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In response to the hospitality industry's persistent employee turnover problem, Kyoto-based luxury ryokan operator Nazuna is launching a new recruitment strategy: inviting job candidates to experience their accommodations before interviewing for positions.

The company has partnered with hospitality job platform 'in the HOTEL' to offer potential employees complimentary overnight stays at one of its properties, followed by on-site interviews with current staff. This approach addresses a fundamental issue in luxury hospitality recruitment — candidates rarely experience the service they'll be expected to deliver.

According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the accommodation and food service sector saw a staggering 26.6% turnover rate in 2023, significantly higher than the 15.4% average across all industries. "As inbound tourism increases and more facilities open, the hotel industry faces a significant talent shortage," explains Ryuichi Watanabe, Nazuna's CEO. The new initiative is rooted in Realistic Job Preview theory, which aims to reduce post-hire disillusionment by providing candid pre-employment experiences.

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Nazuna is shifting the balance from recruitment-as-audition to recruitment-as-invitation. In luxury hospitality, the standard is to anticipate and fulfill a guest's every need. By extending this mindset to potential employees, Nazuna is making a statement: the employee experience can't lag miles behind the guest experience. That welcoming and empathic mindset meets a growing expectation among younger workers in search of meaningful, emotionally resonant workplaces, not just jobs.

What if the climate emergency looked like a game? Enter FutureGuessr, a new 360° anticipation experience from creative studio Artefact 3000 and climate coalition Réseau Action Climat.

Inspired by GeoGuessr, the online game drops players into AI-generated landscapes disrupted by +2.7°C warming: melting ice caps, submerged coastlines, savannas replacing rainforests... 🏝️🏜️ Using IPCC data and climate science, each round presents two versions of the same place: one catastrophic, one resilient — highlighting the choices people still have.

FutureGuessr is a powerful way to turn abstract projections into visceral, visual storytelling. And it's landing at a crucial moment, as governments — from Brussels to Washington — soften climate targets and roll back commitments.

Bringing climate action into gamer mode opens a portal for brands:

🎮 Meet players where they click. Gaming culture is massive and increasingly values-driven. Climate-conscious gameplay like this grabs attention where PSAs can't.

📍 Co-op with credibility. Let players visualize the future and show your brand has skin in the game. Collaborate on new maps, sponsor resilient "what-if" futures or add layers of action (think: click to pledge, play to donate).

📹 Stream it loud. Twitch, TikTok, YouTube — it's made to be watched, reacted to and memed. Gamify climate messaging through influencer collabs or branded in-game moments. Start by backing creator challenges with real-world impact, à la Airbnb.

🕹️ Bottom line? In a world of short attention spans and rising eco-anxiety, games like FutureGuessr offer a new way in when the climate crisis feels abstract: less preaching, more playing. Smart brands won't just spectate — they'll hit "Start" and help co-create tomorrow's map.

European fashion outlet platform Otrium has launched Ovatars, an AI-powered modeling system designed to give unsold clothing items a second shot at reaching consumers. The initiative addresses a persistent challenge in fashion retail: how to effectively showcase single-SKU items that don't typically warrant expensive model photography shoots.

The system works by photographing unsold items in basic format, then digitally placing them on seven AI-generated models that represent diverse styles and customer segments. These virtual avatars — with names like Ava (The Minimal Muse) and Zion (The Street Prodigy) — allow Otrium to create product detail pages, lookbook visuals and animated advertisements for inventory that might otherwise languish in a warehouse. Early results suggest the approach delivers tangible business benefits: conversion rates have jumped 15% to 50%, while model photography costs have dropped 40%. The Amsterdam-based company, which partners with over 300 brands and serves 4 million members across Europe, developed the technology with digital agency DEPT®.

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As brands grapple with mounting overstock challenges — exacerbated by unpredictable demand patterns and shortened fashion cycles — the ability to cost-effectively showcase every item becomes crucial for waste reduction. Otrium's Ovatars highlight how AI can solve immediate business problems while supporting sustainability goals. As generative AI tools become more sophisticated and accessible, expect similar applications to emerge across retail categories where visual presentation drives purchase decisions. Could your brand use AI to breathe new life into overlooked products or underperforming inventory?

South African game developer Nyamakop has crafted an unusual title with Relooted, a side-scrolling heist game that transforms cultural repatriation into compelling gameplay. Players assemble diverse crews from across Africa to liberate 70 real artifacts currently housed in Western museums, navigating stealth-based puzzles that blend parkour mechanics with Ocean's Eleven-style planning.

The game emerged from a family dinner conversation after developer Ben Myres' mother visited the British Museum and was appalled by what she saw. Two years of research later, the team had painstakingly recreated artifacts like a Kenyan drum that local communities believed had been destroyed for over a century, only to discover it gathering dust in museum storage.

Once players grab an artifact, they have just 30 seconds to escape as alarms blare and security systems activate. Each crew member brings specialized skills — lock picking, hacking, acrobatics — and represents specific African countries with authentic voice acting sourced from those regions. The studio grew from three to 30 people during development, deliberately building a team that could bring genuine cultural authenticity to both the visual design and narrative elements.

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Relooted exemplifies how gaming is becoming a vehicle for cultural reclamation and education, tapping into broader consumer demand for authentic, global perspectives that challenge and reclaim colonial narratives. The game arrives as younger audiences increasingly question whose stories get told and who controls culture, reflecting a shift toward more conscious consumption of entertainment.

By gamifying a serious political issue while maintaining respect for its subject matter, Nyamakop demonstrates how brands can engage with social justice topics without preaching, letting players draw their own conclusions about whether these artifacts belong in Western museums or African communities. Entertainment doesn't have to shy away from hard truths; instead, it can transform them into agency. In Relooted, players aren't just looting for thrills — they're engaging in symbolic justice. Expect more media formats that tackle serious, historically complex issues with irreverent, energetic gameplay.

According to the NIVEA CONNECT COMPASS, a survey of 30,000+ people across 13 countries released last week, people aged 16–24 are the loneliest demographic, with 24% feeling isolated, compared to 19% of all adults.

🙅‍♂️ Post‑demographic pain: Other vulnerable groups? Singles, cash-strapped consumers, rural residents, doom‑scrollers. And yep, young men too.
👯 Support systems: Where real bonds exist, 63% feel happier. Family (67%) and friends (59%) top support lists — yet 31% feel they can’t rely on them.
🤫 Stigma and silence: 56% of lonely people say it’s hard to ask for help, rising to 62% among youth.
⏳ A silent killer: Loneliness slashes life expectancy on par with smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and rivals air pollution, obesity and inactivity. Every hour, 100 people die from loneliness-related causes, the UN health agency reports.
🔁 ICYMI: NIVEA’s first global study, published in September 2024, flagged a 1-in-4 loneliness epidemic, sparking the launch of NIVEA CONNECT — an educational and support system that’s now operating in 30+ countries.

👀 What’s next for brands?
Loneliness has flipped the script: it skews younger, not older. Gen Z, and Millennials too, are juggling competitive wellness, chatbot companionship and long COVID solitude. Hyperconnectivity ≠ human connection.

Your playbook for the connection economy:

📚 Build brave spaces, online and IRL, where youth can show up unfiltered. Think drop-in connection corners that spark micro-moments of belonging. Even better? Make it serendipitous: since reading is proven to ease loneliness and boost the brain, could a book club forge healthy, passion-led connection?

🇩🇪 Partner for proof. Collaborate with mental health orgs, schools and youth leaders. Take a cue from NIVEA Germany’s collab with non-profit krisenchat, offering 24/7 text counselling to guide teens out of isolation.

As summer temperatures continue to break records, Coors Light is stepping into the climate adaptation space with a playful solution for wedding parties sweltering through formal ceremonies. The brand recently unveiled the Cold Tux, a first-of-its-kind tuxedo engineered with built-in cooling technology, featuring a breathable linen shell and a hidden refrigerating core powered by ice pack rods.

The tuxedo, which debuted earlier this month at a Florida wedding, even includes a "Chill-o-stat" that turns blue when the suit reaches optimal temperature, mimicking the cold-activated indicator on the brand's beer cans. Building on this concept, Coors Light is now releasing the BrrrTie, a refrigerated neck accessory designed to target a key body temperature regulation zone. The chilled accessory promises up to 40 minutes of cooling relief — just enough time to make it through the ceremony without visible perspiration. The company will release 100 BrrrTies to consumers through its website, at USD 32 each.

A new entrant in the e-commerce landscape aims to transform how people discover fashion online. Unlike traditional shopping platforms that are retrofitting AI capabilities onto existing systems, Daydream was built from the ground up as a conversational commerce experience. The platform functions as a chat-based shopping agent that understands nuanced queries and personal preferences: customers explain what they're looking for, Daydream serves up options. From there, it's a conversational process of finding similar or different garments and styles until the right item is found.

Daydream adapts to individual style preferences, serving as a digital personal shopper that learns from each interaction with a user. At launch, the platform boasts partnerships with nearly 8,000 global brands and retailers. Founded by e-commerce veteran Julie Bornstein and a team of former leaders from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nordstrom, Daydream scored USD 50 million in seed funding co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Index Ventures, with participation from GV and True Ventures.

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What Daydream is promising isn't just personalization; it's personalization that feels like magic: a highly curated, emotionally intelligent experience where the platform acts more like a personal stylist or concierge than a search engine.

Once they've become accustomed to Daydream and other retail agents, here's what consumers will start expecting before they purchase:
👩‍🎨 Shopping that feels more like a creative collaboration than a transaction
👁️ Aesthetic intelligence: stores and platforms that 'get' their taste
💎 Recommendations that evolve and improve with every interaction

eufyMake E1, the world's first personal 3D-texture UV printer, has shattered Kickstarter records by raising over USD 44 million from backers worldwide. The campaign reached USD 10 million in just 14 hours, surpassing the platform's previous funding record of USD 41.7 million. And demonstrating serious demand for accessible manufacturing tools.

The device promises to democratize professional-grade printing by delivering 3D textures up to 5 mm thick. The E1's modular design allows users to print on a wide range of objects and materials, from coffee mugs to metal sheets, supported by an AI-powered workflow and a library of 20,000+ templates. Its biggest draw might well be its size — the E1 is a whopping 90% smaller than conventional UV printers, making the technology available for home studios and small businesses.

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The maturation of the creator economy has given rise to new expectations around individual expression and entrepreneurship. Throw in renewed interest in local manufacturing amid tariff uncertainties plus AI tools that amplify people's creative capabilities, and it makes sense that tools combining digital creativity with physical output are resonating so strongly.

The question for brands becomes: what's your role when your customers could potentially become your manufacturers or even your competitors? Will we see established companies partnering with these democratized production tools, or will they find themselves disrupted by a generation of consumers who would rather print their own products than purchase off the rack?

Samsung and utility company Coolblue Energie have joined forces in a strategic partnership that will provide Dutch households with free electricity for doing their laundry between 12 pm and 3 pm. Available to users with a Coolblue contract with dynamic pricing and a compatible Samsung washing machine connected to the SmartThings app, the initiative harnesses solar and wind power during peak production hours while simultaneously reducing pressure on the electrical grid.

This collaboration addresses growing consumer demand for smarter home energy solutions while promoting sustainable consumption patterns. According to Marijn van Weele, director of Coolblue Energie, the combined power consumption of all appliances sold annually by Coolblue (which is primarily an electronics retailer) could illuminate the city of Rotterdam for three years — demonstrating the substantial impact of shifting electricity usage to midday hours when renewable energy is abundant.

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Initiatives like Samsung and Coolblue Energie's free electricity program exemplify how brands are responding to consumers' shifting sustainability priorities — from abstract climate pledges and complex carbon offset schemes, to tangible, immediately understandable benefits. The offer's genius lies in its simplicity: consumers save money while reducing grid pressure during peak solar production, transforming a daily household routine into meaningful climate action without additional effort.

As sustainability fatigue and greenwashing skepticism grow, expect more brands to follow suit with equally transparent initiatives that make environmental impact visible, measurable and rewarding. The most successful will be those that, like this washing machine program, embed sustainability so seamlessly into everyday activities that consumers don't have to choose between convenience and conscience.

The carbon contradiction is real: AI is both a climate threat and a climate tool. Energy-hungry, water-thirsty data centers could add up to 1.6 billion metric tons of emissions this decade, especially with fossil fuels still powering much of the AI boom.

✨ The good news? If steered towards decarbonizing key sectors like energy, transport and food, AI could slash up to 5.4 billion metric tons of CO₂ annually by 2030: more than the EU emits in a year. Smart applications — from forecasting renewable supply and optimizing EV batteries to designing alt-proteins — could cut far more emissions than they create.

🔍 The challenge? Spotting the energy-responsible intelligences, using them wisely and filtering out the greenwashers.

💡 The opportunity? A clear call for brands, governments and innovators to guide AI away from climate hypocrisy and towards climate utility.

Two trends your brand can leverage to lead the way:

🔁 LOOPLIFE → Help consumers and employees make low-carbon lifestyle choices using AI-powered nudges and tools

🔎 VERIF-AI → Invest in transparent, traceable AI supply chains and commit to running your compute on renewables

Now’s the time to champion AI-for-planet with practical, planet-positive tools. Brands betting on AI as a sustainability multiplier — not just a productivity engine — will earn both cultural capital and regulatory trust. As carbon-conscious consumers wise up to AI’s true footprint, they’ll reward those building intelligence that serves the planet, not just the bottom line. 🌱

Netflix is making a leap from screens to physical spaces with the launch of Netflix House: permanent entertainment venues opening in Philadelphia and Dallas in late 2025, followed by Las Vegas in 2027. These 100,000+ square foot locations mark a strategic expansion into fandom monetization: the conversion of IP into durable, real-world revenue through experience design.

Each site will host evolving, interactive experiences based on Netflix's most resonant franchises — Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday — as well as curated food concepts under the Netflix Bites banner and exclusive merchandise drops. Netflix House is designed for longevity, with modular and regularly refreshed content to encourage repeat visits. Netflix wants to become not just a platform, but a place.

This model borrows from the Disney and Universal playbooks, updating them for the streaming era. Instead of relying on decades-old IP, Netflix is building themed spaces around properties that are live, globally relevant and deeply embedded in Gen Z and Millennial cultural discourse. The timing aligns with mounting pressure across the streaming sector; subscriber growth has plateaued, and platforms are under increasing scrutiny to diversify revenue.

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Netflix House underscores a critical shift in entertainment: as digital content becomes ubiquitous and easily replicable, embodied experience becomes the premium offering. In an age of algorithmic abundance, emotional stickiness may lie in the tactile, the communal, the unforgettable. For brands built online, this raises a key question: how might your digital ecosystem evolve into a physical destination — not just for visibility, but for belonging?

New York-based skincare brand Dieux has launched Sun-Screener, an ingredient analysis tool designed to demystify sunscreen formulations for consumers increasingly wary of chemical UV filters. Users copy and paste their ingredients to a text box, and the platform breaks down active ingredients, helping users understand their sun protection products without the fearmongering that often dominates beauty ingredient discussions. Each fact includes links to supporting scientific literature.

Dieux — which doesn't yet sell a sunscreen of its own — argues that 'clean' skincare brands and lobbying organizations have exploited healthcare concerns to drive sales through fear, particularly around chemical sunscreens with decades of safety data. Because, as Dieux points out: "the safest sunscreen is the one you use daily." 

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With misinformation continuing to erode consumer trust in established science, brands face a choice between capitalizing on fear or building confidence through education. Dieux's approach represents a shift toward transparency without terror tactics, addressing legitimate concerns about ingredient disclosure while affirming the safety of products that protect public health. Companies that can navigate the line between transparency and reassurance may find themselves building stronger, more informed customer relationships.

New York's Pier 36 has been transformed into an elaborate crime scene by Hermès. The French luxury house's Mystery at the Grooms' activation runs through June 29th and invites participants aged seven and up to play detective in a theatrical quest to find missing horses — a quest that cleverly disguises product displays as interactive entertainment.

The experience centers around the Grooms' House, a meticulously crafted set where caretakers live alongside their equestrian companions until the horses mysteriously vanish into the brand's own merchandise. Participants must decode clues scattered throughout rooms that double as curated displays of Hermès' sixteen métiers — from leather goods to ceramics to ready-to-wear. It's an approach that makes browsing feel like an adventure, turning potential customers into active participants rather than passive observers.

Mystery at the Grooms' debuted in Shanghai in December 2024; Tokyo, Singapore and Paris are lined up as the installation's next stops.

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This gamification reflects a broader shift in retail, where brands increasingly compete for attention through experiential storytelling rather than traditional showroom displays. By embedding products within a narrative framework, Hermès transforms what could be intimidating luxury browsing into an accessible treasure hunt. The free, family-friendly format democratizes engagement with a brand historically associated with exclusivity, while the hour-long sessions create focused, memorable interactions. Hermès' detective game demonstrates how luxury brands can maintain their mystique while becoming more approachable — creating stories people are happy to explore.

Design and innovation office Modem has developed a bedside device that visualizes people's dreams. Dream Recorder captures spoken dream recollections and uses generative AI to transform them into what the creators call 'ultra-low definition dreamscapes' — intentionally fuzzy visuals that mirror the hazy quality of actual dream memories.

The analog-inspired device sits on nightstands, glowing softly in the dark. It works independently of other devices to safeguard bedrooms as phone-free sanctuaries. Users wake up, describe their dreams by speaking in any language and watch them materialize as low-resolution cinema in the aesthetic style of their choice.

Each unit can store a week's worth of subconscious theater,' building a personal archive for reflection and pattern recognition. Dream Recorder is entirely open-source, inviting builders to download code, gather off-the-shelf components and 3D print their own shells (no soldering required). Design files and software are available on GitHub; the required parts cost around EUR 285.

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Dream Recorder signals a broader shift in how people engage with their inner lives and how technology can enable new paths to self-discovery. Three key angles:
😴 Self-intimacy over self-quantification: Consumers once wanted to hack sleep with biometrics and data. Now they crave meaning. This device reframes sleep as a source of stories rather than REM statistics, encouraging a daily ritual of reflection.
🛌 Phone-free sanctuaries: As awareness grows around technology's impact on sleep and wellbeing, Dream Recorder embodies the 'quiet tech' movement. No screens. No endless scroll.
💭 The rise of the dream economy: From LEGO's DREAMZzz show to hotels offering lucid dreaming packages, dreams are evolving from fleeting curiosities into cultural capital. People want to record, understand, and even design their dreams — as a form of storytelling, therapy and entertainment.

Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey — capturing the voices of over 23,000 young adults across 44 countries — is a temperature check on two generations navigating a world in flux. What’s the vibe? Anxious, ambitious... And absolutely done with broken systems.

💸 Money’s tight: 48% of Gen Z and 46% of Millennials live paycheck to paycheck — a jump from 30% and 32% in 2024. No wonder side hustles are still going strong. But 8-in-10 say both their day-to-day finances and long-term prospects are stressing them out.

🧘‍♀️ Mental ladder: 40% of Gen Z and 34% of Millennials feel anxious or stressed all or most of the time, especially women and on-site workers. Burnout is blazing, with 2-in-5 saying it’s common at work. Only 6% of Gen Z see leadership roles as a priority. The climb? Not worth it without support.

🌍 Climate anxiety is real: Two-thirds (65% of Gen Z and 63% of Millennials) say they’ve felt eco-anxious in the past month. And it’s career-relevant: around 1-in-5 research a company’s environmental impact before accepting a job offer.

🌱 Purpose isn’t optional: 89% of Gen Z and 92% of Millennials say having meaning at work is essential to job satisfaction and overall wellbeing. They expect employers to walk the talk on climate, DEI and flexibility.

🤖 GenAI? GenWho? 6-in-10 are already using gen AI at work, but only a third say they’ve received enough training. There's curiosity and excitement, but also anxiety: 60% fear being replaced by automation. 

Gen Z and Millennials are rewriting the rules of work and consumption — blending purpose with paychecks, normalizing mental health support and demanding real flexibility and upskilling. Brands that ignore these signals risk irrelevance. Those that invest with empathy? Future-proofed — especially with this cohort set to make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030.

📊 For more numbers, dive into the full report