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Take-back schemes and in-store recycling boxes are widely offered by fashion brands and retailers, often accompanied by discounts on new purchases. But a Japanese maker of organic cotton clothing has devised something altogether more engaging. Pristine's new CoTToN BANK, launched in May 2025, allows customers to grow their own cotton and exchange it for clothing. The concept emerged from a decade-long practice of distributing seeds to customers and schools on World Cotton Day. As customers started bringing their homegrown cotton to stores, the brand recognized an opportunity to create a deeper connection between people and the clothing they buy and wear.CoTToN BANK awards customers points for depositing cotton they've cultivated and for returning well-worn Pristine garments. Since Pristine takes sustainability seriously, it requires its consumer-farmers to sign a cultivation agreement promising not to use pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Customers exchange their points for Do CoTToN shirts or socks produced using domestically grown cotton; each comes with a packet of cotton seeds to continue the growing cycle.The initiative is part of the Domestic Cotton Revival Project, developed by Pristine's parent company Avanti Inc, which is working to raise Japan's textile self-sufficiency rate from zero to one percent. Pristine aims to incorporate 2% domestically grown cotton into its products by 2030, increasing to 50% domestic and recycled materials by 2050. Pristine and Avanti are partnering with 37 locations across Japan to cultivate cotton, mainly by restoring abandoned farmland.TREND BITECoTToN BANK exemplifies how brands can transform passive consumers into active participants in their supply chains and draw them into the production process. By making clothing's lifecycle visible and engaging, Pristine addresses people's demand for transparency and their interest in food, textiles and other goods with a traceable, local origin.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
When Japanese office furniture manufacturer Okamura conceptualized an installation for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, it ditched the typical corporate playbook in favor of something more human. The brand's Kimochi Kiosk (kimochi meaning 'feelings' in Japanese) transforms the mundane act of convenience store shopping into an emotional exchange between friends or strangers. Visitors enter in pairs and browse shelves stocked not with actual snacks and drinks, but with 46 different packaged emotions, including playful options like Otsukare Rice (a pun on the phrase "good work") as well as more vulnerable sentiments about love or forgiveness.The concept operates on a simple premise: participants select products that represent a feeling they want to share with their co-visitor, then 'purchase' these emotions at a checkout counter that prints a receipt they can use to communicate the feeling they chose. It's retail therapy in its most literal form, stripping away the commercial transaction to focus purely on human connection. The installation ran in April 2025 in the expo's Future Life Village. While it might seem like a radical departure for a purveyor of office systems and retail fixtures, the concept aligns with Okamura's core mission of "realizing a society where people can thrive."TREND BITEThe emotional convenience store taps directly into the growing pushback against machine-driven perfection. While algorithms and AI optimize for engagement and efficiency, Kimochi Kiosk celebrates the beautiful awkwardness of human connection the vulnerability required to select a feeling and the uncertainty of not knowing how it will be received by someone else. The installation embodies what we've dubbed HUMANIFESTO: the (counter) trend of choosing authenticity over optimization, emotional messiness over algorithmic precision.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Nederlandse Spoorwegen has welcomed an unusual new arrival to Rotterdam's main train station. The Poem Booth, an AI-powered poetry kiosk that resembles a sleek outdoor advertising unit, is now stationed in the bustling transit hub as part of Poetry International's festival programming. The installation leverages literature for an interactive moment of surprise in an otherwise utilitarian space, making poetry accessible to anyone who happens to be passing by.The booth captures a photo of the person or people standing before it. Based on that image, it generates a personalized poem using generative AI that's been trained on the work of Dutch poet Ellen Deckwitz. Users are shown their custom verses on the unit's mirror-like screen and can save their poems via QR codes for sharing with friends. The project signals how cultural institutions are rethinking audience engagement, moving beyond static consumption towards participatory experiences that meet people wherever they are.
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Marketing and Advertising
A former cargo port in Rotterdam could become home to Europe's largest floating residential community, as Danish marine architecture studio MAST unveils plans for over 100 apartments floating in place. The proposal arrives as the Netherlands grapples with an acute housing crisis, racing to build one million new homes by 2030 while contending with scarce buildable land.Rather than pursuing costly land reclamation a practice that continues reshaping coastlines worldwide at significant ecological expense MAST's floating neighborhood embraces water as an integral part of urban infrastructure. The development would feature modular buildings constructed off-site and towed into position, creating minimal disruption and indicating the possibility of relocating entire structures if needed.TREND BITEFloating urbanism is gaining momentum as cities worldwide confront rising sea levels and housing shortages. Unlike traditional waterfront developments that struggle to keep water out, these communities work with their natural aquatic environment. MAST's design incorporates 900 square meters of floating reed beds to improve water quality while providing habitat for wildlife.Connected to Rotterdam's extensive cycling infrastructure and accessible by boat, Spoorweghaven demonstrates how floating communities could integrate seamlessly with existing urban networks. As MAST pursues similar projects in Denmark and elsewhere, the studio positions floating architecture as a scalable response to 21st-century pressures.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Singapore's National Library Board is pioneering technology that could reshape how people engage with books. The library system has developed Augmented Reading an experience that uses Snap's Spectacles to overlay real-time audio and visual effects onto physical books. The glasses scan text as readers progress through pages, using machine learning to trigger ambient soundscapes, music and visual elements that correspond to the story's mood and action.The technology tackles a key challenge: competing with digital entertainment for shrinking attention spans. Rather than replacing traditional reading, Augmented Reading aims to be a tool for sustained engagement. By adding layers of images and atmospheric sound creaking doors, distant chatter, suspenseful music the system creates an immersive environment for reluctant readers. The project, currently in beta testing with plans for public trials later this year, represents a broader trend of cultural institutions experimenting with AR technology to remain relevant.TREND BITEAugmented Reading reflects a pragmatic approach to serving audiences whose expectations have been shaped by gaming and streaming, texting and scrolling. If successful, this Singaporean experiment could signal a new chapter for how stories are consumed, combining the tactile, offline pleasure of physical books with the multimedia experiences digital natives have learned to expect.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising