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An artisanal mezcal disrupting the RTD space

Madre Desert Water by Madre Mezcal, Mexico

Mexico – Heritage drinks brand Madre Mezcal is diversifying its offering to create a functional, seltzer-style ready-to-drink line. The beverage line, Madre Desert Water, combines mezcal with sparkling water, real fruit, plants and herbs. Many of the ingredients also feature functional properties, such as adaptogenic mushrooms, anti-inflammatory herbs and anti-fungal cacti.

By positioning mezcal in this format, the cans provide an accessible introduction to the spirit, while also offering added functionality for existing mezcal drinkers. Commenting on the inspiration for the drink, the brand says in a press release: ‘Madre Desert Water was inspired by the tradition of West Texas ranch waters (a local favourite drink made simply with tequila and sparkling water).’

With interest in mezcal continuing to rise, such ready-to-drink offerings further establish the spirit as a mainstream drinks choice, while still retaining its rich and ancestral heritage.

Strategic opportunity

To diversify their audiences, drinks brands could also consider offering innovative food pairings. Find ways to capture the heritage of the region from which your drink originates, while also providing an introduction to more adventurous tipples

QR clothing labels that generate resale adverts

Resell Tag by Samsøe Samsøe, Scandinavia

Denmark – Fashion brand Samsøe Samsøe is making it easier for its customers to resell their items through an interactive clothing tag. Its Resell Tag, which will be stitched into items of clothing, includes a scannable QR code that activates an automatically generated resale advert. Drawing on datapoints from the clothing, such as style, size, colour and age range, a mock-up advert – including images – is presented for users to promote across Facebook and Instagram.

Initially launching across 20 of its garments, Samsøe Samsøe plans to expand the labels across its wider collections in the coming year. Here, the brand is taking control of the pre-owned market for its goods, while offering a seamless solution to empower customers to resell their unwanted items.

As more fashion brands recognise their responsibility in inspiring greener behaviours among consumers, such Interactive Eco-labels present an innovative solution that allows product labels to promote transparency and product longevity.

Strategic opportunity

Beyond resell adverts, reflect on how else your brand might bolster resale opportunities for your customers. How might you use your ambassadors and social media channels to raise the profile of second-hand goods?

Elle diversifies from magazines to hotels

Global – The fashion and lifestyle publication is entering the hospitality space with the launch of two boutique hotels. Later this year, its Parisian residency, Maison Elle, will arrive under the guidance of hotelier Pascal Donat, president of French hospitality group Valotel. Located near the famous Arc de Triomphe, the hotel will offer 25 guest rooms and suites, as well as a spa. A second hotel will open in 2023, in Jalisco, Mexico.

Through this venture, the publication is diversifying its revenue streams beyond traditional media content, as well as drawing on its taste-making status to create a culturally driven hospitality experience. Constance Benqué, chairman of Elle International and CEO of Lagardère News, says: ‘Our brand’s success to date has been thanks to our innovation, our special relationship with women, and we are proud to continue to challenge the status quo as we enter a new era of travel.’

We’ve already been tracking the ways in which brands, from streetwear labels to beauty companies, are moving into the hotel sector as a way to broaden their cultural relevance and establishing new revenue streams.

Maison Elle. Photography by Elle Hospitality, Paris

Strategic opportunity

Media and entertainment brands can take cues from this launch and similarly explore ways to establish themselves in the hospitality sector. How about creating a bar or restaurant that captures your brand’s personality?

Stat: American home-buyers rely on parental handouts

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As young Americans make their way onto the property ladder, research by YouGov finds that many home-buyers have received financial help from their parents. According to the report, more than one in three (35%) of Americans who have owned a home say that their parents helped them financially with buying their first abode.

In terms of age brackets, the research finds that adults aged under 45 were more than three times as likely as people aged 45 and older to say their parents gave them a property outright or paid the entire deposit. With this response more common among younger consumers, there is an opportunity for fintech, mortgage or property brands to promote the idea of familial co-ownership.

Indeed, as we explore in our round-up of fintech innovators for young home-buyers, some financial services are leaning into opportunities to empower parents and relatives to become co-equity holders of properties.

Strategic opportunity

At a time when inflation is bearing down on young savers, financial services have an opportunity to support hopeful home-buyers in ways that remain realistic and inclusive of their financial assets and lifestyles