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MAD//Fest 2024 daily recap: Be bold, not beige

Photography by The Future Laboratory, UK

UK – East London welcomed more than 12,000 attendees to the annual MAD//Fest marketing festival on Tuesday 2 July for a jam-packed agenda of talks from brands including Tony’s Chocolonely, Liquid Death, Gymbox, Spoon Cereals and ASICS.

In a talk entitled How the Wrong Thing Can Be Right, Daniel Murphy, senior vice-president of marketing at canned drink company Liquid Death, explained how the brand’s entertainment-first marketing strategy and team of writers and stand-up comedians has allowed it to compete with industry titans such as Red Bull. Murphy highlighted Liquid Death’s strength in not taking itself too seriously, defining the brand through comedy and taking risks with the attitude that it is ‘good at stitching the parachute on the way down’. For more insights on why water has undergone a rebranding, head to our Functional Feasting macrotrend report.

On a nearby stage, Rory McEntee, brand and marketing director at Gymbox, encouraged the audience to ‘ask for forgiveness, not permission’, suggesting that ‘the most boring thing you can be in marketing is beige’. Instead, he told marketers to aim for disruption, find comfort in discomfort, perfect the quick pivot, stop listening to LinkedIn critics and have fun with their work.

Burger King and creative agency BBH kicked off the afternoon with a talk on Surviving in a Sea of Sameness. Simon Gregory, joint chief strategy officer at BBH London, told the crowd that ‘we’ve forgotten how fun being different is’ and urged brands to ‘have a bit more confidence’ when it comes to green-lighting bold campaigns or advertisements. Yet, Katie Evans, chief marketing officer at Burger King UK, warned against being ‘disruptive for disruptive sake’, instead advising that brands must identify their strengths, lean into them and then keep an eye on other sectors to find ways of doing things differently.

Find more insight and analysis from industry events such as Cannes Lions, SXSW and World Retail Congress on our Global Events page.

Strategic opportunity

In an overcrowded market, risk-taking and an entertainment-first approach can help differentiate your brand. Incorporate humour and out-of-the-box thinking to create memorable brand moments that resonate with your customers

Jordan unveils cultural hub for Parisian youth for the Olympics

District 23 by Jordan Brand, Paris

France – Youssouf Fofana, founder of Maison Château Rouge and United Youth International, is taking on the role of Jordan Brand’s creative director for the summer Olympic Games.

Fofana’s mission is to make the event a meaningful experience for Paris’s diverse 18th arrondissement by launching District 23, a cultural hub offering fashion design courses, exhibitions and basketball competitions. ‘I want to leave a strong legacy by making the Olympics a positive experience that the kids can pour themselves into,’ he said.

Located in the historic Tati Barbes building, District 23 will host two main exhibitions and a summer school. One exhibition, Diaspora Renaissance, emphasises the African diaspora’s global influence, while DNA explores Jordan Brand’s impact, including its collaborations with Dior and Paris Saint-Germain. Fofana’s initiative aims to provide opportunities and preserve safe spaces for the district’s youth, ensuring the Olympics create lasting benefits for the community.

For more insights on similar branded third spaces, head to our Innovation Debrief 2024–2025 report.

Strategic opportunity

Design and promote safe spaces for young people to engage in creative and recreational activities – enhancing brand reputation and community trust simultaneously

French electricity prices turn negative amid renewable surge

France – French electricity prices turned negative in June 2024 as a combination of decreased demand and increased renewable energy output prompted some nuclear reactors to power down. Daily consumption from Thursday to Sunday is expected to drop by an average of 6 gigawatts, according to a Bloomberg model. Sunny and windy weather has boosted solar and wind generation, leading the grid operator to request that Electricité de France (EDF) takes several nuclear plants offline.

EDF halted its Golfech 2, Cruas 2 and Tricastin 1 nuclear plants and plans to shut down three more over the weekend. This adjustment comes as France, which relies on its atomic fleet for about two-thirds of its electricity, faces a recurring issue of balancing renewable output with low demand, particularly at weekends.

French day-ahead power prices fell to £-4.88 (-$6.20, -€5.76) per megawatt-hour, the lowest in four years, while Germany’s equivalent contract dropped to £6.50 ($8.20, €7.64). Some renewable producers will also need to curb generation to avoid fees amid the negative prices.

For more insights on clean energy, head to our Sustainability topic.

Scenes From the Last Day on Planet Earth by Chris Maggio, US

Strategic opportunity

Promote energy efficiency projects that reduce overall consumption, easing the grid’s burden during periods of low demand. This includes retrofitting your business’s buildings with energy-efficient technologies and promoting energy-saving practices

Stat: US women disillusioned with dating apps

Photography by Shingi Rice, UK

US – A new study by Morning Consult released in June 2024 highlights growing dissatisfaction among American women with online dating platforms.

Just 18% of women believe the creation of dating apps has had a positive impact on society, notably less than the share of men (30%), Gen Z adults (32%) or all US adults (24%) who say the same. This dissatisfaction is exacerbated by safety concerns, unenjoyable experiences and negative online narratives about dating. Women are also among the most likely to report having poor experiences with dating apps and ultimately deleting them.

A rise in dating-as-content formats and a backlash against cringe-worthy marketing campaigns, such as The League’s Be a GoalDigger, have further alienated women users. Some 79% of the women surveyed say they are not interested in using dating apps in the future.

Dating services are already changing. Bumble has acquired the friendship app Geneva and Hinge is funding community-building initiatives. This trend indicates a shift towards fostering robust in-person connections over digital ones, suggesting a future when dating apps will play a minor role in social interactions.

In our Gen Z Now and Next: From Vision to Contradiction macrotrend report, we analysed how this young generation are struggling with loneliness, an overwhelming digital life and a thirst for new kinds of couples and families.

Strategic opportunity

Capitalise on the desire for more genuine, face-to-face interactions. Can you develop and market services facilitating in-person meetings and social events, such as speed dating, singles mixers and hobby-based gatherings?