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What’s next for luxury?

Photography by The Future Laboratory, UK

Global – The luxury sector is evolving – fast. This week at The Future Laboratory and LS:N Global is Luxury Week (4–8 September), with the launch of three new reports and strategy frameworks ensuring our clients can successfully navigate this change and stay at the forefront of luxury innovation.

As Millennial and Gen Z affluents prepare to inherit an unprecedented £42 trillion ($53 trillion, €49 trillion) of wealth by 2045, their politics, attitudes and increasingly activist mindsets will affect their views on how to spend their wealth. We will be unveiling our new executive summary and report, The Great Wealth Transfer, at the Modern Affluence Summit on the morning of 5September.

In the face of this, the luxury consumers – or rather the collectors – of tomorrow will expect luxury to signal status not through excess, but by acting as a guardian of craftsmanship and provenance, an ESG champion and a cultural compass. We will be presenting the executive summary of our new luxury macrotrend, Luxury Recrafted, on 5 September at 4:30pm. You still have time to book tickets here, or if you are a member, login to LS:N Global to RSVP at no extra cost.

Last, but not least, The New Codes of Luxury 2025 is the latest foresight research into the changing luxury landscape – applying The Future Laboratory’s proprietary Luxury States framework to address evolving perceptions of luxury and unpack the key shifts that set the scene for what’s new and next. From today, you can book our team of strategists to deliver a high-impact presentation and workshop for you and your team. If you are interested, please get in touch here.

What the experts say

‘The rich aren’t just different; their relative wealth and the position they inhabit within this wealth ladder also mean that each wealth cohort need to be spoken to and dealt with differently’ – Chris Sanderson, The Future Laboratory co-founder and luxury expert

Diesel unveils playful Find the D campaign inspired by Where’s Waldo?

Diesel autumn/winter 2023 Find the D, Italy

Global – Diesel has re-imagined the classic Where’s Waldo? game with a high fashion twist. Find the D invites fans to spot the brand’s items in the artfully crowded shots and to win prizes in the process.

Launching on 8 September, the autumn/winter 2023 campaign is promoting Diesel’s denim line, and comprises six shots featuring a slew of models and brand executives, including the founder Renzo Rosso. Shot on the street in Breganze, Italy, the pictures are styled mimicking Where’s Waldo?‘s carefully orchestrated chaos that makes the viewer stop and examine details.

Beyond its entertaining nature, Find the D is also engaging. For eight weeks, the brand is challenging fans to partake in interactive games and rewarding winners with prizes such as a 1DR bag, Diesel’s viral Oval belt skirt, caps, sex toys, sneakers, watches and more.

In our attention economy, interrupting the scroll is a challenge for marketers. Activations that weave entertainment into fashion like Diesel’s can effectively pique viewers’ interest, thanks to a winning combination of playfulness and engagement that tap into what we call Coterie Consumerism.

Strategic opportunity

Diesel’s Find the D is a prime example of community-centric activations. Taking cues from the campaign, consider whether the CTAs in your marketing strategy are optimised to start organic conversations among viewers

Cox Media Group launches hyper-local streaming service

US – Cox Media Group (CMG) has officially introduced Neighborhood TV (NTV), a free ad-supported local streaming news service, which began its roll-out in Atlanta, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, in August 2023. CMG’s beta test in these markets generated over 100m monthly impressions. The service will expand to Orlando, Florida, later in 2023, followed by further expansion primarily in Southeast markets. NTV focuses on about 70 neighbourhoods in Georgia and 30 in North Carolina, with plans to launch in 50 additional zones by 2026.

Neighborhood TV aims to tap into the growing trend of consumers migrating online for local news and community engagement. NTV intends to provide advertisers, particularly local small and medium-sized businesses, with a unique platform to connect with local communities.

CMG is partnering with local newspaper company McClatchy to distribute its hyper-local streams on the homepages of McClatchy’s newspapers, such as The Charlotte Observer. The service will cover various neighbourhood events, including local government updates, elections, weather alerts, school activities, business openings, cultural events and more.

As explored in Local TV Market, disruptors are launching regional alternatives to streaming giants, telling hyper-local stories to reach small yet highly engaged audiences.

Performance – Telfar TV: The Movie (The Fashion Show), Wow. Photography by Jason Nocito, US

Strategic opportunity

As niches become the mainstream and distrust in news and billionaire-owned media conglomerates continues to grow, local and citizen-led tv could take cues from radio to transform into a 24/7 source of information or public service in cities

Stat: New study finds that anger drives climate activism

Role Models by H&M, UK

Global – A study of more than 2,000 Norwegian adults reveals that anger is a powerful predictor of participation in climate protests, and is seven times stronger than hope. Researchers found that for every two steps a person took along the anger scale, they moved up one step on the activism scale. The impact of other actions was smaller, but fear and guilt were found to be the best predictors of policy support, while sadness, fear and hope were found to be the best predictors of behavioural change.

The study also found that intention to act does not always align with actual behaviour. While doom-laden news headlines can contribute to climate anxiety, the gloom often reflects a lack of faith in societal institutions and leaders. While such messages can induce anger – thereby facilitating action – it can also make individuals shut down if they feel powerless.

Interestingly, the study also found inconclusive evidence that increasing hope leads to greater climate engagement, suggesting that hope may arise from taking action rather than the other way around. This is interesting to note when thinking about how the younger generation are driving purposeful social media storytelling, as revealed in Why Generation Z are Creating Activist-tainment.

Strategic opportunity

As explored in our Subversive Sustainability Ad report, consider how to create sustainability campaigns that tap into the power of emotions, particularly anger, to mobilise consumers towards sustainable actions