WEEKLY TREND
Seeking Relevance, Brands Take Different Tacks
THIS WEEK IN BRANDLAND
Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Bottles’ Come in All Shapes and Sizes, Embodying the Brand Message
Dove has garnered praise for its mission to transform beauty from a source of insecurity to one of confidence. Now, the brand is bringing its mission to life through its products. In an inspired packaging stunt, a limited-edition set of Dove Body Wash bottles will come in various shapes and sizes, communicating the brand’s longtime celebration of body-diverse beauty: “Every woman’s version of beauty is different, and if you ask us, these differences are there to be celebrated.”
Skittles Gets Weird for Mother’s Day
Just because it’s almost Mother’s Day doesn’t mean brands need to get all touchy-feely about it (Love you mom!). To celebrate the holiday, Skittles decided to show the special bond between a mother and her adult son… We won’t spoil it, but… yeah. Watch it here.
Coke’s New CEO to Staff: Make Mistakes
Despite having one of the most recognizable brands in the world, Coca-Cola is going through a bit of a rough patch. Fear of failure has created a culture of cautiousness, but new CEO James Quincey is trying to change all that. His solution? A laser-like focus on customer needs: “The trap you fall into as a big company is you start… looking at the world through the lens of your existing business: How can I leverage what I’ve got to get more? But the way to avoid getting disrupted is to start with the consumer and say: What’s actually happening out there?”
THE GIG IS UP
Jobs hold a special place in our national identity. America is a nation of workers, after all; we largely define ourselves by our occupations (Ever wonder why the first question you ask a stranger is “What do you do?”). But the sharing economy is disrupting our traditional understanding of work. On-demand services, and the people who provide them, enable greater flexibility as workers earn money on their own schedules, and individuals are free to share ideas and business on a person-to-person basis, without intermediaries. Or at least that’s the idea. In this week’s longread, THE NEW YORKER asks: Is the gig economy working?
The 20 Most Influential People in Tech Right Now
“The latest technological breakthroughs can sometimes seem to emerge from nameless, faceless companies. But behind every corporate logo are individual people shaping the future. Some are executives, others are programmers or researchers chasing world-changing achievements. Then there are the rule-makers, whose decisions can have far-reaching consequences for the future.” TIME’s tech team debated the 20 most influential people in the technology world right now. So it’s obviously a pretty official ranking. Who made the list? Read on to see who’s number one.
FOR FUN
Which Tech Giant Would You Drop?
Amazon. Apple. Alphabet. Facebook. Microsoft. The Big Five tech companies increasingly dominate our lives. Could you ditch them? Find out what happens when you give each one up in this interactive quiz from THE NEW YORK TIMES.
