Q2 2022

Two of the most notable examples have been BP and Starbucks, both of which recently pledged to leave Russia after a number of years doing business in the country.

Though the Starbucks decision was relatively recent, coming at the end of May, the BP withdrawal came soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, amid pressure from activists for the oil giant to stop selling oil there.

While engagement to BP’s decision was slightly higher, Starbucks’ move also drove a lot of interest several months after the invasion from both the media and the public, showing just how influential the storyline is still, and how much the public is expecting companies to stand up and be counted amidst an ongoing invasion.

This is in addition to a number of successful union campaigns at well-known brands across the country, with the likes of Amazon and Starbucks perhaps the most high-profile of those.

A number of Starbucks stores have unionized in the last few months alone, and many more are in the works, much to the reported consternation of CEO Howard Schulz.

Meanwhile, an Amazon warehouse in New York became the first of its kind to unionize, and attracted lots of interest from the media and the public. This sent shockwaves all the way up to the halls of power in Washington D.C., where one of the organizers — Chris Smalls — was invited to speak before a committee.

Although working remotely has driven this idea for some, for others the ability to travel full-time developed due to how expensive it can be to own a home or pay rent. We’ve spotted trends such as living on a cruise ship for 50+ days at a time, to backpacking through different countries and only renting for short periods of time. 

Making a form of transportation a permanent home has extended beyond cruise ships, as some people have found themselves exploring the US while working full-time from a converted school bus.

As we progress further into the new ways of working Covid has created, and deal with an increased cost of living, the idea of permanent travel presents itself as a reality for many.

BLACKPINK has dominated the headlines recently, and the girl group’s members have seen some highly successful collaborations as a result. JISOO was announced as a new brand partner of Cartier, while Rosé partnered with Tiffany & Co. for a campaign, both of which drove hundreds of thousands of engagements on Instagram,

Coachella was back in April after a two-year break, and it dominated the headlines on its return, with more than 30k articles and 7 million engagements.

Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza will be hoping to follow suit and are already gaining interest for the summer. Both could be an interesting place for brands to experiment with sponsorships and experiential content as the world comes together to celebrate in-person once more.