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Spain's leading bookstore chain, Casa del Libro, has launched an innovative tool that calculates exactly how many books a person needs to read to reach their life goal. The campaign, titled "A unos libros de distancia" (Just a Few Books Away), positions reading as the pathway to achieving any ambition: from becoming a finance expert to, as demonstrated during the launch event, becoming Spain's first female prime minister.The initiative cleverly inverts today's AI dynamic. While millions turn to chatbots for instant guidance, Casa del Libro directs people back to the original knowledge sources the bots were trained on. The tool employs a sophisticated AI backend combining GPT models and semantic embeddings to analyze a database of over 250,000 books, creating personalized reading journeys tailored to specific life objectives.For the campaign launch, a teenage girl stood before Spain's Congress of Deputies surrounded by the 148 books the algorithm calculated she would need to read to become the country's first female head of government. Casa del Libro demonstrates how to rethink the practice of futuring as a B2C service. By providing tools that help people envision their future selves, brands can help them make better decisions today. Instead of offering easy, instant answers, could your brand buck the trend and similarly create a system charting long-term, deliberate paths to personal transformation?
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Kimpton Hotels is tapping into the growing trend of 'tattourism' through a new partnership with micro-tattoo studio Tiny Zaps. As of this month, the collaboration is bringing pop-up tattoo residencies to five Kimpton properties across the United States, allowing guests to commemorate their travels with permanent souvenirs inked directly onto their skin.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Two and a half centuries after Josiah Wedgwood perfected Jasperware, with its distinctive matte finish, the British ceramics brand is marking the milestone with a decidedly 21st-century approach. The company has launched Jasper 250 AI, a generative tool that enables anyone to get creative and play with an iconic style of pottery.The initiative echoes a 1930 international design competition when Wedgwood celebrated its founder's bicentennial, which crowned Danish artist Emmanuel Tjerne. Now, participants can share their AI-generated designs across social platforms using #jasper250, with the winning creation to be 3D-printed and acquired by the V&A Wedgwood Collection.Rather than asking people to passively admire tradition, Wedgwood is inviting them to actively collaborate with its legacy positioning AI as a bridge between today's consumers and the brand's heritage. By translating 250 years of stoneware artistry into an accessible digital format, Wedgwood demonstrates how even the most storied brands can allow consumers to mold tradition and make it their own.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Confectionery giant Lotte has launched Shu-Chew Beats, a concentration-boosting tool that pairs custom-composed tracks with syncopated chewing to help office workers regain their focus. In response to a survey revealing that nearly 80% of Japanese employees struggle to concentrate in office environments, Lotte is pitching its gum as a functional candy that can serve as a 'brain warm-up exercise' for workers who feel distracted.The project, developed under the supervision of neuroscientist Professor Yoshikuni Edagawa of Ritsumeikan University, offers three hour-long soundtracks at different beats and chews per minute, each designed for specific concentration needs. Chill runs at 66 BPM for precision and accuracy, Hyper at 120 BPM for efficiency, and Extreme at 140 BPM for processing speed (and a decent jaw workout). Japanese electronic music artists Shohei Amimori, Shinichi Osawa and Pasocom Music Club created the tracks, which have racked up hundreds of thousands of views since they were uploaded to YouTube last month.Shu-Chew Beats answers a widespread consumer need for clarity, calm and control in increasingly overwhelming environments. Combining gum (a physical anchor) with neuroscience-informed audio (a cognitive anchor), Lotte positions itself not just as a candy brand, but as a tool for self-optimization. As the lines between wellness, productivity and entertainment continue to blur, how can your brand hit its own sweet spot by turning an everyday product or habit into a mindful ritual?
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
As the Netherlands gears up for King's Day celebrations, retailer HEMA is addressing a perennial pain point at large events: the shortage of toilets, particularly for women. The brand has launched Thuistoilet (Home Toilet), transforming private residences across ten Dutch cities into a network of accessible bathrooms for orange-clad revelers.Participating residents receive a free kit containing bathroom essentials like cleaning supplies, air fresheners, tampons and The Good Roll's sustainable toilet paper. Those in need of a loo will be able to find their good samaritan via a map on HEMA's website; homes are also invited to display an official poster. Hosts are asked to provide access from 1 pm to 6 pm on King's Day, and maintain full control over access to their home.Tapping into people's innate desire to help others, Thuistoilet creates a framework for strangers to assist one another in addressing a practical need. Transforming a common constraint into an opportunity for doing good, HEMA and campaign developer Tosti Creative identified a feel-good, human solution that should boost both brand equity and community spirit on one of the nation's biggest holidays.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising