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A Colombian eyewear brand has transformed what many would consider a limitation into a competitive advantage. Soul Optic employs blind artisans who handcraft sophisticated, screw-free frames in darkness, leveraging their heightened tactile sensitivity. Each pair of sunglasses and prescription glasses is meticulously assembled using a system inspired by Braille writing slates. The frames’ distinctive bridge design draws inspiration from bats — creatures who, like the artisans, navigate their world through heightened non-visual senses.

Rather than treating inclusivity as an afterthought or marketing angle, Soul Optic has embedded it into its core production process and brand identity. By developing a product and production process adapted to its workers, the company can provide economic opportunities for visually impaired individuals from disadvantaged communities. Besides forming a connection that’s clear as day for consumers to grasp — eyewear made by people who can’t rely on vision — Soul Optic is tangible proof of how assumed limitations can spark innovation when brands leverage purpose as their driver of creativity.

A new whitepaper from WARC Advisory and MSQ uncovers the untapped magic of rituals in people’s lives: Ritualized: where marketing meets meaning. Of 4,000 consumers surveyed (🇩🇪🇬🇧🇫🇷🇺🇸), 72% weave brands into their rituals, 70% are open to adopting new rituals, and 39% feel more positively about brands that become part of their rituals.

Rituals aren’t just (sometimes pseudo-religious) routines — they’re emotionally charged behaviors with transformative potential. By syncing with these moments, brands can spark lasting loyalty and boost emotional value. The paper defines four principles to guide brands as they explore the role of rituals in the lives of their customers:

1️⃣ Rituals are deeply personal: 1-in-4 consumers say rituals give life purpose, with strong ties to mindfulness and self-care.

2️⃣ Rituals support the individual: In today’s atomized world, rituals nurture the self and relationships – 56% focus on personal care or connecting with others.

3️⃣ Rituals provide structure in chaos: They stabilize, offering structure (33%), control (31%) and escape (32%).

4️⃣ Rituals balance meaning and efficiency: As hyper-efficiency reigns, rituals bring emotional depth, adding soul to their schedules.

In 2025, could your brand engage with rituals that help people find purpose or pause? As MSQ and WARC repeatedly point out: ”Consumers create their own rituals and decide whether and how to incorporate brands — not the other way around. A truly customer-centric approach is necessary to make the most out of this opportunity. The advice? Observe, facilitate, participate.”

Dutch secondhand marketplace Marktplaats has launched a children’s book aimed at normalizing used toys as holiday gifts, addressing an apparent disconnect between children’s and adults’ attitudes toward pre-loved playthings. While research shows that 66.6% of (grand)parents acknowledge children are just as happy with secondhand toys as new ones, only 9.7% of Dutch adults plan to give pre-owned gifts this holiday season. The hesitation stems largely from ingrained habits and social pressure, with 26.6% of parents feeling uncomfortable giving secondhand presents and 20.1% worried about judgments from friends and family.

To help shift these preconceptions, Marktplaats collaborated with children's author Lisa Maschhaupt to create “De kraam van Billy” (Billy’s Stall), a storybook about a child who opens a market stall to help friends find their dream toys without buying new ones. According to Florence Schmit, General Manager at Marktplaats, the book targets parents as much as it does children, using storytelling to challenge consumption habits and nudge people towards more sustainable gift-giving. The initiative comes as research reveals that 56.7% of parents would consider secondhand toys as gifts if it became more socially acceptable, suggesting that shifting social norms could significantly impact buying habits.

UK mobile operator O2 has unveiled an innovative approach to fighting phone fraud: an AI-powered digital grandmother who wastes scammers’ time with meandering conversations about knitting and family stories. Named Daisy, this “Head of Scammer Relations” combines various AI models to conduct real-time, human-like conversations with fraudsters, successfully keeping them on the line for up to 40 minutes at a time.

O2’s campaign arrives as new research reveals 67% of Brits are concerned about being targeted by fraud, with one in five experiencing attempted scams weekly — and not just older demographics. While 71% of people would like revenge against scammers who’ve targeted them or their loved ones, most are unwilling to waste their own time doing so. By deploying Daisy around the clock to answer suspicious calls, O2 is not only preventing scammers from reaching real victims but also gathering intelligence about their tactics to better protect customers.

The scam-baiting nana is part of O2’s broader “Swerve the Scammers” campaign, which includes spam-fighting tools and caller identification services. The company blocked 89 million fraudulent texts last year and intercepted over GBP 250 million in suspected fraudulent transactions. O2 is encouraging people to report suspicious calls and texts, giving them the satisfaction of knowing that an AI granny might well launch a counterattack.

Spanish fashion retailer Bershka has partnered with Los Angeles-based studio FFFACE.ME to launch what they’re calling “the world’s first TikTok clothing collection.” Building on four previous releases geared towards Instagram, the new phygital drop features five exclusive designs on t-shirts and sweatshirts primed for sharing on TikTok. Each Wearable Art shirt features a QR code that, when scanned with a smartphone, brings augmented reality elements to life for enhanced videos of the wearer that are optimized for uploading to TikTok.

The social commerce collection marks a shift from Instagram Filters to TikTok’s Effect House platform — a move prompted not just by TikTok’s popularity but also by Meta’s decision to shut down its Spark platform of third-party AR tools and content. According to FFFACE.ME, the previous semi-digital clothing collabs with Bershka generated over 64,000 pieces of user-generated content and more than ten million online impressions.

Targeting an audience of TikTok natives, Bershka’s collection demonstrates how phygital products can facilitate self-expression. By embedding AR, the retailer transforms basic clothing items into an opportunity for wearers to augment their real-world appearance with fantastical elements for a result that can be easily shared and remixed on the platform. How could your brand turn its IRL products into interactive tools for telling stories, crafting images and playing with identities?

Portuguese grocery retailer Pingo Doce is demonstrating how hyperlocal community engagement can be deployed at scale through its Bairro Feliz (Happy Neighborhood) initiative. Now in its fifth year, the program enables each of the chain’s 450+ stores to support local causes with microgrants of up to EUR 1,000. The initiative takes an entirely participatory approach: community members submit project proposals, and shoppers vote for their preferred causes using plastic tokens they receive with purchases: one token for every EUR 10 spent.

The campaign showcases how national retailers can maintain authentic connections with local communities no matter how many locations they operate. Since launching in 2019, Bairro Feliz has funded nearly 1,500 community projects, with causes varying by neighborhood based on local needs and priorities. Requests that have been fulfilled include musical instruments for a community center’s programs for kids, a vital signs monitor for volunteer firefighters and a campaign to neuter and spay stray dogs and cats.

Effectively turning routine grocery shopping into an act of community building, Bairro Feliz and similar programs elsewhere offer valuable lessons for companies looking to move beyond traditional corporate giving: by fragmenting their social impact budget into hyperlocal microgrants and empowering customers to direct those funds, brands can foster deeper community ties and ensure their social initiatives remain relevant to each location they serve.

Originally created by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky is a decentralized microblogging app that lets users curate their own algorithms with custom feeds (now firmly on Zuck’s must-copy list). Growth was steady but slow, sparking doubts: would it flop like Koo or could it be a viable alternative to X? Fast forward to today: in just two weeks, Bluesky’s user base soared to 19M+ as people fled X for calmer skies following the US election. The platform has become a refuge from Musk’s increasingly polarizing space (soon to be state media?), where political content feels unavoidable.

In 2025, could Bluesky dethrone X and solve misinformation and cyberviolence? Spoiler: nope. But its rise shows one thing: users crave better social spaces. 💬✨ Think: places to connect, debate (without toxicity), and explore identities. So, how can brands and platforms join this Elon-free movement?

✋ Take a stand: Follow The Guardian’s lead and say goodbye to X.

💡 Be inspired: Bluesky’s anti-toxicity tools and no-gen-AI-training pledge are setting new benchmarks.

🔗 Get together: Bluesky might not win on its own, but apps like Openvibe, which merges Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads, demonstrate the power of combining decentralization and aggregation.

Japanese video game maker Sega is rebooting the pager for today’s kids, but with a twist. Slated for launch in December 2024, Emojam is a WiFi-enabled messaging device that lets users chat with registered friends exclusively in emojis. It offers over 1,100 original emojis, with an Emoji Lab feature that can combine two emojis into a new one. Each message can contain a string of up to ten emojis, and the device supports one-on-one messaging as well as group chats for up to five participants.

To ensure a safe experience for kids, the product’s friend registration system requires two devices to physically touch before users can start chatting. This prevents strangers from being able to contact younger users, bypassing a major risk on most social platforms. Sega also hopes emoji-only conversations will limit kids’ exposure to harmful or hurtful speech. Emojam is priced at JPY 7,150 (USD 45), and Sega might launch the product internationally if it takes off in Japan.

Over half (54%) of parents across the UK, US, India, Germany and Australia regret giving smartphones to their children. Those seeking a healthier relationship with technology regularly turn to dumb devices, both for themselves and their loved ones. By stripping Emojam to one core functionality, Sega allows kids to sidestep the downsides of social media without disconnecting from their friends. Additionally, its text-free interface makes for a fun and creative way to communicate — one that’s second nature for an emoji-native generation.

Singles’ Day has become a calendar moment synonymous with mega sales, but PUMA India and Bumble celebrated the occasion by going back to the day’s matchmaking origins. On November 10th, the two brands joined forces to host a singles-only running event in Bangalore for young adults aged 21-35. The event aimed to provide an alternative way for singles to connect in person ahead of Singles’ Day on November 11th. Starting at Nexus Koramangala Mall, the 3 km run ended with a social mixer. 

The internet might have made it easier for people to meet, but genuine connections remain elusive. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the dating scene — 80% of Millennials and 79% of Gen Zs in the US say they have dating app burnout, primarily because they’re not making good connections, are being disappointed or feeling rejected. Singles looking to take a break from the algorithms now look to the real world for serendipitous encounters. Run clubs are turning into defacto dating pools, and remember the viral pineapple phenomenon in Spanish supermarkets? Brands have also taken notice: dating app Pique hosted a real-world ‘singles wall’ in Brooklyn, while Tinder partnered with Runna to launch a run club in London.

Bumble and PUMA India are addressing that IRL desire while tapping into another consumer shift: a growing love for alfresco activities. Following an initial pandemic-fueled boom, the popularity of the outdoors is here to stay — Chinese urbanites are picking up cycling for scenic countryside escapes, and running is the fastest-growing sporting activity in India. A study by Bumble in India supports this trend when it comes to dating — 72% of Indians are open to sports-themed dates, while 44% see a lack of interest in sports as a potential dealbreaker.

Beyond the context of romance, how might your brand help people foster new relationships IRL? Could the great outdoors or physical activity serve as a catalyst?

With iOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1, Apple introduced the Apple Intelligence suite, which boasts notification summaries, email shortcuts and photo editing tools designed to “simplify and accelerate everyday tasks.” While the aim is to streamline, Apple’s AI-powered summaries have become as much of a punchline as a productivity boost. Unlike rivals Google and Samsung, which fairly consistently deliver refined, time-saving AI, Apple’s small-scale LLM seems prone to delightful misunderstandings 🤭

Take @AndrewSchmidtFC’s experience: a notification from his mom about a challenging hike was summarized as an attempted suicide — causing a moment of shock, followed by hilarity and over 13 million impressions on X. It doesn’t take much searching to uncover countless other examples of users being met not with essential updates, but with misinterpretations that swing from amusing to absurd.

As entertaining as those fails are, Apple’s AI isn’t just a comedy of errors. The summary feature is generally useful when digesting longer texts; it’s the brief messages that are more likely to trip up the system. And while the new tools might fall short of high expectations set by Apple’s marketing department, they also underscore that progress doesn’t happen at a steady, linear pace. Alongside unfathomable leaps and bounds, there can be baby steps, missteps and the occasional face-plant — even for a behemoth like Apple. So, whether your own company is dabbling with or diving into AI, be prepared to pick yourself up and dust yourself off ;-)

A new online game is helping people master pronoun usage for transgender and non-binary individuals. Just launched to kick off Transgender Awareness Week in the Netherlands, Pro-Now provides a safe environment to practice gender-affirming language by way of a memory game. Through four progressively challenging levels, users are introduced to eight recurring characters — all actual members of the queer community — and complete fill-in-the-blanks that require remembering and correctly applying various pronouns in everyday sentences. The game’s structure trains pronoun muscles while removing worries about messing up during real-world interactions.

Pro-Now addresses a growing need as people encounter more diverse gender expressions — whether among family and friends, colleagues and clients, or their broader community. While many genuinely want to be supportive, they may still struggle with the mechanics of using correct pronouns. By providing a space where people can make mistakes without feeling awkward or causing harm, Pro-Now bridges the gap between good intentions and ingrained habits. One to bring to your own neck of the woods? Or could your brand build or sponsor a similarly fun and friendly tool to transform other social challenges into approachable learning experiences?

Following an earlier campaign in July 2024, fast fashion brand Mango is presenting its current crop of sportswear for teens using AI models. Set in a dance studio as well as outdoors, the lookbook images are marked as generated by AI. The move is part of Mango’s self-described “earn lever,” aiming to add value through better use of tech and data management.

The upsides for Mango are clear: creating AI images, once technology and processes are up and running, is quicker and cheaper than hiring human talent — saving not just on models but also on bookers, photographers, make-up artists, set designers, runners... In theory, AI models also make it easier to show clothes on a more diverse cast of people. So far, Mango seems to be skipping the opportunity to explore a range of sizes and ethnicities, sticking instead to a traditionally waifish, light-skinned young woman.

AI models aren’t just a natural fit for large (fast) fashion brands, though. Gen AI could be a significant driver of efficiency and creativity for smaller labels, too — sustainable knitwear brand Sheep Inc, for example, started experimenting with artificially generated models and backgrounds in 2023.

In an interview with Country and Town House last year, co-founder Edzard van der Wyck explained the benefits for Sheep Inc: “AI offered us an innovative, energy-efficient way to create a campaign with high production values without leaving a trail of carbon and waste behind. It’s been a real game changer for us, as it means we can combine detailed product photography with computer generated design, to create stunning visuals that showcase our products and world view in a much richer manner. It has also allowed us to make the sheep themselves central to our campaign without animal welfare issues.” Hard to argue with that ;-)

As age-based segmentation becomes less relevant for predicting consumer preferences and behaviors, brands are getting increasingly playful in how they engage with audiences young and old. Rather than focusing on perceived generational divides, they‘re creating products and experiences that resonate across age groups while challenging outdated assumptions about how people should behave at different life stages.

A few recent examples of brands embracing the shift:

🎢 Swedish amusement park Liseberg assembled a team of octogenarians to break the world record for the highest average age on a roller coaster, achieving an 80.1-year average and generating close to a million TikTok views.

🧸 Major toy manufacturers, including Mattel, Lego and Hasbro, are actively developing products for “kidults,” with adult toy sales surpassing those of preschoolers in H1 2024. Adult customers in the US spent nearly USD 7 billion on toys in the year leading up to July 2024.

🎮 IKEA tapped 76-year-old Twitch streamer Cath Bowie as the face of its BRÄNNBOLL gaming collection, recognizing that seven million UK gamers are over 55 and 49% of British gamers are female. Bowie says it was “love at first sight” when she was introduced to Fortnite and now streams daily.

🐟 Pepperidge Farm playfully rebranded Goldfish crackers as “Chilean Sea Bass” in a limited campaign that acknowledged adults’ continued enjoyment of the childhood snack, giving them permission to embrace their inner snacker without feeling like they’re raiding their kids’ lunch boxes.

🧶 With age-related stereotypes continuing to unravel, how can your brand lead the way through a more nuanced reality, where interests and behavioral patterns and interests transcend generational boundaries?

Gymshark is addressing a significant but often barrier for Black people aiming to get into the habit of getting physically active: hair. The athletic apparel brand recently opened Twist ’n’ Sets, a pop-up salon and hair supplies shop in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood, after research revealed that 45% of Black women avoid exercise to keep their hairstyles intact. The space offered complimentary hair treatments, styling advice and products from black-owned hair brands like Ruka Hair and TreasureTress, alongside Gymshark’s own sweat-wicking headband designed for curly and coily hair.

While a temporary installation can’t solve systemic inequities in fitness spaces, the initiative demonstrates how brands can take meaningful action by engaging with a specific demographic’s needs. Rather than sidestepping a complex issue, Gymshark created a practical solution that simultaneously validates the experiences of Black women and provides pragmatic support. The pop-up also serves as a blueprint for how other brands — within and beyond the fitness space — can make their communities more inclusive by focusing on overlooked barriers.

As clean technology faces renewed political headwinds, heat pump maker Quilt is taking an unconventional approach to building consumer advocacy. The California startup, which caught our attention earlier this year with its design-forward heating and cooling units, just launched a capsule collection of retro-style branded apparel, including sweatshirts, pants, socks and hats.

The move represents a savvy pivot in how climate-tech companies engage with end users. While heat pumps have traditionally been viewed as utilitarian background infrastructure — equipment is often selected by HVAC contractors rather than homeowners, so incumbent manufacturers historically focused on trade relationships — Quilt is positioning its products as consumer-facing lifestyle choices worthy of declaration. The apparel line transforms an invisible home upgrade into a visible statement of values, tapping into the rise of ”climate dads” and others eager to advocate for clean energy solutions.

The timing is particularly pointed given the uncertain future of clean energy incentives. With Donald Trump vowing to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits and rebates in his second term — in line with populist politicians in other parts of the world — companies like Quilt are racing to build mainstream momentum for heat pump adoption while government support remains. By making climate action fun, communal and identity-driven rather than merely sensible and ”the right thing to do,” brands can ensure that sustainable choices maintain their appeal even as policy tailwinds shift.