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At its Alfafar store in Valencia, Spain, IKEA has launched a community-focused initiative providing free retail space to nine local businesses devastated by last October's catastrophic floods. The program, called "La meua llar és la teua" (My home is your home), enables entrepreneurs to reconnect with customers while their original premises are under reconstruction and repairs.

Among the businesses finding temporary shelter at IKEA are a bookstore, a fashion boutique, a plant shop and a beauty salon. Participants were selected by Nittúa, a Valencia-based platform for socioeconomic innovation. As reported by Europa Press, the initiative represents a lifeline for struggling entrepreneurs like Cristian, CEO of workwear retailer Worket: "The flood took away our store and left us in uncertainty. Today, we have the opportunity to resume our activity in IKEA's space. This isn't just a place to sell — it's the hope of starting over." 

For IKEA store director Diana Carrero, the program embodies solidarity in challenging times: "We're convinced that unity creates strength, which has become even more irrefutable after the past months." The collaborative approach not only helps flood-affected businesses survive but demonstrates how large retailers can leverage their resources to support local economic recovery following a crisis.

Reliable cue to get people talking about what’s wrong with society? Netflix and co. Take Adolescence, Netflix’s latest record-breaking hit — it’s not just bingeable, it’s igniting debate about the toxic grip social media holds on teenage boys. Over on HBO, White Lotus season 3 isn’t just stirring (sorry, spoiler) incest discourse — it’s tackling political theology, too. And Apple TV+’s Severance made headlines not only for its interactive pop-up installation at NYC’s Grand Central in January but also for its chilling take on surveillance and workplace drudgery. Separating office memories from personal ones — utopian dream or straight out of Black Mirror?

💡 The Severance Effect: British workplace mental health platform Unmind found that 46% of Gen Z (and 35% of all Brits) would actually choose to be ‘severed’ if they could — a telling stat when the majority of global employees have considered quitting for their mental wellbeing.

🎭 The study also highlights how employees mask their true selves at work:

• 33% of workers admit to pretending they’re busy to look productive — jumping to 47% for Gen Z
• 38% have a ‘work persona’ that doesn’t match their true self — climbing to 52% among Gen Z
• 44% of Gen Z say their job consumes too much of their identity, making it hard to separate work from life. Since Severance-style work-life detachment isn’t an option (yet), how can brands help employees unplug — and drop the workplace act?

💬 From screen to scene: Whether it’s Severance, Adolescence or the next big binge, what shows are your customers talking about? Pop culture isn’t just small talk — it’s a powerful bridge to tackle tough, taboo topics, from social media toxicity to workplace burnout. Even awkward convos between coworkers, families or reality TV couples (Love is Blind, anyone?) feel easier when reframed through a cultural lens.

🤯 Beyond the buzz: In a content-cluttered, chaos-fueled economy (where even Gen Z is burnt out on micro-trends), brands need a clear, thoughtful point of view — not just gimmicky collaborations. Does your brand care about employees’ mental health, tackling the manosphere or bridging socio-political divides? If so, make sure your messaging reflects that.

Last month, a group of young Singaporeans spent Valentine’s Day not at a cocktail bar or a typical event space, but at a laundromat. The dating mixer featured beer, a live DJ and quirky games like blindfolded laundry folding. It was hosted by Hangout Laundry, a local establishment reimagining the laundromat experience. First opened in December 2024 in the heartland neighborhood of Bedok North, the fully air-conditioned space doubles up as a café and co-working space. Its stylish, multi-functional set-up makes waiting for laundry more comfortable and productive. A 30-minute basic wash (16 kg) costs SGD 7, and drying is SGD 1 per five minutes, competitive with typical public estate laundromats in Singapore.

Hangout Laundry is part of a rising wave of modern laundromats in Singapore making laundry more convenient, comfortable and communal. Another establishment, The Daily Tumble, caters to pet owners with machines labeled “special care” for pet accessories. Patrons can sip kombucha, ginger beer or specialty coffee at the on-site self-service café while they wait. Meanwhile, aviation-themed The Good Husband Laundromats and Drycleaners reinvents the laundry experience with massage chairs, an Instachef meal vending machine and even a pop-up barber.

While demand is partly driven by practical needs — compact homes, lack of drying space and busy households — this wave reflects something deeper: a return to community-first local businesses. Beyond meeting a functional need, these laundromats are serving as third spaces — reviving the communal spirit by turning routine errands into opportunities for connection. In turn, consumers develop a sense of ownership over the spaces and chip in to do their part to make the experience better for everyone. At Hangout Laundry, patrons often voluntarily help newcomers and keep the space tidy. At the Daily Tumble, visitors contribute to a mini library of kids’ books.

The shift toward supporting local, which sparked during the pandemic, has endured. Today, local businesses are evolving into community hubs, where practical benefits meet organic connections. What opportunities exist for your brand to create similar urban oases? How might you foster a sense of ownership and connection within your brand’s existing physical spaces?

Last week, in a striking visual statement on representation in literature, Amazon Brazil transformed the Memorial of Latin America Library, emptying shelves to showcase only works by Black authors. The installation, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, highlighted the stark underrepresentation of Black voices in Brazil's literary landscape.

The campaign connects to a broader initiative by Amazon, the Kindle Black Voices Prize (Prêmio Kindle Vozes Negras), which recognizes independent Black authors publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing. The competition, open for submissions until 6 April 2025, offers winners cash prizes as well as publication deals with Companhia das Letras, plus audiobook conversion through Audible Brazil. 

Amazon's library installation turns the underrepresentation of Black voices into a visceral, tangible experience. It's not just about highlighting the issue; it's about making people feel and grasp the absence of writing by authors who have been systemically sidelined. That said, Amazon's initiative also raises questions about who controls the future of Black literature. True progress will come when diverse voices are wholeheartedly embedded into the publishing ecosystem — without needing corporate allyship to bring attention to their existence.

While agencies and brands across industries debate whether to use AI influencers or actual people in their campaigns and product shoots, Amsterdam-based Moederannecasting offers a third option: AI-generated versions of human models. The casting agency's new initiative, DigiAnne, creates digital twins of IRL models to address one of the most persistent problems in generative AI: authentic representation of distinctive individuals.

The technical limitations of generative AI become apparent whenever brands attempt to create diverse imagery. "Gen-AI is notoriously poor at prompting people with unique features. This is not because it is unwilling; it is because it wasn't trained on the right data," explains DigiAnne. Meanwhile, consumers are growing weary of homogenized beauty standards perpetuated by algorithms and AI. DigiAnne aims to break through the blandness.

The joint initiative between Moederannecasting and Aigency Amsterdam invites models to sign up to have their digital twin constructed. AI is trained on photos that capture their distinct features and individuality, and a contract ensures their rights and earnings are safeguarded. Clients can then browse those digital twins, select individuals who fit their campaign needs and receive customized AI-generated content featuring the hybrid models — allowing them to maintain authenticity and behave ethically while benefiting from AI's efficiency.

Research shows that most shoppers are more likely to buy from brands that make efforts to represent people like themselves — not algorithmic approximations. By training its AI tools on real, diverse individuals, DigiAnne taps into that consumer expectation. One to try out for your next campaign?

Since the 1970s, 'No Ball Games' signs have quietly shaped city life in London, restricting play and movement in public spaces. But a new initiative, More Ball Games — launched by London Sport and ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi — seeks to change that. By removing the outdated constraints, the campaign aims to unlock access to free, active spaces, particularly for children in lower-income communities, where over half fail to meet recommended activity levels. The campaign kicked off by attaching a basketball hoop to one of the estimated 7,000 signs.

The initiative addresses a troubling reality: more than half of young Londoners fail to meet recommended activity levels, with children from lower-income communities disproportionately affected by restricted access to spaces for play and movement. Research reveals that each removed 'No Ball Games' sign could benefit approximately 80 children, allowing them to be more active outside. The campaign frames this as not merely about promoting sport, but about dismantling both individual and systemic obstacles to physical activity.

While urban infrastructure projects often take decades to implement, removing these prohibitive signs represents a low-cost and immediate intervention to boost community health and cohesion. Beyond supporting physical health, the campaign acknowledges the vital role of play in childhood development, community building and neighborhood connectivity. By reimagining public spaces and challenging archaic regulations, the initiative aims to spark a cultural shift that prioritizes movement and play as essential components of public wellbeing.

Sleep is no longer just a fundamental human need anymore — it’s the path to peak self-actualization, with REM cycles the new wellness frontier. IKEA’s extensive global sleep study, IKEA Sleep uncovered, surveyed over 55,000 people across 57 markets, exposing how sleep deprivation, inequality and tech habits are fueling the sleep economy:

⏳ Sleep shortage: People globally sleep 1 hour and 20 minutes less than they aim for — that’s 20+ full days of lost 💤 per year.

🌍 Sleep inequality: Mainland China leads in sleep quality, while Norway snoozes at the bottom of countries surveyed. The US? Second to last — coinciding with its lowest-ever global happiness ranking.

😴 Hypersomnia rising? 28% rate their sleep quality as poor, 19% wake up more than twice a night and 18% wake up tired nearly every day.

🛌 Snooze over schmooze: 70% of people rank sleep as one of life’s greatest joys — climbing to 74% among 18-24-year-olds. Over half (58%) even prefer staying in and snoozing to going out.

😰 Stress and financial anxiety: Anxiety and overthinking rob 40% of people of shuteye. Among financially insecure people, 27% wake up multiple times per night — above the global average (19%).

📱 Bad screentime: 72% use their phones in bed — spiking to 86% for 18-24-year-olds, the group most worried about sleep. Laptops (24%) and TVs (39%) are also used in bed.

Coinciding with 2025’s sleep awareness month, IKEA is going full REM. Here’s the brand highlight: 

🛋️ Design your sleep while you sleep: IKEA and MRM Madrid flip sleep tracking into shopping — analyzing your nighttime behavior to serve up personalized, shopable sleep solutions. Dive into more SENSESCAPING innovations to create a tech-driven sleep sanctuary. 

🔦 Sleepless lamp: In Canada, IKEA’s emotional installation flickers to mimic the fragmented sleep patterns of nearly 500,000 sleep-deprived children. In 2025, every brand is a healthcare brand — how will you prove your BRANDCARE value? 

📲 ‘u up?’ stunt: Late at night, IKEA Canada slid into loyalty members’ DMs, turning the iconic ‘u up?’ text into mattress discounts. With people spending almost 40 minutes on their phones before bed, how can you help late-night scrollers build better bedtime habits?

South Korean movie theater chain CGV is introducing monthly knitting screenings, allowing audiences to knit while watching films. The initiative follows a sold-out pilot event in January, where the theater screened Little Forest with adjusted lighting to accommodate knitters. Encouraged by positive feedback, CGV has scheduled these screenings for the last Thursday of each month and expanded it to 10 theaters nationwide, including five outside Seoul. By transforming knitting from a solitary hobby into a shared experience, CGV aims to revitalize theater-going and attract a more diverse audience. 

Five years after the onset of COVID-19, cinema audience behaviors have permanently changed and movie theaters are still struggling to recover. Streaming has reshaped viewing habits, and some films are now skipping the box office entirely. Meanwhile, the film industry's overreliance on franchises and reboots has left audiences disengaged — fewer films feel truly made for the big screen, and most viewers now reserve theater visits for major blockbusters. What was once a casual outing has become an event-based experience.

To compete with the cost savings, convenience and comforts of at-home streaming, theaters must offer value compelling enough to break consumer inertia. CGV is leaning into novelty and community. By tapping into the rising popularity of knitting, the company allows consumers to enjoy their passion point in a new way while repositioning the movie-going experience. Prior to CGV's initiative, similar knitting screenings had been held by Leica Cinema in South Korea, as well as other movie theaters in Austria and Sweden.

Beyond the movie industry, there's a lesson here for all brands around adapting to stay relevant amidst shifting consumer preferences. How can your brand continue to reshape its offerings around existing consumer habits, rather than forcing audiences to fit into your existing services?

Paris's iconic Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche has transformed into a high-end playground for dog lovers with its new store-wide event, "Je t'aime comme un chien!" Running through 20 April 2025, the luxury department store is celebrating canine companions with a comprehensive program that reflects the growing cultural significance of dogs — "nos amis à 4 pattes, icônes de la pop-culture."

The elaborate installation reimagines the store's architecture through a dog-lover's lens, with giant bone sculptures adorning escalators, colorful panoramas lining the aisles, and stylized dog houses replacing traditional display cases. Beyond the visual spectacle, the event features a range of interactive experiences, including dog yoga sessions led by certified "doga" instructor Andreea Sembely, pet grooming conversations with professional Fatima Veliz, and creative workshops where visitors can make personalized dog toys from upcycled fabric scraps. Author Mylène Bertaux will also be present to sign copies of her book "Toutoute: La nouvelle place des chiens dans nos vies."

This canine celebration is more than just a themed retail moment — it represents the luxury market's growing recognition of pet owners as a lucrative consumer segment. With dedicated spaces like Alpha Dogs House offering specialized grooming services and the canine magazine Bâtard establishing a café within the store, Le Bon Marché demonstrates how high-end retailers are adapting to consumer priorities. Around 40-50% of high-net-worth individuals across major markets are pet owners, creating significant opportunities for (luxury) brands to develop premium pet-focused offerings that merge fashion, wellness and pet care.

For the launch of its ToRiKo Touch lipstick, Japanese cosmetics brand KissMe Ferme is turning down the lights. The brand has created a temporary "lipstick in the dark" store, where customers are invited to step into a dimmed room with private, veiled-off spaces and apply the new product. It's a deliberate design choice that encourages visitors to focus entirely on the tactile experience — the smoothness, texture and scent of the lipstick — rather than its visual appearance.

The experiential, sensory concept stands in stark contrast to a crowded Sephora or brightly lit department store counter. By removing visual distractions and creating a quiet, intimate atmosphere, KissMe Ferme heightens customers' awareness of the product's key selling point: its exceptionally smooth feel. The lipstick features an innovative layered micro-structure and emollient oils, creating what the brand describes as a "captivatingly smooth and blissful application."

The activation leverages the psychology of sensory focus — when one sense is diminished, others become more acute — and highlights how multisensory environments can be used to produce memorable customer experiences. By encouraging shoppers to "surrender to the dimly lit, quiet space" and "direct all consciousness to the lips," KissMe Ferme is betting that an emotional, sensory connection with the product will resonate more deeply than any traditional campaign could.

Heineken has launched a worldwide search for someone named McLoughlin to take the reins of a family pub on Ireland's remote Achill Island. Current owner Josie McLoughlin, the fourth generation to run the establishment, faces a common dilemma in rural Ireland — no family successor. The campaign transforms this private business challenge into a global treasure hunt, with billboards appearing in cities with large Irish diaspora populations, from New York to Sydney.

The initiative taps into powerful currents of cultural identity and belonging at a time when many professionals are reconsidering their career paths. As automation and AI reshape white-collar industries, the romanticism of owning a community cornerstone in a picturesque setting offers an alluring alternative. Beyond merely preserving a business, Heineken's "For the Love of Pubs" campaign recognizes how these establishments serve their communities.

At its core, the campaign acknowledges the critical role physical gathering spaces play in combating social isolation. With McLoughlin's Bar serving as both a social hub and cultural landmark for generations, Heineken positions itself as a defender of increasingly endangered third places. By offering the selected McLoughlin a comprehensive succession package, including mentorship and investment guidance, the brand demonstrates an understanding that preserving such spaces requires more than nostalgia — it demands practical support for their long-term viability.

COVID-19 turns five this year. Yep, it's been that long. While 1-in-8 people continue to battle long COVID symptoms, the world has stumbled straight from lockdowns into a dizzying poly-crisis — and now, Trump's chaos economy. Bottom line? 'Normal' isn't coming back anytime soon, and it certainly doesn't feel like it for many. Public satisfaction with healthcare systems has hit rock bottom. And among the hardest hit? Young people.

The pandemic didn't just disrupt Gen Z's schooling, social lives and early careers — it permanently rewired their outlook on life. Edelman's latest report paints a sobering picture of 18-34-year-olds:

😞 Mental health SOS: 61% feel deep financial anxiety, 58% report loneliness and isolation, and 53% battle depression and anxiety — all directly tied to the pandemic

💔 Social fabric unraveling: 51% have lost faith in their country's ability to unite in future crises, signaling rising mistrust and disconnection

👶 Pandemic babies to no babies: 1-in-4 will opt out of parenthood because of the pandemic — with country-specific figures ranging from 21% in the UK to 36% in India

Your move? Brands, policymakers, and communities now have a window of opportunity: transforming generational grievances into growth. How will you champion mental health? Foster authentic social connection? Or support young people navigating adulthood in an uncertain world?

This past International Women's Day, Durex India took action against online harassment towards women with The 🐔 Blocker. The initiative stemmed from the insight that while Durex encourages engagement on its social media posts, when women post a comment, they're often met with men sliding into their DMs with unsolicited advances or plain harassment. In response, the brand invites female social media users to submit screenshots of creepy messages they receive. Durex's moderation team will then block offenders. The campaign also includes a hard-hitting film exposing real instances of the harassment women have received when engaging with the brand online.

The Durex blocker represents a compelling brand activation. It tackles a stubborn social problem: online, gender-based harassment that should be a relic of the past but unfortunately persists in 2025. The initiative also aligns strategically with Durex's brand DNA, which has consistently championed protection. Safeguarding women in digital spaces is a natural extension of this commitment, giving the brand the right to play in this arena. Moreover, as an International Women's Day campaign, it genuinely honors and celebrates women, offering substance beyond the typical "pink tax rebates" for clothing purchases. 

How might your brand role manifest differently (and creatively) across different contexts in your customers' lives?

A Swiss startup is challenging conventional meal delivery platforms with an AI-powered solution that operates entirely through WhatsApp. Châtaigne removes the friction of app downloads and account creation for consumers, leveraging a platform that billions already use daily.

The system works intuitively: customers simply text their order to a restaurant's dedicated WhatsApp number. Châtaigne's AI then processes these natural language requests, compiles preferences, generates an order summary and facilitates payment within the same conversation thread. The completed order flows directly into the restaurant's existing systems, bypassing the costly intermediaries currently dominating the market. On the consumer's end, Châtaigne's focus on WhatsApp sidesteps app fatigue and taps into existing behavior.

Born from a San Francisco hackathon, Châtaigne represents a deliberate shift toward conversational commerce. "Apps and websites are the past — conversation is the future," explains the founding team, who chose the challenging food delivery sector specifically for its high volume and tight deadlines. Recently awarded a CHF 20,000 FIT Digital Grant, the startup is expanding its functionality and preparing for rollout. Their vision extends beyond restaurants, positioning conversational AI as the natural evolution of commerce.

It's a back-to-the-future kind of move — taking digital purchasing away from constrictive user interfaces and back towards natural human interaction patterns. The conversational approach aligns with how commerce functioned for thousands of years in physical marketplaces: through dialogue, negotiation and personal connection. Châtaigne and others (like Amazon's Alexa +) are leveraging advanced AI to recreate something fundamentally ancient, with one major difference. This time around, the interactions are human-to-bot, not human-to-human.

The conversational model opens up possibilities for more nuanced transactions, too. Instead of filtering through predetermined options, customers can express preferences in natural language: "something spicy but not too hot" or "similar to what I ordered last time but vegetarian." We're likely to see commerce-as-conversation expand beyond food delivery into other high-frequency categories. The real competitive advantage will come from how well these systems understand context, remember preferences and handle complex requests — areas where sophisticated language models provide a clear advantage over existing systems.

In response to urbanization and digitalization limiting children's outdoor play, Unilever-owned laundry brand OMO has launched a campaign in Turkey that transforms OOH advertising into playgrounds. The Play is Outside initiative added soccer goals, basketball hoops and slides to billboards in Istanbul's Kadıköy, Acıbadem and Şişli districts, creating unexpected play spaces in urban environments.

The concept aligns with OMO's 20-year-running "Kirlenmek Güzeldir" slogan ("Dirt is Good"), which celebrates the value of physical play and the inevitable messiness that comes with it. "As adults, we often think we can't find time or space to play outside and encourage children to do the same in urban life. But play is also a creative act," explains Alper Capar, Unilever Turkey's Home Care Category Marketing Director. "With this creativity, we can make room for play and sports in unexpected places and moments. We invite all children and adults to play sports on our billboards." 

The campaign serves as a timely reminder of play's importance beyond screens and enclosed spaces, while cleverly repurposing advertising infrastructure to benefit the communities they occupy. That said — those spaces will only be available for a short while. To make a lasting impact, OMO and other brands could take inspiration from Budweiser's basketball activation in Brazil 🏀