01 : 04 : 22 : Weekly Debrief

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Need To Know

This week: A carbon-neutral food line, emotional eyewear marketing, Apple’s Great Resignation ad trilogy, an NFT restaurant and investing in the future.

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1 April 2022

Author: The Future Laboratory

Image: The House of KOKO, London. Images by Lesley Lau

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Pangaia Superfoods, US

1. Pangaia introduces a carbon-neutral food line

New York – Sustainable fashion company Pangaia is expanding its brand portfolio with a functional food line known as Pangaia Superfoods. Its first product is the Super Super Bar, a nutritious and carbon-neutral energy bar made using responsible ingredients and biotech processes.

Much like the company's scientific approach to clothing, which employs specialists from several industries, the Super Super Bar was engineered through a global collaboration between scientists, farmers, nutritionists and culinary experts. It includes a variety of high-fibre, gluten-free and nutrient-rich ingredients such as prickly pear, goji berry, sprouted red quinoa and sugar alternative Incredo, which uses 50% less sugar without losing taste or sweetness.

‘We are driven by a vision of 'hi-tech naturalism' across our products. We look to bring the brilliance of nature complemented with today's food science to create solutions that promote health – for us and our planet,’ explains Ira Laufer, CEO of the company's Pangaia Health arm. As the worlds of food and fashion continue to converge, Pangaia’s foray into this industry also represents a cross-sector approach to Functional Foods.

Ace & Tate campaign by Base Design, UK

2. Ace & Tate’s sunglasses campaign features no sunglasses

Europe – The eyewear brand’s latest ads spotlight the reasons that we need sunglasses, rather than their aesthetic value.

Created by Base Design, the Bring on the Sun campaign stands out from its many eyewear competitors by omitting the products completely. Instead, the films feature various people squinting as they are dazzled by the sun, hinting at the excitement of the changing seasons while cleverly reminding viewers of the crucial reasons we need sunglasses.

By moving away from product and fashion-centric marketing, the campaigns are part of Ace & Tate’s mission to move away from the youth market and become an eyewear brand that resonates with everyone.

Not only is the eyewear market in a period of transition – an interest in eye health is allowing it to become a lifestyle category in its own right – but now the sector is using emotional marketing to attract new customers.

Apple

3. Apple joins the Great Resignation in its ad trilogy

US – The latest instalment of Apple’s Underdogs video series – which charts the career journey of a team of under-estimated employees – uses narrative-driven content to explore the opportunities that come with starting afresh.

With the series having previously tapped into the Silicon Valley zeitgeist by showing the Underdogs scrabbling to pull a prototype together and, in 2020, working from home, the latest film shows the team packing in their full-time jobs to launch their own decentralised start-up. This act of risking it all to follow their passions has been dubbed The Great Resignation, as the pandemic spurred people to rethink their purpose in life.

The ad also features several of Apple’s devices, which are used to help the Underdogs achieve their ambitions. By turning one successful ad into a trilogy, Apple is recognising the importance of replacing traditional advertising with narratives that weave product placement naturally into the story. ‘In these films, there’s no such thing as too many product demos as long as they’re natural extensions of the story,’ Tor Myhren, vp of marketing communications at Apple, tells Adweek.

4. The Bored Ape Yacht Club is now an NFT restaurant

California – Los Angeles restaurateur Andy Nguyen is opening an NFT-themed fast-food restaurant, Bored & Hungry, using the IP rights that come with his Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ownership.

Nguyen, who owns several other restaurants in California and Las Vegas, is the owner of Bored Ape #6184 and two Mutant Apes, an offshoot of the BAYC project. Over the past year, BAYC has quickly emerged as one of the most successful NFT projects of all time, generating over £764m ($1bn, €909) in sales (source: The Block).

Owners of a BAYC NFT have complete rights to utilise, repurpose and monetise the digital asset's imagery. As a result, Nguyen has created packaging, employee uniforms and interior decorations that feature his NFTs. The restaurant will also accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment and include a Bitcoin ATM machine.

Earlier this year, we explored how the worlds of food and Web3 are converging to create DAO Dining. This fast food illustrates how NFT ownership can be monetised and used to create future businesses.

Bored & Hungry by Andy Ngyuen, US
Circa5000 rebranded by Ragged Edge, UK

5. A fintech company investing in the future

UK – Ethical fintech platform Circa5000 is using sci-fi visuals to connect with a new wave of eco-conscious investors. Its new brand identity, designed by creative agency Ragged Edge, considers the impact of investment at a time of escalating climate crisis.

The brand identity explores Circa5000's mission of investing in businesses that promote long-term planetary health and sustainability. In keeping with its ambition to ‘enrich everything under the sun’, the B-Corp connects investors with responsible businesses that place the environment at the core of their operation.

To express these future-facing and ethically minded principles, Ragged Edge tapped into the visual language of science fiction, creating a sleek identity that ties into the company’s name, which imagines the world 2,978 years from now. ‘Investing needs a serious correction and humanity’s at stake. This was not the time for another generic fintech brand,’ explains Max Ottignon, co-founder of Ragged Edge.

By boldly proclaiming ‘Only humanity would need an incentive to save itself’, the company is sounding the alarm about the climate crisis, highlighting fintech’s position in driving the future of sustainability.

 
 

 

To future-proof your world, visit The Future Laboratory's forecasting platform LS:N Global for daily news, opinions, trends, sector specific insights, and strategic toolkits.

 

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