The Weekly Roundup (week of 3.25)
Feel the Unreal
1. Nike’s Feel the Unreal Campaign
Nike’s rollout for the AirMax Dn has been far-reaching, multi-faceted, thoughtful, and inspiringly creative. Culminating in a minute-long star-studded advertisement, the tagline “Feel the Unreal” was an awesome brief for creators and agencies who brought this campaign together across various touchpoints.
This was a super fun, lighthearted take on a campaign which is fitting because it’s all about being light on your feet. The surrealist, dreamlike nature of the ads was an awesome way to blend older CGI/VFX techniques in newer, fresher ways.
A simple creative tagline like “Feel the Unreal” is the perfect example of a clear creative vision that can lead to incredible output from stakeholders.
2. SSENSE’S 2024 Trend Report
In 2024, you make your own reality.
Style hacks, GRWM videos, algorithmic SEO recommendations, shopping newsletters optimized for affiliate revenue—it’s just noise. You spent the first half of the 2020s hacking your cortisol, buying the right supplements, clocking the trends from logomania to quiet luxury; with each merciless refresh of the feed, one truth becomes clearer. The trend is in you. The only way to self-actualize in our overly annotated, incessantly updated world is to be yourself.
You must choose your way forward. The data shouldn’t tell you how to live—you train the AI to paint a more beautiful future. You choose your outfits. You are the catalyst and the information to be received by the world.
3. Valentino Enters Its Alessandro Michele Era
Alessandro Michele, the designer who brought profits and plenty of buzz to Gucci, was just named creative director of Valentino.
Personally, I’m excited about this and I think Alessandro Michele could easily revive Valentino’s stale brand so long as it isn’t steeped in his signature 70s imagery and art direction. I’m hoping he switches it up, maybe he’ll do the 80s this time. Read here.
4. Covid changed how we spend: More YOLO splurging but less saving
Whatever you call it — doom spending, soft saving, YOLOing, “you only live once”— the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way Americans spend money. They are saving less but vacationing more, splurging on concerts and sporting events, and booking lavish trips years in advance. Spending on international travel and live entertainment surged roughly 30 percent last year, five times the rate of overall spending growth. Meanwhile, the personal savings rate is at lows not seen since the Great Recession.
And the spending spree has continued into 2024. Consumers spent $145.5 billion more in February than they did the month before — much of that on services — fueling the biggest monthly increase in more than a year, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Friday. Meanwhile, the personal savings rate fell to 3.6 percent, from 4.1 percent the previous month.
This definitely gives credence to the theory of a media-induced “vibecession”. Of course, things are gonna feel more constrained when you’re door-dashing 3x a week! Read here.