LSN : News : Spirits company takes a decolonised approach to spiced rum

The Hermitage Hotel’s new identity honours women’s history

The Hermitage Hotel rebranding by Mucca, US

US – The iconic Hermitage Hotel unveiled a new face that is fresh and playful while echoing the Nashville-based hotel’s rich history.

The Hermitage Hotel has collaborated with creative studio Mucca to modernise its visual identity while celebrating its past. The hotel, which is classified as a National Historic Landmark, played a role in advocating for women’s rights in the 1920s.The updated branding is a nod to the past, namely through a new customised typeface called Suffragette and the use of bright yellow, a colour symbolising the movement. The hotel’s messaging is adopting a laid-back tone; for instance, swapping traditional ‘Do not Disturb’ door hangers for ‘No, thanks’ or ‘Please tidy up my room’ for ‘Yes, please’.

‘We were able to honour the original spirit of the building, using the right mix of reverence and irreverence to help it reclaim its moment in history,’ explains Mucca founder Matteo Bologna. An increasing number of luxury institutions want to see their Heritage Refashioned, but striking the right balance between brand legacy and relevance for tomorrow’s consumers can be a challenge.

Strategic opportunity

Younger consumers value heritage, but in order to resonate with this generation it is crucial that brands speak their language when communicating what they stand for

Spirits company takes a decolonised approach to spiced rum

Mirchi, UK

UK – Mirchi is a new spirits company launching a natural spiced rum that prioritises real ingredients – and community. Guided by the founders' West African and South Asian roots, Mirchi interrupts a market that fails to appeal to young communities of colour and that often treats sustainability as an afterthought.

Distilled locally in the UK, the natural spiced rum is carbon-neutral and plastic-free. Mirchi, which means ‘spice’ in Urdu, encapsulates the ‘beauty of Lahore and the atmosphere of the London night scene’. Combined with the with hero ingredient baobab, an organic powder grown in Ghana, the spirit embodies a melting pot of cultures. Co-founders Arslaan Ahmed and Harry Nti Trotman wanted to ‘take the best bits of our culture and combine them with how we experience flavour today’, affirming their mission to diversify a market rooted in tradition.

Mirchi bridges the gap in the market for a spirit that appeals to these diverse communities, decolonising a space that relies on outdated aesthetics.

Strategic opportunity

Make it a priority to know your consumer and take the initiative in creating dialogue in the communities where your product excels.

Tom Brady redesigns health and wellness programmes of US schools

US – Super Bowl champion Tom Brady’s TB12 Foundation has teamed up with American schools to help young people develop healthier daily habits.

To support youth’s mental and physical wellbeing, Pinellas County Schools and Education Foundation redesigned and enhanced middle and high school students’ health and wellness curriculum, in partnership with TB12.

The programme will introduce students to activities and daily habits aligned with TB12’s five pillars: pliability, movement, nutrition, hydration and mental fitness. Certified TB12 body coaches are involved in developing the course material and in training physical education instructors and administrators.

The enhanced curriculum will be trialled at six middle schools and four high schools in Florida, and is scheduled to roll out to every middle school and high school by the 2023–2024 school year if the pilot is successful.

Tapping into Tweenage Fitness, TB12’s involvement in school programmes is designed to ramp up youth’s lagging fitness uptake in the US while also putting mental wellness front and centre.

Photography by Mary Taylor

Strategic opportunity

Health and wellness curriculums are ripe for disruption. TB12’s involvement shows how organisations and companies can step up to create incentives for children to develop positive habits

Stat: US consumers trade privacy for personalisation

Photography by Pexels

Invasive data collection used to spark outrage, but new research from the Advertising Research Foundation suggests that consumer attitudes to privacy are changing. According to the small study, the number of consumers who frequently avoid retailers because of privacy concerns fell from 50% in 2021 to 47%.

The report comes as the American Data and Privacy Protection Act is making its way through Congress with unusual bipartisan support. If passed, it could fundamentally change how companies operate online.

While the Act aims to improve security measures, the report reveals that consumers are willing to trade personal data for more individualised online interactions. Respondents ranked prior purchases and the media you use as the most acceptable information to hand over, at 76% and 74%, respectively.

Amid mounting calls from governments in the US and the UK to regulate how companies behave online, the report suggests that shoppers are becoming increasingly comfortable with swapping personal information for increased personalisation, another instance of Morality Recoded.

Strategic opportunity

Although consumers might feel more comfortable handing over their personal information, companies should still take active steps to increase transparency around data collection. How can your website go beyond a pop-up on a homepage?