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Louis XIII teases audiences with hyper-exclusive cognac

N°XIII by Louis XIII, France

France – Luxury spirits brand Louis XIII has unveiled a limited-edition cognac, N°XIII, with a tongue-in-cheek campaign that hints at the hyper-exclusive nature of the drink. With only 200 decanters produced in total, consumers have a 0.0000038361% chance of ever trying the drink.

Made in collaboration with Object & Animal production studio, the campaign reveals that it is statistically more likely to hit a hole in one, become a professional actor, or even travel to space than to take a sip of N°XIII. Further highlighting its evasive brand presence, the drink is only available in a selected number of venues worldwide, and customers who are lucky enough to try the drink will be limited to one decanter a night.

In a similar vein to the concept cars that few consumers will ever have a chance to try, N°XIII is a limited-edition project that pushes the boundaries of conventional spirits marketing. To learn the elusive marketing tactics that are emerging across sectors, read about the beauty and wellness brands exploring extremes.

Strategic opportunity

Concept products can help companies showcase their brand beliefs and experiment with tongue-in-cheek communications. Consider creating a limited-edition object to create hype around your product offering

Yellow Trip Road is an XR mental health experience

Yellow Trip Road by EBIT and AnamXR, in collaboration with The Dematerialised

Global – Free-to-access platform Yellow Trip Road aims to provoke and promote conversations about mental wellbeing by combining the mediums of music, fashion design, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual art.

Hosted online, people visiting the cross-reality (XR) virtual sanctuary navigate woodland, desert, space and ocean settings as a way of exploring and supporting mental health initiatives. Accompanied by a black dog – symbolising depression – users’ experience is described as a sensory metaphor of life through which people can seek to heal or lose themselves.

Collective Enjoy Being in Transition (EBIT), which includes creatives Glen Luchford, Soo Joo Park, DJ John Digweed and Wilson Oryema, are behind the platform, together with virtual fashion pioneers The Dematerialised and NFT provider AnamXR. Yellow Brick Road emphasises its mental health mission through the provision of limited-edition virtual streetwear NFTs that can purchased through the platform, from which 10% of sales go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Building on digital-first and drug-free mental healthcare experiences, such as those provided by the Trip app, Yellow Trip Road demonstrates how numerous sectors and creatives can align to create decentralised forms of wellness support.

Strategic opportunity

Brands can explore NFTs as a tool for good. Take cues from Yellow Trip Road’s use of NFTs to not only support charities but to raise awareness of modern-day healthcare conversations

The first Climate School is coming to Brooklyn

New York – After years of hosting its environmental courses and initiatives online, the Slow Factory is building a ‘climate school’ in Brooklyn that will house its educational programmes.

To raise funds for the 20,000-square-feet learning institute in Brooklyn, the Slow Factory is crowdsourcing donations by offering to inscribe donors’ names on the bricks of the building. The space was awarded to the organisation through a competitive process and will act as a permanent hub for its future school.

Beginning as a community on social media, the Slow Factory is an open education institute, independent research lab and regenerative design incubator. Started in 2013 by writer, designer and activist Céline Semaan-Vernon, it's dedicated to dispelling climate misinformation and raising awareness about how to prevent climate catastrophe.

As more climate-conscious consumers seek environmental information, spaces like the Climate School have the potential to disrupt conventional educational systems. Beginning as a digital community, this project demonstrates how the Reformation Generation will pioneer alternative models of education in the coming years.

Slow Factory Institute, US

Strategic opportunity

Learning about the environmental emergency is not just an online activity. Pre-empt the rise of climate schools by creating real-life spaces for customers to learn and exchange information on saving the planet

Stat: Global tv shows inspire language-learning

Dubai Presents by Dubai Tourism

Entertainment and culture are merging in new ways, as language app Duolingo finds that people are engaging with countries via tv shows, using fandom as inspiration to learn new languages. The findings come from Duolingo’s 2021 language report, which finds that the top five languages learned on the app in 2021 were Spanish, English, French, Japanese and German, with Korean rising in popularity worldwide.

Duolingo adds that more than two-thirds of its users said a ‘cultural event’ might inspire them to try to pick up a new language – highlighting the cultural significance of the Asian country and its renowned role in industries such as music, film and television. Among those who were inspired by a streaming show to learn a new language, 28% decided to learn Korean after watching the Netflix hit show Squid Game.

The lifeline that video streaming became during the pandemic continues to shape society and how we connect with foreign cultures. In our Emerging Youth: Saudi Arabia report, we reveal how anime-obsessed young people are learning Japanese, showing the deeper relationships communities are forging with far-flung nations.

Strategic opportunity

Language-learning is booming as people invest in new skills that could also lead to future travel experiences. Use popular entertainment in your marketing to show how languages can be passports to living like a local