04 : 02 : 22 : Weekly Debrief

Hangzhou – Chinese cosmetics company Harmay is honouring the more mundane moments in life with its new store in Hangzhou. Opting for an administrative aesthetic, the shop is a playful recreation of a typical office in the 1970s.

Designed by AIM Architecture, the nostalgic shop includes ergonomic desk chairs, fake bookshelves and ‘meeting rooms’ that are all used to display make-up products. Painted in hues of yellow, orange and brown, the colour palette is a nod to popular domestic décor from the era.

Creating a memorable retail experience that can only be enjoyed in person, the design shows how imaginative bricks-and-mortar offerings can compete with e-commerce. ‘Here in China, the reality is that people shop online for everything, anywhere, any time. As physical shopping is just for fun, we wanted to create a colourful version of it,’ explains Wendy Saunders, founder of AIM Architecture.

Combining faux period design with immersive product displays, Harmay is tapping into the Office Nostalgia trend we explored in Reworking the Workplace. As society re-examines long-standing tropes in office design, nostalgia-based environments can create a point of difference from flat digital platforms.

US – Folgers is launching a self-aware campaign to celebrate its New Orleans roots. The ads, created by Publicis New York, are exclusively populated by working-class local people enjoying the coffee in daily activities.

As well as leaning into its New Orleanian identity, the brand touts the idea that Folgers is for everyone, a fresh approach in a market in which coffee snobbery and connoisseurship abound. With its unapologetic standpoint, the videos and campaign hashtag #DamnRightItsFolgers aims to bring ‘some pride back to choosing something that’s not some snobby artisanal product – it’s just an all-American, well-crafted, high-quality product,’ says Erica Roberts, chief creative officer at Publicis New York.

Undercutting the brands targeting modern, hipster audiences, Folgers is showing that businesses shouldn't be afraid to preserve their original values – particularly when reaching consumers who value American localism.