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Brands are becoming hesitant about pride activations. This year, there’s been a noticeable decline in rainbow-colored merchandise and brand logos, as greenhushing appears to have extended to pinkhushing. Just as corporate fear of criticism and backlash saw sustainability claims replaced with silence, the same is now happening with DE&I initiatives. Ipsos Pride Survey 2024 predicts that just 10% of brands across 26 countries will visibly strive for LGBTQ+ equality in 2024.

According to the survey, the percentage of people who say they support brands "actively promoting equality for LGBT people" has declined slightly, with 44% expressing this sentiment in 2024 compared to 49% in 2021.

In light of this sentiment — and with brands including Bud Light, Nike and Target facing boycotts and backlash for aligning with LGBTQ+ issues — is it time to opt out? No! 🌈 Dive into the full Ipsos report for granular data that can guide your allyship efforts (no paywall or registration), and see the link below for relevant trend insights and innovations.

Dutch brewery Jopen has partnered with canned water brand SEA Water to create the world's first IPA brewed using desalinated North Sea water. The collaboration, dubbed Life's a Beach, aims to offer a refreshing and sustainable drinking experience while raising awareness about freshwater scarcity and marine biodiversity.

SEA Water transforms saline water into clean, mineral-rich drinking water using solar and wind energy only. Life's a Beach, a session IPA with an alcohol content of 4.5%, is the first beer brewed with SEA Water. Haarlem-based Jopen has pledged to donate a portion of the beer's sales to ReefSystems, a Dutch startup that develops artificial reefs to restore ocean biodiversity. The beer is now available at supermarkets in the Netherlands, various music festivals and — of course — bars and restaurants along the North Sea coast.

While worries abound about the role of AI in spreading disinformation in mega election year 2024, AI might be playing an even more central role in the form of actual candidates. In the UK, AI Steve is running for parliament in the constituency of Brighton Pavilion, while chatbot VIC aims to be elected mayor of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The central concept behind VIC — short for Virtual Integrated Citizen — is that it knows all local laws and can follow them to the letter. It also analyzes public records to identify constituent concerns and can be contacted by citizens. AI Steve, meanwhile, is recruiting at least 5,000 Brighton residents as 'creators' whose opinions will be synthesized into policy positions. A separate group of 'validators' will evaluate potential positions on a scale of 1 to 10 to determine whether they should be adopted.

Both candidates have humans acting as their meat puppets, performing the duties an AI chatbot can't, like attending meetings and enabling them to legally run for office in the first place. While their initiators believe democracy needs a new impulse and AI can better represent the needs and wishes of citizens, critics are raising valid concerns about accountability, ethical implications and the potential for manipulation. 

VIC and AI Steve might seem like gimmicks. But it's hard to deny the benefits of politicians without human egos who can effortlessly analyze hundreds of pages of documents in seconds. With sufficient safeguards in place, an approach that's data-driven, consistent and reflective of the public's needs could lead to more effective and equitable governance. The same principles might also be applied in corporate settings, paving the way for AI/human hybrid CEOs, or the ultimate customer feedback system. One to experiment with?

Grocery delivery platform Swiggy Instamart partnered with daily newspaper The Times of India (TOI) on an olfactory experience to promote India’s peak mango season. On 2 June 2024, the TOI Sunday Times front page featured a vivid, full-page visual of mangoes imbued with the fruit’s fragrance. Readers were invited to ‘read this ad with your nose’ for a complete sensory experience. Approximately 800,000 copies of the special edition were distributed.

On the surface, it's a prime example of multi-sensory marketing. In an increasingly digital world, where AI dominates headlines, physical acts like a mango-scented newspaper still stand out, adding surprise and delight to people's daily lives.

More fundamentally, the campaign taps into a significant cultural moment. Indians are passionate about their mangoes — social media often buzzes with debates about the best varieties. The fruit's limited annual availability also creates a festive feeling around 'mango season.’ Swiggy Instamart effectively inserts itself into consumer conversations through its well-timed ad, building brand affinity and potentially driving conversion.

While holiday marketing — and marketing holidays — are a longstanding practice, could your brand capture consumer attention by leveraging unique cultural moments instead?

Remember quiet quitting? 😶 It’s still very much a reality. Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report reveals that 15% of the global workforce is 'actively disengaged,' defined as actively opposing an employer's goals. Additionally, 62% is simply not engaged. According to Gallup's estimates, low engagement has a global economic cost of USD 8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.

The report uncovers factors that contribute to workers not feeling enthusiastic or involved:

• Loneliness: 20% of employees experience daily loneliness, rising to 22% among those under 35 and to 25% among fully remote workers.
• Job hunting: 52% of global workers are watching for or actively seeking new job opportunities.
• Stress: 41% of employees report high stress levels, and the percentage is higher for those in poorly managed companies (60%).

Signaling a path towards higher engagement is Gallup's finding that 70% of variance in team engagement can be attributed to the manager. With resenteeism on the rise, how will you help your managers and employees re-engage and thrive in their roles?

In May 2024, Shanghai techno club Heim hosted Bassbath, an inclusive clubbing experience geared towards individuals with hearing impairments. Created by curatorial collective Transparent Afternoon, the event was organized by a team comprised of both hearing and deaf members.

The club night saw music augmented with visuals and vibrations, while artists and advocates led activities designed to connect hearing and deaf partygoers, such as a sign language crash course and a sign language rap performance. And as the event's organizers point out, there's an equalizing effect when music is booming — it's too loud to talk, "so we express ourselves with body language." With plans for future events, BassBath aims to create a vibrant movement for the deaf community and its allies.

Marathon du Mont-Blanc reserves bibs for runners arriving by train

Later this month, 11,000 runners will descend on Chamonix to participate in one of eight races, including the Marathon du Mont-Blanc. Among the world's most famous trail running events, they're set in stunning natural surroundings. So it's not surprising that Le Club des Sports de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, which organizes the races, is bent on minimizing their environmental impact.

Previously implemented initiatives include banning plastic water bottles and reducing food miles by sourcing from local producers. Recently, Le Club des Sports de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc announced a new measure to drastically cut transport-related emissions: in 2025, 40% of all marathon bibs will be reserved for runners arriving by train. Participants who can't show their train ticket will be disqualified from starting.

Massive Attack offers VIP access and dedicated trains

British band Massive Attack, meanwhile, is wielding carrots instead of sticks for its August 2024 homecoming gig in Bristol — billed as the 'lowest carbon emissions show of its size ever held.' To persuade ticket-holders to travel by train instead of car, the concert's organizers are partnering with Train Hugger to offer a comprehensive set of incentives.

Train tickets can be swapped for a wristband that provides access to a VIP bar and toilets; wristband wearers get a free ride back to the rail station after the show via electric bus; post-show, rail operator GWR will also reserve five 'show special' trains departing from Bristol; and each train ticket will contribute to the planting of 19,150 native oak trees on former farmland near Bristol.

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is set to roll out a partnership with Flok Health, the country's first AI-powered physiotherapy clinic, in an effort to reduce waiting times and alleviate pressure on healthcare providers. Flok's platform, which has been approved as a registered healthcare provider, will offer NHS patients same-day access to automated video appointments with an AI physiotherapist via a smartphone app.

Patients seeking treatment for back pain can be referred to Flok Health through their primary care physician or can self-refer directly to the service. During an initial video assessment, the AI physiotherapist evaluates the patient's symptoms and, if approved for treatment, provides on-demand video appointments, prescribes exercises and pain management techniques and adjusts treatments based on the patient's progress.

For now, Flok has only been authorized to treat back pain, but it's working on clinics for other musculoskeletal conditions. The service will be introduced later this year.

The first product of its kind, Vaseline Pro Derma Transition Body Lotion is explicitly targeted to transgender women. The lotion was created in collaboration with Thailand's transgender community to address the unique skin challenges people face during and after the transition process. Ingredients tackle common skin-related side effects of hormone therapy, such as sensitivity to light, dullness, irritation, uneven skin tone and proneness to allergies.

Available exclusively at Watsons stores across Thailand and Watsons online, Vaseline Pro Derma Transition Body Lotion launched in February 2024. The product, which was suggested to Unilever by Ogilvy Singapore, just made the Glass shortlist for Cannes Lions 2024.

In the UK, around 250,000 tents are left behind on music festival grounds every summer, with most ending up in landfills. Addressing that colossal amount of waste, sporting goods retailer Decathlon has relaunched No Tent Left Behind, a campaign incentivizing customers to buy one of its tents and return it for a full refund.

Festival-goers who purchase a tent from the retailer's MH100 range and return it before 13 September 2024 will get their money back in the form of a digital gift card. They can use the tent as often as they like, as long as they don't damage it. The buy-back expands on a scheme initiated by Decathlon in 2023, which only applied to a GBP 29.99 tent.

While eco-friendlier choices often come with higher price tags, Decathlon's initiative aims to make a sustainable option not just accessible but more or less free of charge. The brand is also solving a problem it helped cause — with prices as low as GBP 29.99, consumers are inclined to view cheap tents as single-use items. As for the returned tents? They'll be refurbished and resold through Decathlon's Second Life program.

When thinking about the gender gap, pay and employment disparities often top the list. Now, a new divide is emerging, with AI threatening to widen existing inequalities. Deloitte highlights gender-based emotional disparities regarding AI, even among younger people:

📉 Women’s top emotion is uncertainty: 28% of Gen Z and Millennial women express uncertainty about generative AI, compared to 20% of Gen Z men and 24% of Millennial men. 

📈 Men’s top emotion is excitement: 24% of Gen Z men and 26% of Millennial men feel excited about generative AI, while 19% of Gen Z women and 20% of Millennial women say the same.

🧑‍🎓 Women also feel less comfortable working alongside gen AI systems and tools, and are less likely to seek out related training.

So, how can your company bridge the gender gap in AI adoption and comfort levels? Education is key! As the study found, AI knowledge drives trust and interest. Empower all of your employees through training, while honestly addressing their concerns. Ensure that women have equal access to AI-related projects that can help them gain practical experience, and actively seek to include women in key AI initiatives and leadership roles within AI projects.

On June 5th, World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that humanity is at a "moment of truth" in the fight against climate change. Guterres spoke directly to advertising agencies and PR companies: "Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed — even as they have sought to delay climate action — with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies."

Guterres continued: "I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones. Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet — they're toxic for your brand. Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause. They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet — not trashing it."

"Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco. Some are now doing the same with fossil fuels. I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising."

No-code platforms that leverage AI are plugging a gap that previously only developers could fill — exponentially expanding opportunities for side-hustlers. From drag-and-drop tools to democratized app creation, no-code platforms remove the roadblock of development costs and know-how, and reportedly save creators up to 26 hours a week.

Recent launches include Kajabi, which allows anyone to build their own branded app, KLIQ, which helps creators transition into business owners, game creation platform Jamango, and immersive web experience builder Infinite Reality.

As more people aspire to take the leap into full-time maker/solopreneur mode, how could your brand support them with mentorship, financial capital, community or access to advanced AI tools?

From Delhi to Sacramento, temperatures are soaring, with 2024 poised to shatter last year's records for the hottest summer ever, leaving cities sweating and scrambling for cooling solutions… 🥵

A study published in Nature Communications in May 2024 warns that by 2050, the cumulative heat exposure for older people (aged 69+) will triple worldwide, affecting 246 million people. The effect will be particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa that are more prone to climate change-induced heatwaves. Coinciding trends of aging populations and rapidly rising temperatures are set to create hotspots of vulnerability.

As the study explains, "Increases in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat spells pose direct threats to physical health and mortality risk, with especially severe consequences for older adults, given their heightened susceptibility to hyperthermia and common health conditions worsened by heat exposure, such as cardiovascular disease."

In the face of these new climate realities, what's your strategy for supporting vulnerable aging populations in your region?

Instead of a tome about Swedish stugas or the origin of meatballs, IKEA Poland has published a Lexicon of Good Language. It's a guide promoting inclusive language and challenging harmful and exclusionary rhetoric in everyday communication. The lexicon was created with seven NGOs as part of IKEA's ongoing #ChangingTheNarrative campaign. Each section focuses on language related to different groups vulnerable to discrimination: people with disabilities, the LGBT+ community, national and ethnic minorities, refugees, younger and older people.

The Lexicon of Good Language was designed to be accessible and easy to understand. Each chapter lists which words are discouraged and why, along with suggested alternatives. By sharing the document as a free download, IKEA aims to inspire people to check whether they're being unintentionally hurtful, and to rethink which terms and phrases they incorporate into casual conversations and workplace interactions.