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Marathon du Mont-Blanc reserves bibs for runners arriving by train

Later this month, 11,000 runners will descend on Chamonix to participate in one of eight races, including the Marathon du Mont-Blanc. Among the world's most famous trail running events, they're set in stunning natural surroundings. So it's not surprising that Le Club des Sports de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, which organizes the races, is bent on minimizing their environmental impact.

Previously implemented initiatives include banning plastic water bottles and reducing food miles by sourcing from local producers. Recently, Le Club des Sports de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc announced a new measure to drastically cut transport-related emissions: in 2025, 40% of all marathon bibs will be reserved for runners arriving by train. Participants who can't show their train ticket will be disqualified from starting.

Massive Attack offers VIP access and dedicated trains

British band Massive Attack, meanwhile, is wielding carrots instead of sticks for its August 2024 homecoming gig in Bristol — billed as the 'lowest carbon emissions show of its size ever held.' To persuade ticket-holders to travel by train instead of car, the concert's organizers are partnering with Train Hugger to offer a comprehensive set of incentives.

Train tickets can be swapped for a wristband that provides access to a VIP bar and toilets; wristband wearers get a free ride back to the rail station after the show via electric bus; post-show, rail operator GWR will also reserve five 'show special' trains departing from Bristol; and each train ticket will contribute to the planting of 19,150 native oak trees on former farmland near Bristol.

When thinking about the gender gap, pay and employment disparities often top the list. Now, a new divide is emerging, with AI threatening to widen existing inequalities. Deloitte highlights gender-based emotional disparities regarding AI, even among younger people:

📉 Women’s top emotion is uncertainty: 28% of Gen Z and Millennial women express uncertainty about generative AI, compared to 20% of Gen Z men and 24% of Millennial men. 

📈 Men’s top emotion is excitement: 24% of Gen Z men and 26% of Millennial men feel excited about generative AI, while 19% of Gen Z women and 20% of Millennial women say the same.

🧑‍🎓 Women also feel less comfortable working alongside gen AI systems and tools, and are less likely to seek out related training.

So, how can your company bridge the gender gap in AI adoption and comfort levels? Education is key! As the study found, AI knowledge drives trust and interest. Empower all of your employees through training, while honestly addressing their concerns. Ensure that women have equal access to AI-related projects that can help them gain practical experience, and actively seek to include women in key AI initiatives and leadership roles within AI projects.

On June 5th, World Environment Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that humanity is at a "moment of truth" in the fight against climate change. Guterres spoke directly to advertising agencies and PR companies: "Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed — even as they have sought to delay climate action — with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns. They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies."

Guterres continued: "I call on these companies to stop acting as enablers to planetary destruction. Stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones. Fossil fuels are not only poisoning our planet — they're toxic for your brand. Your sector is full of creative minds who are already mobilizing around this cause. They are gravitating towards companies that are fighting for our planet — not trashing it."

"Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco. Some are now doing the same with fossil fuels. I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil fuel advertising."

No-code platforms that leverage AI are plugging a gap that previously only developers could fill — exponentially expanding opportunities for side-hustlers. From drag-and-drop tools to democratized app creation, no-code platforms remove the roadblock of development costs and know-how, and reportedly save creators up to 26 hours a week.

Recent launches include Kajabi, which allows anyone to build their own branded app, KLIQ, which helps creators transition into business owners, game creation platform Jamango, and immersive web experience builder Infinite Reality.

As more people aspire to take the leap into full-time maker/solopreneur mode, how could your brand support them with mentorship, financial capital, community or access to advanced AI tools?

From Delhi to Sacramento, temperatures are soaring, with 2024 poised to shatter last year's records for the hottest summer ever, leaving cities sweating and scrambling for cooling solutions… 🥵

A study published in Nature Communications in May 2024 warns that by 2050, the cumulative heat exposure for older people (aged 69+) will triple worldwide, affecting 246 million people. The effect will be particularly pronounced in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa that are more prone to climate change-induced heatwaves. Coinciding trends of aging populations and rapidly rising temperatures are set to create hotspots of vulnerability.

As the study explains, "Increases in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat spells pose direct threats to physical health and mortality risk, with especially severe consequences for older adults, given their heightened susceptibility to hyperthermia and common health conditions worsened by heat exposure, such as cardiovascular disease."

In the face of these new climate realities, what's your strategy for supporting vulnerable aging populations in your region?

A newly-published survey by Slack's Workforce Lab reveals that over two-thirds of office workers in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK have yet to use AI tools on the job. Of those who do use AI, 81% report increased productivity (and just 7% consider AI outputs completely trustworthy).

Other insights gleaned from the survey:

• Execs race to embrace "Nearly all executives (96%) now feel an urgency to incorporate AI into business operations. The share of leaders aiming to do this 'in the next 18 months' has grown 7x since September 2023, rising from 5% to 35% of all executives"
• White workers lagging "AI use is accelerating at a faster clip among workers of color, with 43% of Hispanic/Latinx desk workers, 42% of Black desk workers and 36% of Asian American desk workers having tried AI tools at work, compared with 29% of white desk workers"
• Gen Z gender gap "While young people are most likely to have experimented with AI tools, Gen Z men are 25% more likely to have tried AI tools compared with Gen Z women"
  

The 2024 Paris Olympics aren't just about sports but aim to showcase sustainable food, too. With over 13 million meals to be served during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, organizers see a monumental opportunity to spotlight cuisine that's not just delectable but also comes with a lower environmental impact.

France intends to leverage its culinary reputation to inspire more eco-friendly eating habits, both at major sporting events and at home. A prime example is the Athletes' Village dining hall, which will offer 500 recipes and make over a third of dishes entirely plant-based when it opens as the 'world's largest restaurant.' Spectators will see more meatless options, too. At the La Concorde venue, 100% of food served to visitors will be vegetarian. 

Additionally, 80% of the ingredients used will come from France, and 30% from organic farms or those in the process of converting. In canteens, both the nutritional values and environmental impact of each course will be displayed. By dramatically increasing meat-free options, Paris 2024 aims to halve the carbon footprint of catering at the Olympics.

Despite brands' focus on improving the CX, 71% of shoppers see no improvement or an increase in the time and effort required to make a decision. And with information overload reaching a new level (thanks to tailored ads and personalized products), 75% say they feel bombarded by advertising... 🤯

One solution? Gen AI-powered assistants that cut through the noise. These AI GENIES will work on behalf of overwhelmed consumers, ticking mundane tasks off their to-do lists. Since most people will prefer to pick and choose what they outsource, brands must learn to discern when autonomy is preferred. In fact, 55% of consumers say they are open to AI GENIES making purchases for them, especially for booking flights (70%), hotels (65%) and buying consumer tech (59%).

LLMs have a dirty secret. They’re thirsty: a single ChatGPT conversation uses about half a liter of water 💧 Microsoft’s 2024 Environmental Sustainability Report reveals a similar picture. The company’s C02 emissions are up by 29.1% since 2020, mainly due to the construction and provisioning of more data centers to meet customer demand for cloud services. Which makes Microsoft's goal of becoming carbon-negative by 2030 an ever-greater challenge.

More likely than not, your own company is busy adopting AI technologies to drive innovation and enhance customer experiences. And that means grappling with associated environmental implications, too.

🔴 Risk assessment: With leaders fearing they'll be outpaced by competitors in the race to deploy, gen AI is pushing sustainability down corporate priority lists. How will you stay vigilant? For starters, track the energy consumption of your brand's AI integrations and keep it in line with your ESG goals.

🟢 Opportunity: As concern about greenwashing reaches new heights, AI's ability to analyze large datasets promises to open up new routes to accountability, particularly within sustainability reporting. Use that capacity to your advantage, or face data-driven condemnation.

Of online daters, 64% are now interested in leveraging AI as a dating coach, according to cyber safety brand Norton. No longer confined to merely finding a match, AI is assisting daters in making conversation, enhancing their profiles and even simulating trial dates to break the ice. All of which could reduce the average six hours per week users spend on dating apps.

The latest AI-powered dating tools to hit the market, from Rizz and Volar to relationship coach Couply, demonstrate the field's potential. However, AI's inroads into dating are coinciding with a concerning rise in scams. While Norton obviously has skin in the game here, its data reveals a 72% increase since 2023, with nearly one in three American dating app users targeted, and almost half of those falling victim.

Given the ease of crafting a flirty text with AI, ensuring dater safety is key. Can you teach users to spot red flags, or harness AI to intervene when catfishing is about to strike?

Hyatt is teaming up with Peloton to motivate guests to prioritize their wellness while traveling. The partnership aims to be the first global hotel loyalty program incentivizing members to exercise by rewarding them with points. Guests at participating Hyatt properties will have access to Peloton bikes and rowing machines in fitness centers and to Peloton workout classes streamed directly to their room's TV. 

Good behavior isn't just its own reward

By doling out points to World of Hyatt members for completing Peloton cycling and rowing classes during their stay, Hyatt is tapping into an enduring trend we call CURRENCIES OF CHANGE. It's the notion of appealing to people's desire to save money (or accumulate valuable points) while simultaneously working toward self-improvement goals.

As travelers increasingly prioritize their mental and physical health, hospitality brands have loyalty-building opportunities to move beyond tangible amenities and position themselves as partners in guests' overall wellbeing journeys.

A 2024 study called The ABC of Mobility shows that 51.4% of commuters across 794 cities in 61 countries travel by car. Although the negative impacts of congestion and combustion engine cars are undisputed — air and noise pollution, GHG emissions and inefficient use of public space, to name a few — the transition to more sustainable options is slow.

The study finds considerable differences between cities, correlating with income and region:

• In cities with twice the average income, 37% more trips are made by car.
• In cities in Asia, a significant portion of trips are by public transport. In cities in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, trips are mainly by car, regardless of city size. Within Europe, there are notable differences in the share of different modes of transport, from cities with predominantly active mobility (like cycling in Utrecht) to cities where public transport plays a crucial role (the subway in Paris or London), to cities where more than two out of three trips are made by car (such as Rome and Manchester).

French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain has released its first fully AI-generated campaign, consisting of photos introducing the team's 2024-25 home kit. None of the players were photographed for the images and none of their faces were photoshopped; the images were entirely generated by AI. The only parts that were tweaked in post-production were the logos on their shirts.

Says the campaign's creator, Benjamin Benichou of Drop: "In this case, using AI wasn't about replacing human creativity but enhancing it. It was also a busy period for the players, so shooting with them wasn't an option." He trained local generative AI models on existing images of the players, the new jerseys and various PSG brand elements. Benichou asks a question that's rapidly becoming a common refrain: "If I wouldn't have told you, would you have spotted that it was made with AI?"

Lil Miquela 🇺🇸 Shudu 🇿🇦 Lu do Magalu 🇧🇷... AI influencers aren't new, but AI tools allow for a speedier and cheaper creation of AI personas, driving demand for the role on freelancing platforms like Fiverr. Global searches on Fiverr for 'AI influencer' flew up by 6,305% over the past six months.

In addition to AI mega influencers, new AI niche influencers like Spanish gamer/model Aitana and 23-year-old Kant reboot Manu are joining the AI creator economy. They won't replace human influencers, but they're yet another competitor for followers and marketing spend. While Gen Z-ers are excited about AI influencers, they also worry their dream career as an influencer is no longer feasible... 💸

So, why not support them in becoming what we've dubbed M.E.O.s, the one-person, maker C.E.O.s of tomorrow? Take a cue from Ariel Marie, who (unlike Scarlett Johansson) actually gave AI companies full consent to use her persona for AI-generated content.

PwC just published its first Global AI Jobs Barometer, analyzing AI's impact on jobs, skills, wages and productivity in 15 countries. One of the report's key findings? "Sectors most exposed to AI — financial services, information technology and professional services — are experiencing nearly five times higher labor productivity growth than sectors less exposed to AI."

That surge in productivity is paired with a rapid change in the kind of know-how required from workers. Parsing 500 million job ads, PwC found that skills demanded by employers evolved 25% faster for occupations most able to use AI than for roles that are less AI-enabled.

While skills that can be complemented by AI are in demand, so are those that are hard for AI to perform. Examples listed by PwC include laser hair removal, yoga instruction and ecological restoration — careers that lean heavily on inhabiting a human body. For now, at least 🙃