build healthy habits and bonding time.

💧 The Reef by Anton Vervoort 🇧🇪 leverages the filtering power of Dreissena polymorpha mussels to tackle agricultural water pollution. Winner of the national James Dyson Award.

Are your brand’s pain points ready for a student-inspired fix? Explore these projects and more by DDW creators to shape the future of design 🔮

Bridging a gap in women’s healthcare in the Middle East and North Africa, Cairo-based Motherbeing has launched Daleela, an AI-powered health assistant that addresses the often-overlooked needs of Arabic-speaking women. The app provides culturally-sensitive information about sexual and reproductive health through a secure, anonymous platform — tackling social barriers that have historically limited access to essential resources.

What sets Daleela apart is its targeted approach to democratizing healthcare knowledge. The AI assistant draws from its own database of expert-verified information, delivering personalized guidance while maintaining strict user privacy. The core features are free, with additional premium content available for subscribers, including educational videos, articles and podcasts.

While Daleela can’t provide medical diagnoses, the app demonstrates how (generative) AI can be deployed to serve communities that face specific cultural and structural hurdles in accessing information — whether in healthcare or other domains. The launch comes as femtech is gaining momentum, with more startups focusing on developing region-specific solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches to women’s health.

WWF's Living Planet Report 2024 sounds the alarm: average wildlife population sizes have plunged by 73% (!) since 1970, with the steepest declines in Latin America & Caribbean (95%), Africa (76%), Asia-Pacific (60%) and freshwater ecosystems (85%). Ecosystems are nearing their tipping points, from the Amazon’s rapid dieback to coral reefs’ decline.

For 2025, it’s time to take off the carbon tunnel glasses and bring biodiversity into focus. This week’s UN biodiversity conference in Colombia urges brands to act, too!

💡 Ask yourself: how is your brand contributing to biodiversity loss? What can you do to safeguard and regenerate nature? Amid rising climate adaptation demands, consider how you’ll reshape your processes and priorities with biodiversity — and its (mainly Indigenous) guardians — in mind.

ByteDance's publishing arm is making a strategic move into print books, capitalizing on the explosive growth of #BookTok, TikTok's bibliophile community. The Chinese tech giant's 8th Note Press, which launched as a digital-only publisher in 2023, announced a partnership with independent New York-based publisher Zando to bring physical editions to US bookstores starting in 2025.

The expansion comes as TikTok continues to drive unprecedented growth in print book sales. According to the New York Times, print sales for authors with large BookTok followings reached 41 million units in 2024 to date, representing a 23% increase compared to the same period last year. That growth significantly outpaces the broader adult fiction market, which was only up by 6%.

The pivot to print acknowledges a crucial dynamic of BookTok culture: influencers prefer physical books they can display on their shelves and hold up in videos. 8th Note Press and Zando aim to publish 10-15 titles annually, focusing on genres that resonate with millennial and Gen Z readers, like romance, 'romantasy' and young adult fiction — and on topics that align with whatever is (about to be) trending on TikTok.

A new startup is tackling the environmental impact of disposable earplugs with a mycelium-based alternative. GOB has developed what it claims is the world's first plastic-free, compostable earplug. The need for a sustainable alternative is more pressing than one might imagine: manufacturers currently produce around 40 billion single-use earplugs annually, enough to circle the Earth nearly 100 times if laid end-to-end.

Beyond addressing the problem of plastic waste, GOB's mycelium earplugs also focus on health issues associated with traditional earplugs. Made of PVC foam, these may contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals, while vinyl chloride, a precursor to PVC, is a known carcinogenic. GOB, meanwhile, uses mycelium foam created by Ecovative's Forager, which can grow 3 million square feet of material a year on one acre of land.

According to GOB, the performance of its product matches or exceeds that of traditional foam plugs: AirMycelium foam provides balanced acoustic dampening while maintaining sound clarity. The material also has memory foam-like properties, conforming to a user's ear shape without causing discomfort. When the earplugs reach end-of-life, they're 100% home-compostable and break down into soil nutrients — a stark contrast to conventional PVC-based alternatives. The company is currently accepting pre-orders, with shipments expected to begin in early 2025.

Accenture's Life Trends 2025 report surveyed consumers across 22 markets and spotlights 5 key trends. One that caught our eye? Cost of hesitations. And this stat in particular: 62% of consumers now say trust is an important factor when choosing to engage with a brand, up from 56% in 2023.

In 2024, consumer trust was put to the test as AI-generated content flooded feeds. Concerns over algorithmic bias, copyright, deepfakes and privacy rose, leaving 59.9% of consumers doubting online authenticity. Platforms that were formerly discovery-friendly spaces became oversaturated with AI-generated content, leaving consumers more wary than ever.

📉 A closer look: 38% of consumers encountered fake product reviews in 2024, while 52.8% regularly question the authenticity of reviews they read. But the problem is bigger than reviews — everything from product visuals to brand identities (Austin's viral restaurant Ethos doesn't actually exist; all the images on its Instagram feed are AI generated 🥐🦛) are under a microscope. Heading into 2025, how can brands rebuild trust and show AI delivers real value, not just quick ROI?

A new collaboration between automated vision testing company Eyebot and online eyewear retailer Zenni will see the rollout of self-serve testing kiosks designed to provide prescriptions in just 90 seconds. Eyebot's S1 kiosk offers a streamlined alternative to traditional eye exams. First, it scans a person's eyes using infrared light. Then it guides the user through a visual acuity chart, providing additional data for a prescription. People can also place their current pair of glasses in the unit's lensometer, which scans lenses in 3 seconds. The entire process is self-serve and touch-free, and offered free of charge.

If a new prescription is needed, the collected data is sent to a tele-doctor in Eyebot's network, who reviews the test session and issues a prescription, which costs USD 20. The Rx is sent to the user via email or transmitted directly to a retailer's ordering system — in this case, to Zenni, which sells glasses starting at USD 12.99. Zenni waives the prescription fee for customers spending USD 49 or more on eyewear. The first two co-branded kiosks are now operational in Boston-area malls, with a further eight to roll out in New England over the coming months.

Eyebot aims to tackle a pressing healthcare issue: 30 million Americans currently live with uncorrected vision problems, with access particularly limited in lower-income communities. One-quarter of US counties lack an eye doctor, making routine vision care challenging for many. By reducing barriers around cost, time and location, automated testing — made viable through partnerships with retailers like Zenni — is a scalable solution that could help reshape how underserved communities access basic vision care. Beyond prescriptions, Eyebot's goal is to expand into diagnosing eye disorders and diseases.

As a greenhouse gas, methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Yet it often flies under the radar. A new tool called Open Methane, launched this month, is set to change that. Working with AKQA, decarbonization non-profit The Superpower Institute has developed a free and open-source tool to track methane emissions in Australia.

Combining advanced satellite technology with in-situ measurements, Open Methane maps emissions across Australia at a 10×10 km resolution, providing data that is accurate, transparent and auditable. Accuracy is key here — agriculture was long deemed Australia's leading source of man-made methane emissions, but it turns out coal mining and natural gas extraction are the dominant contributors. For a sense of scale, a single coal mine inland from the Great Barrier Reef (studied in 2018 and 2019) had the same annual impact on global warming as over 4 million US cars. 

The first results from Open Methane reveal that Australia's methane emissions could be around twice as high as the country's official data. Why the discrepancy? Current numbers rely heavily on self-reporting by the fossil fuel industry, often using outdated methods. And those lower-than-actual numbers inform policy, so legislation isn't based on the real and urgent need to take action, like enforcing the implementation of readily available solutions to curb emissions.

Methane accounts for around 30% of global warming since pre-industrial times, and its atmospheric concentration is accelerating at record speed, partly due to increased fossil fuel extraction and consumption — Australia has 117 new coal and gas projects in the pipeline. On the upside, cutting the fossil fuel industry's methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective ways to limit global warming.

Since, to paraphrase Peter Drucker, you cannot mitigate what you cannot control and you cannot control what you cannot measure, business leaders could have a massive impact by proactively improving their operations based on accurate data provided by sources like Open Methane. There's an opportunity to speak directly to consumers here, too — they've grown understandably skeptical of sustainability claims, and providing data that can help them verify and validate sustainability claims is the most transparent way to build back trust.

Live events are booming, but there’s a disconnect. Performers are frustrated because fans are more focused on capturing content than soaking up the live vibe. Heineken has a fix. Following the buzz around its minimalist Boring Phone (a collab with streetwear brand Bodega that saw impressive demand), Heineken returns with an app called Boring Mode, urging people to embrace the moment, phone-free.

To promote Boring Mode, Heineken used stealth tech at major music events like the Silver Live Out Festival and, most recently, at DJ Barry Can’t Swim’s opening set at Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). The tech made a message appear on attendees' screens if they were using their phone's camera, 'Keep the moment in your memory, not on your phone,' nudging them to stay present.

📈 This push follows a survey revealing that 41% of Gen Z and Millennials across the US, UK and Netherlands are frustrated by excessive phone use at concerts (35% admit to checking their phones too often during social events). And while 55% prioritize filming over being present, only 13% ever watch the videos they made.

With the Boring Mode app, available from October 2024, Heineken brings its be-here-now approach to any phone running iOS or Android. The app silences notifications and makes phone cameras shoot in low definition, reinforcing the brand's mission to spark real-life connections in an always-online world.

📵 Whether to boost crowd engagement and create immersive experiences, or to nurture connections with friends and family, could your brand step in to block distractions? How else might you help your audience be more fully present?