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Quick-Serve Chains Try Long-Lasting Packaging; Ferrari Hires Jony Ive; Edelman Creates a CXO Position
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Welcome back. Burger King is checking customers’ appetite for reusable, returnable containers for their Whoppers and drinks. Ferrari enlisted former Apple design boss Jony Ive as it prepares for some big moves. Edelman became the latest agency to create a chief experience officer post to better serve clients. And sustainable fashion took another tentative step forward with a pop-up in Brooklyn.
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Reusable, returnable sandwich boxes and cups. PHOTO: LOOP/BURGER KING
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Fast-food companies are testing whether customers will be willing to return empty cups and burger boxes to stores, in pilot tests with Loop, a program that collects, cleans and redistributes reusable packaging, Katie Deighton writes for The Experience Report.
Burger King this year plans to test serving burgers in reusable sandwich boxes and pouring drinks in reusable cups. Tim Hortons will test similar reusable containers in Toronto, and McDonald’s in July began a test with Loop offering some U.K. customers reusable coffee cups.
The companies will charge a deposit for each package, which customers can recoup by scanning their containers in the Loop app and returning them to collection points.
The pilots take place as fast-food companies try to reduce the amount of waste their restaurants produce. But sustainability advisers say the friction remaining in the system, particularly with container deposits, may deter some customers from committing.
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Taj Reid. PHOTO: ELIZABETH PODLESNIK
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Public-relations giant Edelman has promoted Taj Reid to the newly created post of global chief experience officer, Ann-Marie Alcántara reports.
Edelman, which employs more than 6,000 people in roughly 25 countries, decided it needed an experience chief because its clients want help improving both their growth and customers’ trust across diverse audiences and far-flung markets, said Tristan Roy, global chair of digital at Edelman.
“Increasingly, these solutions require the fusion of traditional storytelling principles with the best of modern design, technology, creativity and user experience,” Mr. Roy said in an email.
The next generation of consumers also have even higher expectations than those before them, said Mr. Reid, previously Edelman's executive vice president, executive creative director and head of connected experiences in the U.S.
"We’re having to meet people where they are with what they need, with an anticipation and a craft to be able to deliver that with alacrity," he said.
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“We’ve always been people-pleasers in the hospitality industry. The customer was always right. Well, they’re not.”
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— Farouk Rajab, general manager of the Providence Marriott Downtown Hotel in Rhode Island. Restaurants and hotels are pushing back against the uptick in customer tantrums.
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Jony Ive. PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Ferrari hired Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive as it readies its debut into fully electric vehicles, Katie Deighton reports.
Mr. Ive’s design company, LoveFrom, which he formed in 2019 alongside industrial designer Marc Newson, will work on a number of projects with the carmaker and its largest shareholder, Netherlands-based Exor.
Luxury car makers and auto giants are expected to drive more than a dozen electric models into U.S. showrooms this year, competing for drivers alongside stand-alone EV startups such as Lucid and Rivian as well as electric flag-bearer Tesla Inc.
Meanwhile Apple, Mr. Ive’s former employer, is said to also be exploring a move into automotive as the industry and its customers embrace electrification.
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A Circular Store. PHOTO: THREDUP
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ThredUP and Madewell have opened up a pop-up shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., that sells used Madewell clothes for $10 to $40. It opened on Sept. 23 and will run through Oct. 31, reports Ann-Marie Alcántara.
The shop, called A Circular Store, includes QR codes that visitors can scan to learn more about fashion waste, as well as workshops that customers can attend to learn how to mend clothes.
The store isn't focused on driving revenue; instead, Madewell hopes that it conveys to consumers that Madewell clothes are long-lasting, for example, said Derek Yarbrough, chief marketing officer of J.Crew and Madewell.
“This is part of the experience—educating customers about making sustainable shopping choices, and obviously buying quality stuff that lasts a long time is the first and foremost the most sustainable decision they can make,” Mr. Yarbrough said.
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The Amazon Glow interactive projector. PHOTO: AMAZON
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Amazon unveiled a housebound, Alexa-powered robot called Astro, and an oversized gadget designed to keep kids engaged during video calls. (WSJ)
More homeware retailers are introducing digital tools that let customers virtually “drop” products into their homes. (WSJ)
A new waiting room design reduced ER wait times at a hospital in Pennsylvania. (Fast Company)
Customer service platform Thankful raised $12 million in Series A funding. (TechCrunch)
The European Commission proposed a standard USB-C charging port for all devices, including iPhones, in an effort to reduce electronic waste. (The Verge)
Social network Discord released a text-to-speech slider, which lets users of screen-readers control the speed in which text is read. (Adweek)
Users can search for food using emojis on Uber Eats. (Engadget)
Newsletter compiled with Katie Deighton and Ann-Marie Alcántara
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