Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

People are craving comfort. Amid what can feel like a state of constant crisis – a layering of traumatic societal events – it can sometimes seem like we’ve lost a sense of scale and cohesion. In the face of this, the desire to retreat into nostalgia is more seductive than ever.

Starbucks has launched a collaboration with K-pop superstars BLACKPINK, including not only limited edition drinks, but licensed merchandise. Brands are learning how to tap into superfandom, creating unconventional partnerships that play on the excitement and loyalty that come with high-level fandom.

Combining replenishment with waste reduction, Waterdrop’s new electrolyte offering provides options for the health and environmentally conscious. As people seek a diversity of food and drink that matches their personal and social values, the brand stands to expand definitions of functional drinking.

‘Beverage girlies’ are sharing videos of themselves drinking a variety of beverages at the same time as performative coping, signifying the ways in which people are dealing with remote work and hustle culture. What does this say about our attitudes toward an increasingly unstable global environment?

Germans are increasingly looking for healthy alternatives to traditional beverages–in the form of non-alcoholic beverages or nutritious drinkable meals. Air Up’s unique approach to hydration promises both sustainability and health benefits to a new wave of conscious consumers.