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TikTok induces FOMO with suspenseful campaign

You Have to See it by Le Truc for TikTok, New York

New York – In a bid to lure new users, TikTok's latest campaign highlights how viral videos from its platform spread offline and ignite cultural conversations, even among people who do not have the social media app.

Working with creative agency Le Truc, the ad is themed around a real TikTok video in which a New York woman discovers an abandoned apartment behind her bathroom mirror. In the campaign, a diverse cast of both actors and real-life TikTok influencers break down each moment of her discovery. At one point, Martha Stewart makes a cameo, hammering home the message that unmissable content can be found on TikTok, helping to incite FOMO – the fear of missing out – for anyone without an account.

As TikTok surpasses one billion active monthly users, this new campaign shows how its content can permeate wider social situations, fostering connections and storytelling offline. By leading with a social approach and embracing the Everyteen TV model, TikTok is appealing to viewers who favour casual storytelling over highly curated media.

Strategic opportunity

To appeal to younger audiences, marketers can explore peer-led or word-of-mouth storytelling, with lo-fi content often seeming more honest and appealing to Generation Z consumers

Pangaia is transforming carbon into sunglasses

CO2Made Eyewear by Pangaia Lab and Twelve, New York

CO2Made eyewear by Pangaia Lab and Twelve, New York

US – The material science and apparel brand is continuing its innovations into CO2 recycling with the creation of its first eyewear collection. Its sunglasses feature polycarbonate lenses, formed in a process in which carbon emissions are collected and converted into tangible materials using water and renewable energy.

Arriving as part of a partnership with carbon transformation company Twelve, the lenses avoid conventional materials such as oil – and instead rely on polluted air. This product launch builds on the brand’s previous experiments into CO2 recycling, where it used the technology to create carbon-negative textile ink. ‘The overall material philosophy of Pangaia is ‘high-tech naturalism’ which involves utilising the abundance of nature, augmented by high-tech processes, sustainable chemistries and processes to expand the functionality of materials,’ explains the brand in a press release.

As brands continue to implement climate-positive goals, keep track of the latest environmental innovations in our Climate Crisis series.

Strategic opportunity

Looking to the future, the manufacture of products from devices and hardware to fashion garments will require a carbon-negative approach. Stay ahead of the curve through explorations with innovative companies such as Twelve

This Dior hotel suite elevates a local exhibition

New York – Marriott International's St Regis hotel chain and fashion house Christian Dior are uniting to create a Dior-inspired hotel suite, demonstrating the potential for the luxury, leisure and hospitality sectors to create more immersive experiences across several locations.

Dedicated to the French couturier, the suite is part of a limited-edition St Regis package that includes champagne on arrival, a set of Dior make-up and private transport to the Brooklyn Museum, which is hosting the Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition.

Inspired by Dior’s Avenue Montaigne headquarters in Paris, the suite interior features customised Louis XVI-style furniture, gilded mirrors, velvet sofas and fabrics in colour palettes of greys and blues. Guests who wish to spend a night in the luxury surroundings will pay £6,500 ($8,900, €7,680) per night.

The collaboration aims to attract luxury guests by combining hospitality with fashion and a cultural experience, drawing on wider entertainment and leisure sectors as witnessed with the rise of Media-Tels.

Dior Suite at St Regis New York

Strategic opportunity

Hospitality brands can consider ways of providing immersive environments at various price points to attract experience-seeking customers with different budgets

Stat: Pandemic hospitality closures have hit mental health

How to Eat Everything by Kelsey McClellan

Research conducted by YouGov and commissioned by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), has found that the closure of bars and restaurants during the pandemic has negatively affected people’s mental health.

The global research reveals that 66% of adults believe these closures have caused a decline in mental health, while 45% agreed their own mental health had been affected for the worse. Meanwhile, since experiencing lockdown, 57% of respondents admitted to having an improved understanding of the contribution of venues to mental health. In South Africa, this figure rose to 77%, while in Mexico, 70% agreed.

With these figures in mind, hospitality venues should seize the opportunity to better connect with audiences about their mental health. As we recently identified, a number of alcohol brands have already launched pub-based initiatives, campaigns and even packaging centred on men’s mental wellbeing.

Strategic opportunity

Bars and restaurants should facilitate safe spaces that encourage open conversations about mental wellbeing. Such venues can be particularly effective for audiences that are less inclined to seek traditional therapy services