Sunday Strategy (8.18.2024)

Naming Heatwaves, Shifting Attitudes to Alcohol and Health, Manchester Football + More

Aug 18, 2024

In this issue of Sunday Strategy, we look at five stories to think about next week, including: Alcohol and Health Attitude Shifts, Naming Heat Waves, Searching for Modern Authenticity, Dopamine Public Art and the Double Jeopardy Facing Gym Brands.

In addition, we have ads from: Roojai Insurance, DoorDash, Adidas, Malibu and Canva.

// Five Stories of the Week:

1.) Is It Last Call on Traditional Alcohol Attitudes?

New Gallup research has shown that belief in the negative impact of alcohol consumption is increasing (growing from 29% of US consumers stating moderate daily consumption was bad for your health in 2018 to 45% in 2024). The perceptions that reinforced daily consumption (e.g. a glass of wine a day is good for your heart) have been consistently eroded by new studies, growing non-alcohol options, greater marijuana availability, and by wider shifts in alcohol consumption, especially amongst younger audiences. Gallup shows that 65% of those 18-34 believe 1-2 drinks a day is harmful vs. 37% of 35-54s and that 38% of 18-34s report having a drink in the last week, vs. 49% in 2001. As daily marijuana usage tops daily alcohol consumption for the first time, shifting attitudes in consumption look to not only affect sales volume, but the ease that alcohol brands enjoyed to operate in culture.

2.) Should We Name Heatwaves?

Rising temperatures have meant heatwaves are an increasing threat worldwide, but unlike hurricanes or other natural disasters, there aren’t as defined cues to mark their severity. Countries like Spain, which named a six day stretch of high temperatures in 2022 as ‘Zoe’ and Greece, Israel and Cyprus, which jointly named a 2023 heat wave ‘Cleon’ (or ‘Cerberus’) have trialled making extreme heat more tangible through naming. While meteorologists worry about recall, issue fatigue and differing standards on what constitutes a heatwave, naming is a potentially powerful tool to identify and aid discussion around heat in a warming world. Growing up in a hurricane prone area of the US, someone needed to only mention ‘Hugo’ to someone in South Carolina or ‘Katrina’ to someone in Louisiana to evoke more than the overall concept of a storm. Could naming give heatwaves and public action / engagement to address them a boost through similar levels of personalization?

3.) The Search For Modern Authenticity.

Despite ‘authentic’ being one of Miriam Webster’s words of 2023, it appears that this year has been a search for it in different ways. ‘Authenticity’ has been discussed frequently within the context of modern celebrity, with celebrities and ascendant musicians such as Charli XCX being described as ‘breaking the mold’ in music to share her true self and succeed. It’s been discussed as a risk to influencers and a cause of ‘influencer fatigue’, despite recent research that shows many younger consumers prioritise value alignment and follower count over ‘authenticity’ when considering an influencer online. It becomes a consideration for each of us when we think about our ‘personal brand’ and what we share. So what does modern authenticity look like? Is it being true to ourselves or is it painting a compelling, but less authentic story about challenging the norms around us?

4.) Dopamine Art Installations.

As British artist Banksy’s 9 day spree of animal themed public art comes to an end, with a gorilla painted on the shutters of the entrance of the London zoo, wider discussion about their meaning and the impact of public art remains. Against the backdrop of riots across the UK from the far right and counter protests, Banksy created daily graffiti works of animals around the capital including a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, piranhas and a rhinoceros. While the meaning of them is unclear and no link to rioting was stated, their timing highlights the ability of public art to increase mood and reduce anxiety for the residents who experience them. With additional unrelated works from Yayoi Kusama and a ‘Little Cloud World’ coming to Covent Garden market in partnership with UK charity CALM, there seems to be a coincidental wave of dopamine boosting installations popping up around the city. Even if moods don’t change, British reactions to public art will at least stoke interesting conversations. Whether other places have followed suit is an open question, but this week’s pop-up aquarium in Brooklyn built around a leaking fire hydrant could always be the start of something bigger here in NYC.

5.) The Double Jeopardy Facing Gyms.

As US gym chain 'Blink' goes into bankruptcy - it would be easy to point to a demand issue. However, chains like Planet Fitness have gained over 4m new members from 2019 to 2023 and with 73% of US Gen Z saying they go to the gym, there are sources of growth. So is starvation a gym’s biggest issue? Or growth? Research shows younger consumers seeing the gym as a 'third space' and gyms which relied on infrequent visitation run a risk of having too many customers. As Business Insider raises, Planet Fitness has on average 6,500 members per gym, while the gym can hold 300 people. Whereas Equinox and other high price point gyms can handle greater customer engagement amidst changing consumer attitudes, mass fitness brands now sit between an immediate bust and a dangerous boom.

1.) ‘Minimize Your Frustration’ - Roojai Online Insurance:

Insurance advertising tends to focus any characters on the disasters and incidents the products protect consumers from or on humanising the brand. However, Thai insurer Roojai has taken things one step further, tapping into the nature of their Kangaroo mascot, to create a campaign where Roojai insured drivers wear their frustrations as mini versions kept in kangaroo style pouches after an accident. A second ad takes the refrain even further, while also reframing the brand’s 4.7 / 5 satisfaction score as ‘basically a 5’ in a subtle dig. Weird, wonderful and on-brand rarely goes together more seamlessly.

2.) ‘Eriskay Island’ - Guinness 0.0:

Guinness has gone heavily into promoting itself during the start of the 2024 / 25 Premier League season, marking its status as the official beer and non-alcoholic beer sponsor of the league. However, the brand has gone outside of the traditional league grounds in their ad for Guinness 0.0, telling the story of a football team on Eriskay island, a small island in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, where 10% of the island’s population are actually on the team. The ad ties together the heritage of different stories and substance that have been a hallmark of the brand, and serves as the first of many stories it plans on telling about how the sport manifests in different ways around the world. For a brand that traditionally had more of a heritage in rugby, the expansion into football as a global vehicle will be a new canvas to bring the brand to life if it can succeed where lagers have traditionally lived.

3.) ‘You Can’t Beat An Original’ - Adidas:

Launching the Manchester United third kit in advance of the new season, the brand and team have used Saltburn actor and lifelong fan Barry Keoghan in an ad that seems straight out of late 90’s Manchester. Soundtracked to Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’, the film follows Koeghan as he travels through United’s training ground and the city around it, with a nostalgic feeling that leaves you expecting it to end at the Hacienda or in classic 90s film scenes. For a third kit jersey reveal, the production value, emotion and nostalgia show that brand and sport intersect in a place that has immense emotional potential, if it can only be found and tapped into.

4.) ‘Don’t Drink and Dive’ - Malibu:

With 1 in 4 UK drownings involving alcohol, Malibu, Olympic diver Tom Daley and the Royal Life Saving Society UK have teamed up to tell everyone not to ‘drink and dive’. The water safety message, hot off Daley’s last Olympics, is supported by a release of knit swimwear - drafting off the diver’s habit of knitting in between events.

5.) ‘Takeshi’s Peace Treaty’ - Canva:

To bring their ‘Make it Unbelievable’ platform to life in Japan, Canva has shown the unintended consequences of giving everyone greater creative potential in an ad featuring famous Japanese actors Takeshi Kitano and Gekidan Hitori. Kitano, famous for everything from the film ‘Battle Royale’ to ‘Hana-bi’ and the classic game show ‘Takeshi’s Castle’, plays a feudal lord who’s peace summit nearly goes awry when Hitori’s character doesn’t believe he could have made such well produced art without a designer. The ad integrates product demonstration and features within a wider quick conversation between the characters and leverages fame in a funny way, co-opting the actor’s fame for an unexpected endorsement that almost makes me forget about the Canva rap.

// Sunday Snippets

// Coca-Cola and Oreo have partnered to release a cookie tinged flavour, but doesn’t go as hard as Liquid Death has with a Van Leewen partnership

// ‘Rawdogging’ flights, where passengers disassociate staring at the flight map with no entertainment or break, has become a video game

// The clock has started on LA’s ambitious car free Olympics

// Lush partners with Minecraft for self-care themed range

// The rise of the “Horse Girl” aesthetic

// Crocs latest “Croc Mary Jane Clog” is two “IT” shoes in one

// Peloton classes find new audiences with Fitbit premium partnership

// The ongoing “social recession” and “loneliness epidemic”

// “Diary of a CEO” influencer Steven Bartlett sees ads for Huel and Zoe banned by ASA

// Barack Obama released his summer playlist with entries from Shaboozy, Charli XCX and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity”

// European fast fashion retailer Primark launches first US campaign

// Red Star Belgrade’s new football kit blends fashion and art

// In other football news, Reddit has sponsored a UK football club - Redditch.

// Popular fuel station chain ‘Buc-ees’ hosts pop-up country concert that draws thousands

// Until Next Sunday

As always, let me know what you think by email (dubosecole@gmail.com), website or on LinkedIn.

You can also listen to an audio summary and discussion of each week’s newsletter on Spotify.

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