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Recognizing the growing popularity of allotments and other back-to-the-land aspirations, plus the possibilities created by remote working, Japans and farm Co., Ltd. just launched and farm Kleingarten. The concept combines a shared vacation home with a farming experience think timeshares with individual vegetable gardens. For a fixed monthly fee, city dwellers can slow down and enjoy life in the countryside for up to four consecutive days at a time.and farm Kleingarten is designed with a focus on natural materials, blending Nordic design with Japanese minimalism to create a Japandi style. The accommodation is fully furnished and equipped, with solid Wi-Fi for those who want to work remotely. Members have access to farm tools for working on their personal 30-square-meter vegetable plots, and workshops are available to those without prior gardening experience. For an additional fee, members allotments are tended to in their absence, with the option of having harvests home-delivered.By adopting vacant houses and abandoned farmland on the outskirts of Nirasaki City, Yamanashi Prefecture, the concept not only provides users with an affordable second-home experience but also helps revitalize a rural area by fostering a new community of regular visitors. and farm Kleingarten soft-launched in October 2024. Monthly fees are JPY 55,000 (USD 360/EUR 335) for weekday stays, or JPY 88,000 to include weekend and holiday bookings, too.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Transforming the simple act of returning a shopping basket into a tool for engagement, WWF Japan recently launched a Shopping Basket Voting initiative. The idea is to let shoppers vote on sustainability initiatives by returning their baskets to designated Yes or No areas in response to specific questions from retailers. For example, whether people support adding doors to coolers to save energy, or removing plastic trays from meat packaging.The concept addresses a critical challenge: while Japanese consumers want to live more sustainably, 50% find sustainable options too expensive, 38% dont know what actions to take, and 28% believe their individual actions dont matter. Implementing a voting mechanism creates a low-effort way for shoppers to influence a stores practices. And its a cost-effective method for retailers to gauge customer support for sustainability investments, helping them make informed decisions and ensure buy-in.Theres a powerful nudging effect at play here, too. The visible accumulation of shopping carts in voting areas creates social proof, potentially influencing other shoppers behavior and creating a collective sense of impact. The binary choice simplifies decision-making, while the public nature of voting creates accountability for retailers to act on the results.Shopping Basket Voting was developed in partnership with The University of Shiga Prefecture. Following a pilot a grocery store in Tokyo, WWF Japan has made the systems design and implementation guidelines freely available through its website.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Brazilian beauty giant Natura has unveiled its first-ever sonic identity, created by capturing and transforming the electrical pulses of Amazon rainforest trees into melody. Developed in partnership with Africa Creative and sound design studio Soundthinkers, the initiative leverages proprietary technology to translate bioelectric signals of native trees into a distinctive audio signature that will be used across the brand's communications.The process involved sticking sensors on trees to record their electrical signals, which were then analyzed across parameters like tempo, tonality and timbre. The resulting soundmark aims to reflect Natura's commitment to biodiversity the brand is a founding member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade and to 'Bem Estar' (wellbeing) while forging a deeper sensory connection with its audience. For other brands looking to strengthen their sustainability messaging, the project shows how innovation can align environmental commitments with consumer touchpoints in ways that feel both tangible and emotionally resonant.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
In April 2024, German supermarket chain REWE opened its first 100% vegan store. Now, the brand has shared its findings after six months of operations. The small store (212 square meters/2282 square feet) serves an average of 5,500 customers weekly and offers over 2,700 vegan products nearly double the plant-based selection found in regular REWE locations. So, what are people buying? The ten most popular products include chocolate croissants, franzbrötchen (a regional variation on cinnamon rolls), freshly prepared coconut-almond spreads, cucumbers, bananas, oat-based soft-serve ice cream and deli sandwiches featuring schnitzel alternatives and smoked tofu. While REWE hasn't yet announced plans to roll out additional vegan shops and the store's location near Berlin's Warschauer Bridge, with high foot traffic from nearby offices and public transit, is likely crucial to its viability, the pilot store's early success offers valuable insights for retailers considering plant-based concepts.Unlike REWE's conventional stores, where flexitarians drive plant-based sales as part of mixed shopping baskets, the 'voll pflanzich' location attracts those seeking an all-plant-based shopping experience. Customers have indicated that they enjoy the convenience of not having to read labels to check if a product is vegan, and the store's management has been quick to add new products like a line of tofu seasoning and a potato-based milk alternative. And as the popular pastries and soft-serve ice cream confirm, affordable treats (chocolate croissants are EUR 0.99, franzbrötchen are EUR 1.09) are dependable drivers of customer traffic ;-)
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
In a move that adds depth and meaning to in-flight dining, Turkish Airlines recently began serving bread made with wheat sourced from Taº Tepeler in Southeastern Anatolia, one of the first regions where humans cultivated grain and baked bread some 12,000 years ago. The initiative connects directly to the airline's sponsorship of archaeological excavations at Taº Tepeler, where findings indicate early agricultural communities transitioned from gathering wild seeds to establishing the foundations of farming.The small, warm loaves are served to business class passengers on overseas flights departing from Istanbul and come in cloth bags explaining their origin. In doing so, Turkish Airlines transforms a typically forgettable aspect of airline catering into a tangible marker of Turkey's role as a cradle of human civilization. The carrier's (re)introduction of 'the world's oldest bread' taps into an enduring consumer desire for products with genuine heritage and still-made-here appeal. The initiative goes beyond simply celebrating Anatolia's agricultural legacy through its support of the Taº Tepeler excavations, Turkish Airlines demonstrates how brands can both honor and nurture the places they call home.
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
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