Next Food Trends for 2019

After extensive research, Studio Bordewijk has identified 5 important food trends for 2019, which will influence our buying, cooking and eating behavior. Here we will some food trend for trends for 2019:

1 #masculine plant powered

Traditionally men are big fans of meat. But today we see more and more creative chefs and vega cooks doing their utmost best to seduce these carnivores with umami rich and juicy plant based dishes. On social media a bomb of inspiration has erupted to cook with plants as never before. The edible flora is prepared with many meaty cues. It is smoked, grilled, roasted, marinated until the meatiness splashes from the picture. Plant Pusher Derek Sarno is a great example of this with his blog and book ‘ Wicked Healthy ‘. He has been working with TESCO and developed a range of ready-made dishes such as the BBQ pizza, carrot pastrami wraps and mushroom bolognaise. In the period from January to June 2.5 million vegetable meals were sold. In the Netherlands, our vegan of the first hour Lisette Kreischer will come with her latest book Man. Eat. Plant. where she and Maartje Borst will seduce the meat lover with eggplant dogs and epic roasts. Sure, she will make the reader forget about meat.

2 #the new packaging

More and more people are beginning to get annoyed by the large quantities of plastic that we take to us every day and throw away. The plastic soup is a thorn in the eye and the growing awareness that plastics break down in micro and nano plastics frightens us. That is why a growing number of people people is trying to decrease the amount of plastic in their lives. It is not easy though. Our food system is addicted to plastic. It takes a total new system to create change. Simultaneously with our resistance, we are very much attached to the convenience of fresh, ready-to-go products that almost always require plastic solutions. On the other side, plastic prevents food waste, which is a different kind of environmental pollution we need to decrease. But the urgency is growing, and more and more packaging and food companies are starting to think seriously about other solutions. The Dutch retailer Ecoplaza started with a plastic free pop-up store, Mc Donald joined forces with Starbucks and recently called out for a design competition to create environmentally friendly coffee cups, and more and more research is being done into bio-degradable new plastics. such as plastics made from crab and shrimp peels, seaweed, algae, kombucha and agricultural waste. We are still far from there, but a new packaging system will eventually be a pure necessity. It is expected that we move towards a system with more bio-degradable plastics on the one hand and better recycling and multiple use systems of those non-degradable materials on the other. To achieve this goal, we will have to work hard across the boundaries of individual food producers and retailers. Consumers, businesses and governments will all need to contribute to make it happen.

3 #Shroom it!

Connected with trend 1, we will see a more prominent role for mushrooms. Mushrooms are naturally rich in umami and have a meaty bite. Cool chefs call these hooded friends more and more often shrooms, as an abbreviation of mushrooms. And then it’s not just about the ordinary mushroom. Many experiments and cooking are done with a growing range of species, from Shiitake, Enoki, Portobello’s to the even more unknown maitake and eryngii. We are sure that in the coming years the assortment of mushrooms available will grow and many more products will come that use mushrooms as an ingredient like pulled shroom sandwiches, burgers, or taste bringers to replace, for example the Maggi bottle.

4 #Food swaps

The cauliflower pizza crust, zucchini-spaghetti, broccoli-rice, chickpeas crisps and nice cream (ice cream of banana and avocado) are all examples of products that were created by a smart ‘ food hack ‘ in which an unhealthy component was replaced by a more fibrous, protein richer or less calorie-rich ingredient. Often by a vegetable or a fruit. Yeah, let’s face it! …unhealthy snacks such as pizzas, crisps, candies and ice cream, continue to have a giant appeal to people. But if health gains can be achieved without sacrificing too much on sensory delight, one can count on success as a producer. For example, the cauliflower pizzas of Magioni are now flying over the counter. Halo Top in the USA has managed to conquer a large market share from scratch. When food swap takes place by a recognizable fruit or vegetable instead of tinkering complex ingredient formulas, innovation will best suit the needs of contemporary consumers.

5 #Speeding up innovation!
The innovation speed in food is accelerating. The time that the world was dominated by large A-brands that were only aiming to fill their production lines is over. Albert Heijn calls in their visionary book ‘Appie Tomorrow’ for more ‘doing’ than ‘thinking’ ‘… and that 80% is good enough to try it. Learn by falling and standing up, through more experiments, by accepting failures and learning how it can be done better. In the end, the impact of innovation will be bigger. There are many similarities with design thinking, which is now more and more in the spotlight. Food producers need to go along with this increased pace and should speed up their innovations with more guts and entrepreneurship.

What Can Luxury Brands Learn From Gucci About Millennials?

In 2017, Gucci’s sales grew by 44.6% over the previous year. And in the first quarter of 2018, the luxury brand posted nearly $2.2 billion in sales revenue, up 48.7% compared to the same period last year.

What’s behind Gucci’s blastoff? One reason is millennials.
As any experienced marketer will tell you, luxury branding requires a different approach than standard B2C efforts.  According to the Financial Times, millennials are “the world’s most powerful consumers.” While many other luxury brands have struggled to tap into the growing millennial demand, Gucci has found an eager and expanding base. According to Francois-Henri Pinault, CEO of Kering, Gucci’s parent company, millennials and Gen Z account for nearly 50% of Gucci’s total sales.
According to Fast Company, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri’s partnership with famed Harlem tailor Dapper Dan has helped transform the Gucci brand for a new generation of luxury consumers: the hip-hop crowd. Gucci’s name has been used in lyrics by artists including Pusha T and 2 Chainz, which have likely influenced millennial demand.

However, there’s more to Gucci’s success with millennials than simply knowing what’s “cool.” To win with millennial consumers, brands need to understand what millennials value: personal satisfaction and purpose.

Redefining Luxury
There are two things that have traditionally marked a brand as being “luxury.” The first is high-quality craftsmanship — you can’t have luxury without superior quality. The second is exclusivity — luxury is often thought about as showing off to everyone else.

According to a Deloitte survey, millennials don’t buy into these traditional selling points. For one, the term “luxury” has lost some of its cachet to lower-cost competitors. Millennials are less interested than previous generations in outward displays of status. According to the report, which surveyed 1,005 millennial luxury consumers in the U.S., U.K., Italy and China, “Respondents from all four geographies were most likely to say that they bought luxury to please themselves, not to impress others or to do what influencers or celebrities said they should do.”
More than anything, millennial consumers crave purpose, authenticity and passion. They’re attracted to companies that demonstrate a committed, ethical approach to business. So, luxury brands must embrace a higher purpose if they want to win over millennials.

Luxury Brands Moving To Purpose
Issues like sustainability, transparency and ethical manufacturing have received increasing attention in the media, but the luxury industry has been slow to respond, as the 2018 Fashion Transparency Index reports. Profits are strong now, which is why some brands might not see the need to change. However, millennial consumers demand change, and their volume is increasing. A 2015 Nielsen study confirms that consumers who are willing to pay more for a product do so with sustainability in mind, prioritizing the demographic’s commitment to social values.
According to various sources, the fashion industry is one of the most wasteful in terms of pollution. For example, Burberry’s decision to burn $40 million worth of stock rather than selling it at a discount was meant to maintain the brand’s exclusive status but instead drew considerable criticism.

Perhaps another reason why Gucci is doing so well has something to do with its new purpose-driven, environmentally progressive program, Gucci Equilibrium. The brand has established this program through a new microsite that reports the company’s CSR policies, environmental impact, employee satisfaction and structural innovations. This effort grants Gucci the authenticity, transparency and, most importantly, accountability that consumers seek.
They’re not alone: Stella McCartney was one of the earliest and most vocal luxury fashion companies to adopt sustainable practices. Adidas has led the charge in the footwear space (yes, Adidas is a luxury brand now) by tapping into purpose-based branding with a focus on eliminating waste and environmental impact. It has pioneered the “sustainable sneaker” by using more eco-friendly materials.
So, how can you incorporate these tactics into your own luxury branding strategy? As some would say, the secret’s in the sauce.

High-end luxury still revolves around the continued artisan craftsmanship that has long been part of the industry’s DNA. Integrating sustainability into that narrative is key — millennials love to know how the “sauce” is made.

A New Luxury Model
While brick-and-mortar retail will always be important to luxury fashion, the future of the industry is online. The rise of e-commerce is already in full swing, with many luxury brands building online shopping experiences to access millennial consumers in their natural habitats. According to Deloitte, 20.5% of millennials cited social media as their main source of high-end fashion and luxury product trends, compared to 15.1% who cited brands’ websites.

Millennial luxury shoppers’ online migration has resulted in another major shift in the fashion industry: “recommerce.” Essentially, this is a higher-end online resale or consignment e-commerce store of authentic, highly desired fashion brands. Examples of recommerce brands include Luxury Garage Sale, Farfetch, TheRealReal, Poshmark and thredUP.
Luxury fashion recommerce is also powered by an unusual twist on purpose. By promoting resale and repurposed fashion, it helps contribute to sustainable consumption. We can look to one of the original sustainability designers, Stella McCartney, as a role model. Not only does she boast a line of high-quality, vegan products, but she also pays attention to the post-purchase life of her clothing.
The eponymous designer recently partnered with online retailer TheRealReal to facilitate future consignment. The futility of fast fashion is no longer acceptable. Well-made clothing that lasts is what’s in, and this also means educating consumers on proper care and storage to ensure longevity.

Capturing The Millennial Market
The luxury market has grown at a staggering pace in recent years, yet luxury brands face serious challenges in the years ahead if they fail to engage millennial consumers on their own terms. Purpose is key. Brands must demonstrate that they stand for more than just making money. Promoting sustainability and ethical business practices is one way to stand out. Embracing millennial-focused business models such as luxury fashion recommerce also offers a way forward.

Source: Forbes

 

9 ways millennials are changing the way we eat

 

If you’ve noticed a positive change in food trends over the last 10 years, thank a millennial. Loosely defined as people born from the early 1980s until about 2004, millennials are the largest U.S. age demographic, and as such they are key tastemakers. Their food preferences are helping determine what you’ll find in grocery stores and restaurants across the country.
Millennials are in college, starting new jobs, getting married or having kids. Right now, there are more millennials in the workforce than any other age bracket, and their consumer choices matter. Here’s how this generation is influencing the way we eat. ( These are generalizations based on statistics, and not necessarily true for every millennial you know.)
They want the truth from food manufacturers. Big food producers are starting to listen to consumer demands for transparency about ingredients and sources, and this request is largely driven by millennials who want to know how their food is made. We all benefit from seeing more informative food labels on grocery store products.

They love customization. Millennials don’t want the same sad burger that everyone else is eating. They want to custom-design the flavor and personalize their meal. And why not? They are paying for the food; it may as well be exactly what they want. If you notice more quick-service restaurants offering customizable options that you love, thank a millennial for that.

They want easy. According to the International Food Information Council’s 2017 Food and Health Survey, 55 percent of millennials say convenience is a top driver when buying food, while baby boomers say taste matters more. Millennials are the drivers behind meal kits, grocery delivery services, food trucks, online ordering and the growth of heat-and-eat options at grocery stores.

They want better baby food. When my daughter was born 11 years ago, feeding a baby was all about powdered rice cereal and jars of mashed green beans. Have you strolled down the baby food aisle lately? You’ll find gourmet blends in convenient pouches — organic chicken risotto and portabella mushrooms, anyone? Becoming a parent changes food habits more than any other milestone, and millennials tend to focus on food quality once they realize they are responsible for feeding a little person. While some of the products are outlandish, the variety and quality has certainly improved because of demand.

They value the planet. While older shoppers still read labels for information about calories and fat grams, millennials are more interested in how the food was sourced and grown, and how that affects their carbon footprint. Sustainability is a priority for them when buying food at grocery stores or restaurants. Millennials’ awareness of environmental issues has influenced food manufacturers to institute better earth-friendly practices.

They love to snack. Because some millennials graze instead of eating large meals, snack options have exploded, and there are many healthy offerings, such as chia seed pudding, roasted chickpeas and popped sorghum. Millennials have also pushed food companies to meet their need for convenience by demanding food packages that are resealable, easy to open and portable.

They love the keto diet. According to IFIC, 47 percent of millennials say animal protein is healthy, whereas just 26 percent of older cohorts say this. And millennials are more likely than older cohorts to say saturated fat (found in keto-friendly coconut oil, cream and butter) is healthy. Whether you love or loathe the high-fat keto diet, millennial interest is driving researchers to take a closer look at it, so we will have some evidence-based answers about its efficacy soon.

They will try anything. Millennials are described as open-minded and curious. They like trying new flavors, love ethnic cuisine and won’t shy away from vegetarian and vegan options. As menu choices expand and you try new things, know that’s driven by millennials.

While there are many positive changes in food and nutrition because of millennials, there is one troublesome statistic to note. According to IFIC, about 40 percent of millennials say that friends and family are a top source of their nutrition information (only 21 percent of boomers give that answer — they trust doctors and dietitians more).
There’s no way to know how trustworthy someone’s sister’s nutrition information is. Plus, millennials rely heavily on websites, bloggers and social media fitness professionals for health information. This can spread nutrition myths (like their love of organic food), and can be harmful for future generations, including their very well-fed babies.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com

 

Brandless, the millennials’ startup that sells everything for $3 …

Brandless, the ‘Procter & Gamble for millennials’ startup that sells everything for $3, is launching a pop-up — but you can’t buy anything.

Brandless sells its own brand goods like packaged food and essential homeware on its website all for $3 each.
The brand is moving into the real world with a popup in LA so customers can interact with the brand in person.
Brandless has expanded categories and tripled its selection to 300 items since launching in July.
Brandless is trying to develop its image.

The online shopping site, which sells food and consumable essentials all for $3 and pitched itself as the “Procter & Gamble for millennials,” first launched in July. The site now has around 300 types of own brand goods – triple the number of items at launch. Many of the items are organic, non-GMO, or gluten free. Think of Brandless as a dollar store for consumables people are looking for.

The brand is now moving into the physical world with a pop-launching in May, called “Popup with a Purpose.” It will be a “three-dimensional experience of the values of what Brandless is really about,” according to CEO and co-founder Tina Sharkey.

The Brandless brand will be on display, but no products will be for sale. Instead, the 3,500 square foot location on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles will be offering samples, and opportunities to “live, learn, and love with intention,” according to a press release.

Brandless sells its own brand goods like packaged food and essential homeware on its website all for $3 each.
The brand is moving into the real world with a popup in LA so customers can interact with the brand in person.
Brandless has expanded categories and tripled its selection to 300 items since launching in July.
Brandless is trying to develop its image.

The online shopping site, which sells food and consumable essentials all for $3 and pitched itself as the “Procter & Gamble for millennials,” first launched in July. The site now has around 300 types of own brand goods – triple the number of items at launch. Many of the items are organic, non-GMO, or gluten free. Think of Brandless as a dollar store for consumables people are looking for.

The brand is now moving into the physical world with a pop-launching in May, called “Popup with a Purpose.” It will be a “three-dimensional experience of the values of what purpose,” Sharkey said. “That’s really resonating with people. You want to bring that purpose to life.”

The pop-up will be interactive and there will be panels, workshops, and talks by experts in the fields associated with the areas of food and wellness that Brandless has staked out. Along with the pop-up, Brandless is also launching a lifestyle blog that will be focused on educating consumers of the claimed benefits of, for example, “tree-free toilet paper.”

Sharkey says that Brandless has grown quicker than she’d imagined, and the company now ships packages to all 48 states every day.

“I checked that math – I just can’t believe it,” Sharkey said. “It’s gratifying to reach the whole country.”

Sharkey sees Brandless as filling gaps where the ease of shipping and low point of entry can allow people to try new things – like gluten-free baking mix – that would otherwise be either too expensive or just hard to find locally in some areas.

Since launch, Brandless has also refined its shipping cost structure. The free-shipping threshold has been lowered to $39 dollars, down from $72. All other orders cost a $5 flat fee to ship, which is down from $9.

The B.more membership program, which previously only lowered the free shipping order threshold to $48 dollars, now makes all orders ship free. The company has since started focusing on offering B.more to repeat Brandless customers.

When Business Insider tried Brandless shortly after launch, we found the items were a bit hit-or-miss, and value of $3 really depended on both the quality and quantity of the item.

Source: https://amp.businessinsider.com

Banksy auction stunt leaves art world in shreds

Canvas of Girl With Balloon passes through shredder in frame shortly after £1m sale

Banksy has played what could be one of the most audacious stunts in art history, arranging for one of his best-known works to self-destruct after being sold at auction for just over £1m.

Shortly after the hammer came down on the item, however, the canvas began to pass through a shredder installed in the frame.

Banksy posted an image on Instagram of the shredded work dangling from the bottom of the frame with the title “Going, going, gone … ”

“It appears we just got Banksy-ed,” said Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe.

Sotheby’s said in a statement to the Financial Times: “We have talked with the successful purchaser who was surprised by the story. We are in discussion about next steps.”

The auction house declined to reveal the identity of the buyer.

On Saturday evening, Banksy posted a video on his Instagram page which showed a shredder being fitted to the frame of the painting.

It opened with the caption: “A few years ago, I secretly built a shredder into a painting.”

The clip shows a hooded figure putting the finishing touches on the device, before text appears on the screen saying: “In case it was ever put up for auction.”

The website MyArtBroker.com, which resells Banksy pieces, said Girl with Balloon had enjoyed annual increases in value of about 20% in recent years. “Prices now are regularly exceeding £115,000 for signed authenticated prints,” said its co-founder Joey Syer.

“The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the £1.02m they paid last night.

“This is now part of art history in its shredded state and we’d estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% to its value, possibly as high as being worth £2m plus.”

Girl With Balloon, which was last year voted the UK’s best-loved work of art, first appeared on a wall in Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch, east London. The 2006 gallery version featured spray paint and acrylic on canvas, mounted on a board.

The true identity of the Bristol-born artist has never been officially revealed despite wide speculation.

He rose to fame with graffiti that appeared on buildings across the UK, often marked by deeply satirical undertones.

Two new artworks appeared at the Barbican Centre in central London in September 2017 inspired by an upcoming Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition.

Announcing the new artworks in a series of Instagram posts, the artist said: “Major new Basquiat show opens at the Barbican – a place that is normally very keen to clean any graffiti from its walls.” The work has since been protected by perspex panes.

One of Banksy’s more elaborate jokes came just over three years ago when he opened Dismaland, a “family theme park unsuitable for small children”, on the seafront at Weston-super-Mare.

The Guardian described it at the time as “sometimes hilarious, sometimes eye-opening and occasionally breathtakingly shocking”.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com

 

 

5 Memorable Advertising Activations

Advertising has taken a decidedly experiential turn, as the brains behind the campaigns continue to push the boundaries of creativity to cement emotional bonds between brands and consumers.

Below we take a look at five innovative advertising activations that we believe push creative boundaries and help each respective brand better connect with their customers.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs Takes A Bite Of Your Pizza, Not Your PocketTo let people know it doesn’t charge any fees for its personal loans, Marcus by Goldman Sachs went to new lengths with its advertising, sending an actor into a pizzeria to pretend he worked there and having him bite into slices of pizza before serving them to patrons. The message? Rival lenders take a big “bite” of consumer’s pockets with fees. Responses are hysterical:

                                            

 

Beautyrest’s “Sleep” Activation
At SXSW this year, Beautyrest recruited 150 festival attendees to sleep on twin beds arranged on a concert stage while listening to composer Max Richter’s eight-hour lullaby, “Sleep.” The video, below, gives you a peek inside the activation:

                                            

“This was successful in terms of creating an event that not only stood out in a brand-relevant way, but also went beyond being a one-and-done event via all of the positive earned media from social sharing on Instagram and Snapchat during the experience,” said Michelle Montgomery, VP of marketing communications for Beautyrest at Serta Simmons Bedding, in an earlier interview with CMO.com.

Intel’s Olympic Drone Lightshow
Few will ever forget the Pyeong Chang 2018 Olympics opening ceremony, when Intel’s drone lightshow was broadcasted to 28.3 million viewers around the world. Talk about building brand awareness: The high-tech company flew 1,200 drones simultaneously, breaking its own world record. The drones were programmed to take the shape of a snowboarder, a dove, and then the Olympic rings. Mesmerizing barely skims the surface:

                                             https://players.brightcove.net/734546229001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5734644867001

Sephora Tent At Coachella
As the official beauty sponsor of Coachella this year, Sephora placed a tent right in the middle of all the festival action. The air-conditioned, Wi-Fi-enabled tent contained various stations to get attendees festival-ready. Some of the services offered inside: holographic makeup application, a braid bar, a DIY temporary hair dye station, and a sparkly space ball hair-styling station. Fans loved it. Who doesn’t love freebies?

 

Spotify Honors David Bowie
Spotify paid tribute to English singer, song writer, and actor David Bowie earlier this year with a huge takeover of New York City’s Broadway-Lafayette subway station, which is in the neighborhood that Bowie lived in for more than 20 years. There was a big Bowie portrait on the staircase, as well as artwork featuring his quotes about his love for Manhattan and custom metro cards with images of him during different stages of his career. The tieback to Spotify was especially cool: Each piece of artwork had a unique Spotify code linking to Bowie’s music, which made this activation more impactful.

                                             

Source: https://www.cmo.com

Social Shopping: Snapchat is partnering with Amazon.

See, snap, sale. In a rare partnership for Amazon, the commerce giant will help Snapchat challenge Instagram and Pinterest for social shopping supremacy. Today Snapchat announced it’s slowly rolling out a new visual product search feature, confirming TechCrunch’s July scoop about this project, codenamed “Eagle.”

Users can use Snapchat’s camera to scan a physical object or barcode, which brings up a card showing that item and similar ones along with their title, price, thumbnail image, average review score and Prime availability. When they tap on one, they’ll be sent to Amazon’s app or site to buy it. Snapchat determines if you’re scanning a song, QR Snapcode or object, and then Amazon’s machine vision tech recognizes logos, artwork, package covers or other unique identifying marks to find the product. It’s rolling out to a small percentage of U.S. users first before Snap considers other countries.

Snap refused to disclose any financial terms of the partnership. It could be earning a referral fee for each thing you buy from Amazon, or it could just be doing the legwork for free in exchange for added utility. A Snapchat spokesperson tells me the latter is the motivation (without ruling out the former), as Snapchat wants its camera to become the new cursor — your point of interface between the real and digital worlds.

Social commerce is heating up as Instagram launches Shopping tags in Stories and a dedicated Shopping channel in Explore, while Pinterest opens up Shop the Look pins and hits 250 million monthly users. The feature should mesh well with Snap’s young and culture-obsessed audience. In the U.S., its users are 20 percent more likely to have made a mobile purchase than non-users, and 60 percent more likely to make impulse purchases according to studies by Murphy Research and GfK.

The feature functions similarly to Pinterest’s Lens visual search tool. In the video demo above, you can see Snapchat identifying Under Armour’s HOVR shoe (amongst all its other models), and the barcode for CoverGirl’s clean matte liquid makeup. That matches our scoop based on code dug out of Snapchat’s Android app by TechCrunch tipster Ishan Agarwal. Snapchat’s shares popped three percent the day we published that scoop, and again this morning before falling back to half that gain.

The feature could prove useful for when you don’t know the name of the product you’re looking at, as with shoes. That could turn visual search into a new form of word-of-mouth marketing where every time an owner shows off a product, they’re effectively erecting a billboard for it. Eventually, visual search could help users shop across language barriers.

Amazon is clearly warming up to social partnerships, recognizing its inadequacy in that department. Along with being named Snapchat’s official search partner, it’s also going to be bringing Alexa voice control to Facebook’s Portal video chat screen, which is reportedly debuting this week according to Cheddar’s Alex Heath.

Snapchat could use the help. It’s now losing users and money, down from 191 million to 188 million daily active users last quarter while burning $353 million. Partnering instead of trying to build all its technology in-house could help reduce that financial loss, while added utility could aid with user growth. And if Snap can convince advertisers, they might pay to educate people on how to scan their products with Snapchat.

Snap keeps saying it wants to be a “Camera Company,” but it’s really an augmented reality software layer through which to see the world. The question will be whether it can change our behavior so that when we see something special, we interact with it through the camera, not just capture it.

Source: https://techcrunch.com

DIESEL’S Haute Couture Campaign: The more hate you wear the less you care.

We have all been victims of negativity and criticism on social media. Whatever you do online, there is always somebody ready to criticize. And when hit by unjustified hate, most of us take a step back. But hiding and feeling bad about it is not going to help anyone.

The truth is this: the more you expose the hate you get treating it with irony and irreverence, the less power it has to cause harm. This is why we are launching HauteCouture. A unique collection designed to do just that: disempower hate.

Where to start if not from what we have experienced directly?We took some of the hate Diesel received as a brand, like “Diesel is Dead” and “Diesel is not cool anymore” showing them with pride and turning them into unique items.

Then, because no one gets more hate than the celebrities and names we follow on social media, we are kicking this off with a group of polarizing global personalities including Nicki Minaj, Gucci Mane, Bella Thorne, Bria Vinaite, Tommy Dorfman, Miles Heizer, Yovanna Ventura, Barbie Ferreira, Yoo Ah-In and Jonathan Bellini to help deliver an important message: “The more hate you wear the less you care.”

They chose the very worst of the comments they have ever received, and we have designed exclusive HauteCoutureitems for each of them. Nicki Minajwas dubbed “The Bad Guy.” Gucci Manewas told “Fuck You, Imposter.” Bella Thornewas named a “Slut.” All these comments are now limited-edition items in the Haute Couturecollection, available from October (exact date TBC) in selected South African Diesel stores.

This new chapter of Diesel communication starts and lives where online hate is born – mostly on social media – with a series of tailor-made videos for each member of our stellar cast. We can see them dance and ironically celebrate the hate they have received, helping the world to experience, first-hand, the campaign message.

We are doing all of this to inspire everyone out there to create their own one-of-a-kind Haute Coutureitems. In key markets around the world, starting from October 6, we will let our customers personalize this new collection, creating and wearing the worst comment they have ever received. And with the proceeds from the sale of Haute Coutureitems, Diesel will be making a donation in support of anti-bullying and cyberbullying programs of the OTB foundation.

Here the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUJtUojXY1k

Source: http://previdar.com

Why Diesel Is Selling Knock-Offs To Unsuspecting Customers

Diesel has opened a bootleg store in New York’s Chinatown selling fakes that are actually real. In an exclusive interview, Diesel founder and president of OTB Renzo Rosso tells Vogue why ‘DEISEL – For Successfull Living’ is the ultimate brand strengthening exercise.

“HANDBAG, handbag, watches, watches.” Down in New York’s Chinatown, sales assistants operate from behind concealed doors and the trunks of cars, plying their luxury knock-offs to fashion fans who want that latest four-figure It bag without the prohibitive price tag. As of today, however, there’s a new sales tactic on the block: Diesel has opened a pop-up store of products based on bootleg designs called ‘DEISEL – For Successfull Living’.

The pop-up, which is decked out like any other traditional hole-in-the-wall, fake-as-they-come shop space on Canal Street, is part of Diesel’s spring/summer 2018 campaign strategy, Go With The Flaw. Stock comprises a series of denim, sweatshirts, caps and T-shirts, all printed with the misspelt Diesel logo, and is priced at knock-off sums. According to Renzo Rosso, the president of OTB group, which owns Diesel, the venture is aimed at “encouraging fans to feel free to wear whatever they want.”

Being authentically fake is an interesting idea. Bootlegs have historically been viewed as A Bad Thing for fashion, eating into profits and damaging the inherent value of a brand, with the caveat that they will also possibly harm the customer who – wittingly or unwittingly – buys them (those fake Prada sunglasses? No UV protection. And watch out for Cobalt-60, a radioactive isotrope, found in counterfeit metal bag straps). But in recent seasons brands have been keen to embrace the bootleg, with Vetements and Gucci both selling “fake” collections of designs based on counterfeits popular in Korea for the former, and in the Eighties streets of New York for the latter.

Is imitation still the greatest form of flattery – or an illegal practice that needs to be stamped out? “It’s both!” says Rosso, corresponding with Vogue over email. “If someone copies you it means that your brand is worthy and top of mind with consumers, but at the same time we make every effort to protect our brand from counterfeit activity. We will keep fighting to protect our brand by implementing state-of-the-art technologies, we cannot have any tolerance for fraudsters – on and offline.” The Chinatown pop-up, Rosso says, was conceived of as a joke. “We wanted to bring out our self-irony… and also to slightly mock the current logomania trend, in a Diesel way. We never want to take ourselves too seriously.”

Does he worry that by making a virtue of counterfeit, he is undermining the value of authentic, full-price product? If people can get just as good “fake” Diesel products at a “knock-off” price, why would they then pay for the real deal? “Not at all,” Rosso replies. “We are using the power of Diesel to strengthen it even more. The real deal is for those who own a DEISEL item now – it will become something to collect and impossible to find unless you buy it fast on our e-comm before it’s sold out. We did this for our core fashion customer looking for something that will turn heads and spark questions, while actively taking part in the culture and reinforcing our commitment to go with the flaw. The ‘knock-off’ price point and the fake store was an experiment to celebrate those brave enough to find their own unique style.”

Still, Rosso always keeps the business plan front of mind. “If anyone else follows they’ll have to do a knock-off of a knock-off,” he writes. “But, just to be clear: we trademarked DEISEL.”

Source: https://www.vogue.co.uk

 

 

 

 

A short overview on the latest global wine trends

Still light grape wine: entering the dragon and a shadow falls over the US

China might have historically been the proverbial dragon in the room when discussing wine but it will be the accelerating transition from luxury towards the mass market that will inform the next chapter in its evolution- a development that will in turn shape the global wine industry both in terms of supply and demand as well as in branding and positioning. While red varietals will continue capitalising on the segment’s already established base in the country, rising levels of sophistication and the forces of westernisation will provide opportunities for alternatives to make inroads too.

Additionally, further reducing import tariffs and the intoxicating effect of free trade agreements will pave the way for the next wave of exporters that will follow in the footsteps of Australian wine’s roaring success in China. Within that context, wines from New Zealand, Chile and Georgia will be next in line and deciphering their core offerings could hold the key in providing clues on the styles that will rise in popularity in the short to medium term.

On the other hand, and while the core US market appears to be is good health, anecdotal information suggests that the premiumisation narrative might be reaching its peak. Demographic pressures – the trailing boomer effect and a millennial demographic still unable to pick up the slack- could indeed lead to a gradual deceleration of premium offerings. Could this be the first sign of a secular market change?

Cans, taps and blends for the Instagram generation

Wine will further shed its stuffy image to embrace democratisation. Canned formats- already spiking in the US- will lead the charge on the back of their portability, versatile character and durability credentials as well as due to the simple fact that younger demographics have already embraced them in the case of craft beer pioneers. However, underlying industry conservatism, retailer pushback and distributors’ relative lack of knowledge will still present barriers in the short to medium term.

Wine on tap will rise as the next contentious point of fierce debate: more efficient, environmentally friendly and making higher end options more affordable, draft wine has the potential to revolutionise on-trade rituals while raising accessibility levels.

Mellower, easily pronounceable and generally approachable red wine blends will retain their strong trajectories – even despite professional critics’ vocal reservations. The same will hold true for balanced Merlots, dry Rieslings and fun, casual rose offerings while orange wine’s instagrammable  appeal will further its reach beyond metropolitan centres.

The significance of the indulgence factor and the de facto blurring of category lines will also see a rise in cross-pollination initiatives like bourbon barrel aging – boosting flavour and richness in this way might prove to be a fad but it is a fad that will still have legs for a while longer.

Natural wine – a segment even more notoriously difficult to codify than craft beer- will enter the mainstream and even if it will not account for significant volumes it will ultimately have an impact on transparency and low manipulation initiatives gaining traction across the entire industry.

Sparkling wines reaching out of their comfort zone

Champagne’s much vaunted direct correlation with macroeconomic developments can lead to downward pressures considering the current levels of global political volatility, overdue and cyclical economic crises and historical focus on the key UK market that will be going through the inevitable convulsions of the Brexit process.

Brut and non-dosage varietals will retain their dominance but demi-sec variants could hold the key to raising penetration rates in new markets and demographics. Sugar-inclined palates could find them easier to approach while at the same time such products could help the category escape its aperitif limitations, work better alongside food pairings and even claim historical parallels harking as far back as Russia in the 1800s.

Champagne might be all about celebrating the art of blending but single vineyard and single plot offerings will gain traction with microvinifications providing an artisanal, terroir driven alternative to big brands- in a similar vein to micro distilling.

But as champagne works in earnest on its approachability credentials, other sparkling wines’ journey will be in a diametrically opposite direction. In the case of cava the introduction of a new premium classification will attempt to cement the category’s aspirational hopes as Prosecco will focus on building brand equity while continuing to push its approachable premiumisation narrative.

 

Source: https://blog.euromonitor.com